Richard Potter

Richard Potter (c. 1783 – September 20, 1835) was a black slave in the household. However, Sir Charles died in England in 1768, over a decade before Potter's birth, and others sources indicate Potter's father was a clergyman named George Simpson. Potter obscured most of his early life and encouraged speculation. This is also the year that Potter became a Mason of African Lodge No. 459 and was part of founding the Prince Hall Masonry.

Potter performed up and down the East Coast, going as far south as Alabama. One of Potter's notable run-ins with prejudice occurred in Mobile, Alabama, where he was turned away from a hotel because of his race. Despite this issue, Potter still made over $4,000 during that visit. (The claimed amount is viewed as unrealistic in some sources.) Legend has it that "the Potter Place" served as the inspiration for the design of the New Hampshire State House in Concord, built in 1819.

Potter married Sally Harris of Roxbury, Massachusetts, The Potters were survived only by one child, a son also named Richard. Both Richard Potter and Potter Place are featured on a New Hampshire historical marker (number 54) erected in 1968. From the late 1960s til present, Robert Olson, a modern re-enactor based at Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts adopted Potter's persona and performed "an authentic rendition of Potter's repertoire" at various venues.

In 2022, the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire installed and unveiled a historic marker to honor him and his work as America's first Black magician.