Date of Service: 1864-1872
1864: Jean G. Potts, from Germany, is appointed Principal Keeper at Cape Charles Lighthouse, VA. His beginning salary is $500/year. (His wife Nancy B. Potts served as First Assistant)
1868: Keeper Jean G. Potts is killed in a disagreement by a man he meets walking on the railroad tracks near the lighthouse. Both men were carrying a double-barrel shotgun. Keeper Potts threatens to kill the man, presents his gun, but before he could get his shot off, the other man shoots him first. His ending salary at Cape Charles Lighthouse, VA. Was $760/year. His wife remains as Assistant Keeper at the lighthouse.
Sources: Chesapeake Chapter Keeper’s Database; familysearch.org; uslhs.org; Richmond Dispatch, February 1, 1868
