Descendants of John TOPE/Jacob DOUB
George TOPE I
Levi TOPE
Mary Catherine TOPE
Oscar Melville KEAR

     Florence was the next to the oldest in her family, with the other children being Arvilla E., Bertha Irene, Millard Wilson, Olive V., Charles Othal, and Denver B. Potts.

     Paternally, Florence was of Welsh descent with her earliest known ancestor being Thomas POTTS of Llangirrig, Wales, Thomas may have come from the Cheshire Pott family. Thomas died in 1658 and his widow, Elizabeth -- , came to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [7]

     Next in this line was Jonas POTTS, the third child of Thomas and Elizabeth, whose second marriage was to Mary ----------. Their second child - his seventh - was Jonas II. The Jonas Potts family moved in 1746 to the northern part of Fairfax County, Virginia, (now in Loudoun County). [8]

     Jonas II (d 1814) second marriage was to Mary Heckathorn (d 1812/3), and Nathan FOTTS was born on 10 July 1764 to them in Loudoun County, Virginia, Nathan married Mary Chamblin on 2 January 1793, and moved to Washington County, Pennsylvania, in October 1799. [9]

     Frederick POTTS was born to Nathan and Mary in Washington County on 14 August 1809 [10], and moved to Carroll County, Ohio, probably around 1825 with his parents. [11]

     Frederick married Elizabeth Wirebaugh in Carroll County, Ohio, and their fifth child was Benjamin Gleason Potts, the father of Florence. Benjamin married Annie Vieta Fair in Van Wert, Ohio, on 1 September 1878. [12]

     The mother of Florence Potts was a daughter of John James Fair and Mary -------. Anna Vieta Fair was born in Ohio around 1863, and died in childbirth in 1894. Anna was buried first in Blue Creek Cemetery, Paulding County, Ohio, then removed to Woodland Cemetery in Van Wert, Ohio, after the death of her husband.

     After the death of her mother, Florence and her older sister reared the younger children. However, at the age of 17, she went to live with her Aunt May Fair, and lived there until her marriage.

     Her father remarried on 5 June 1901 to Mary A. Johnson, but he was a widower at his death. [13] Benjamin was a railroad inspector, and died on 15 September 1914 in Spencerville, Ohio, when he was run over by a train, and his body severed lengthwise. [14]

     Florence had an excellent alto voice, and sang in her Van Wert church choir. She also sang in a women’s quartette with her sister, Bertha, and two other women from the church. Also, she was a member of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union.

     Florence normally was close to six feet. However, the crippling effect of arthritis changed her height to 5' 8". Around 1927 a doctor ordered her to bed with pillows under her knees to ease the pain of arthritis. When she left the bed after almost a year, her knees would not straighten, and she could not walk. Learning to walk again was a painful process, but she was encouraged by her sister, Bertha, who visited her every day. For the remainder of her life Florence walked with crutches.

     In later years, Florence was a diabetic, and died after several heart attacks. She died at her home.

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