Photograph of Mehitable Potter

Historians have identified over 150 photographs of people, including this image of Mehitable Potter, who were born before the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783. Potter was born in 1763, the same year that the French and Indian War ended, and passed away in 1864 while the American Civil War raged. This photograph of her, taken in the 100th year of her life, shows one of the last surviving members of the Revolutionary generation. Born in Rhode Island, Potter lived the latter years of her life in the town of Adams in western Massachusetts. When one of Potter’s neighbors, Joseph Hathaway, applied for a veteran’s pension from the Federal Government in 1845, Potter testified in court to help verify Hathaway’s service as a soldier during the Revolutionary War.