James W. Potts

James Wesley Potts (1830–1896), known as James W. Potts or J. W. Potts, was a pioneer resident of Los Angeles, California, after that state became part of the United States following the Mexican War. He was a merchant, a landowner and a member of the Los Angeles Common Council, the legislative branch of the city, becoming noted locally as an amateur weatherman nicknamed "The Prophet."

Personal Potts was born December 20, 1830, in Rutherford County, Tennessee, the son of John Greene Potts and Cynthia Jones Potts. His father died when James was just four years old, and his mother when he was thirteen.

He came to California via the Overland Trail in 1852, "walking the entire distance beside a yoke of oxen which pulled one of the old prairie schooners containing all of his possessions."

Potts was married in Los Angeles on July 12, 1866, to Emma Catherine Bedwell or Bedwells of Arkansas and Texas.

Potts, an amateur weatherman who wrote many columns or letters on that and other subjects for the Los Angeles Times, was nicknamed "The Prophet." of which he was a founding member. in the Echo Park district.

Vocation On arriving in California, Potts first settled in El Monte, "where he engaged in commercial business", then moved to Wilmington and finally to Los Angeles.

Common Council Potts was elected to a one-year term to represent the 2nd Ward on the Los Angeles Common Council on December 3, 1877, serving until December 6, 1878.

He was one of the council members who favored establishment of Evergreen Cemetery by a private group in Boyle Heights. The measure was controversial, and it was approved by a split vote in the council, Potts stating: "I can't see why these men object to having a graveyard on the other side of the [Los Angeles] River [,] for I should rejoice to bury my family over there—that is, when I die."