Queer Places:
Harvard University (Ivy League), 2 Kirkland St, Cambridge, MA 02138
Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, Bronx County, New York, USA
Warwick Potter (October 31, 1870 - October 11, 1893) was born on October 31, 1870, in Leamington
Spa, Warwickshire, England. He was the son of Major-General Robert Brown Potter (1829–1887), a distinguished Union Civil War general, and Abby Austin
Stevens Potter (1836–1913). Through his paternal side, he was the grandson of Alonzo Potter, the third Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Pennsylvania and a
noted mathematician and philosopher, and Sarah Maria Nott, the daughter of Union College President Eliphalet Nott. He grew up alongside brothers Robert
Burnside Potter, Austin Potter, an early-dying sibling named Abby Potter, and a half-sister, Frances "Fanny" Tileston Potter Breese.
Potter attended Harvard University, where he became a student and close friend of philosopher and poet
George Santayana at the Gas House or Delphic Club. His premature death on October 11, 1893, at the age of
22—contracting cholera while on board the yacht Sagamore at Brest, France, during a round-the-world cruise—contributed substantially to a profound
spiritual and emotional shift (metanoia) in Santayana. Santayana immortalized Potter as the "WP" of his sonnets, writing a moving quartet of consoling
poems and memorializing him and their youthful circle in subsequent dedicatory clubhouse poetry.
Funeral services for Warwick Potter were held at Trinity Chapel on West Twenty-fifth Street, conducted by his uncle, Rev. Dr. E.N. Potter (president
of Hobart College), alongside Dr. Rainsford, Rev. Endicott Peabody (headmaster of Groton School), and the Rev. Messrs. Thayer and Vibberd. He was
ultimately interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York.
References:
Other references:
- George Santayana's Writings and Associations: References George Santayana's sonnets dedicated to "WP" (Warwick Potter), his friendship with Potter at the Delphic Club (Gas House), and the impact of Potter's premature death on Santayana's metanoia and dedicatory clubhouse poetry of 1902.
- Biographical and Genealogical Data: Records detailing Warwick Potter's birth on October 31, 1870, in Lemington (Newcastle upon Tyne) or Leamington Spa, England, and his death on October 11, 1893, at age 22 in Brest, France. It identifies his parents as Major-General Robert Brown Potter and Abby Austin Stevens Potter, his paternal grandparents as Bishop Alonzo Potter and Sarah Maria Nott, and lists his siblings and half-siblings (Robert Burnside Potter, Austin Potter, Abby Potter, and Frances Tileston Potter Breese).
- Historical Commentary and Connections: Notes regarding an international lawyer named Andrew Onderdonk visiting Santayana in the 1920s, a student named Andrew Joseph Onderdonk who possessed Santayana's writing chair, Mathew Brady's 1864 photograph of Major-General Robert Brown Potter, and Eliphalet Nott's presidency at Union College.
- Obituary and Funeral Record: An obituary notice detailing the funeral services for Warwick Potter held at Trinity Chapel on West Twenty-fifth Street, noting that he died on board the yacht Sagamore at Brest, France, during a round-the-world cruise. The services were conducted by Rev. Dr. E.N. Potter, Dr. Rainsford, Rev. Endicott Peabody, and the Rev. Messrs. Thayer and Vibberd, with final interment at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York.
Support this project
This website is a passion project researched, developed, and funded entirely by me. If you find the content valuable and would like to help support the ongoing research and hosting costs, any contribution is deeply appreciated.
Thank you for keeping this independent resource alive!
My books on Amazon: Elisa Rolle's books
BACK TO HOME PAGE
