21/33 In all respects he was an admirable representative, watchfully caring for the public interests. The son of bishop Alonzo Potter and grandson of Peter Nott of Union College, he had the right by inheritance to the talents with which he was endowed. After leaving college he devoted himself to civil engineering, intending to adopt it as his profession, but his tastes soon inclined him to the law. He was admitted to the bar of New York in 1847 and in a few years acquired a practice from which he derived a handsome fortune. He was well adapted to Parliamentary life and promptly acquired high rank in the House. |