Potterizing
A Congressman's Despicable Act Not Enough for Expulsion
(This essay is adapted from Washington Babylon: From George Washington to Donald Trump, Scandals That Rocked the Nation.)
Robert Potter was first elected to Congress in the 1828 election. He assumed office in March 1829. His first term was relatively unremarkable, but he accomplished enough to earn reelection in 1830. Potter was married to Isabella Taylor. For reasons that are unclear today, Potter had an intense jealous streak, and he presumed his wife was being unfaithful to him. This came to a head in August 1831.
Isabella had a pair of cousins who frequently visited the Potter home. One was 55-year-old Louis Taylor, who was a local Methodist minister. The other was 17-year-old Louis Wiley. Potter was convinced his wife was having affairs with both men.
On Sunday, August 28, Minister Taylor stopped by the Potter residence. Potter’s pent-up suspicion exploded. He accused Taylor of carrying on an adulterous relationship with his wife. Taylor denied these charges. After a heated argument, Potter “pounced on him like a wild beast, beating him senseless.”[1]
With Taylor beaten and subdued, Potter used a sharp knife and castrated the minister. “I have been very merciful and kind to you,” Potter said to Taylor. “I have spared your life.” Potter then took Taylor to his own home, put him to bed, and cautioned him not to breathe a word of what occurred, or else Taylor would be a disgraced man.[2]
Potter wasn’t finished with exacting revenge on those he viewed as competition for the affections of his wife. He then went looking for the teenaged Louis Wiley. He found Wiley at his home and “sprang upon him like a tiger, treating him as he had Taylor.”[3]
According to an unconfirmed account, Potter surprised each man by throwing a rope around the neck and tightening it until near unconsciousness. Then he lashed together the hands and feet of each man. Only then did Potter castrate each one. After the second attack, Potter called for the local doctor to inspect both victims. Potter’s act of castration became known in North Carolina as “Potterizing.”
Potter was arrested the very next morning and was jailed without bail. Authorities were concerned either or both victims might die. This would elevate the charge from assault to murder. Both men survived.
A trial to face charges stemming from the assault on Wiley was held on Monday, September 5, 1831, eight days after the attacks. Potter represented himself. His defense strategy was simple. Potter pleaded not guilty under the theory that he was defending the “sanctity of the marriage bed.” His defense, while novel, did not rescue him from a guilty verdict for assault. Potter was sentenced to six months in jail and fined $1,000.
The trial for his attack on Minister Taylor was deferred until such time it was apparent that Taylor was to survive. That trial took place six months later in March 1832. Potter was again convicted for assault with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to two years in prison.
In the Constitution, Article I, Section 5, Clause 2 states:
Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.
Despite the authority to do so, the US House did not issue any punishment of Potter for the attacks and castration of both men. However, the House did censure Congressman William Stanbery of Ohio that same year for insulting the Speaker of the House during a floor debate.
Once Potter entered jail following his conviction in the Wiley attack, he resigned his House seat. In a letter to friends, he explained it was necessary he resign his seat in Congress if he had lost the confidence of the voters, even though he thought he was unfairly convicted. Potter was convinced he was the victim of political opponents, not the guilty party of a violent attack. In announcing his decision to resign his seat, he wrote, “I cheerfully return to my constituents the appointment to which they advanced me in the public service.”[4]
Potter wrote an open letter to the public while still in jail in 1832. He argued he should not be jailed, but instead “should be applauded” for attacking an adulterer.
After he finished his prison sentence, Potter immediately announced his candidacy for the North Carolina legislature’s lower chamber. Despite his notorious behavior, Potter was a dynamic speaker and campaigner that made him popular among the voters. He was elected to the North Carolina House of Commons after a bruising campaign that was called “Potter’s War.”
Despite his election win, 1834 yielded tragedy for Potter. His wife filed for and was granted divorce and was also granted custody of both children. Isabella Taylor Potter changed her last name, and the last names of their two children, to Pelham, which was her mother’s maiden name. Unfortunately, Isabella died later that year. Their daughter, Susan, contracted pneumonia and also died. Their son, Robert Jr., was considered “mentally incompetent.”[5] Potter lost everything personal in his life.
Potter’s election to the North Carolina House of Commons did not escape controversy. His bombastic style and habit of verbally attacking those with whom he disagreed made him an enemy of most representatives in the chamber. The other representatives were desperate to find a way to prematurely end his term in the House. Potter gave them one. He was playing cards, when he accused his opponent of cheating. A scuffle ensued. Potter drew a pistol and a knife on his opponent. Such behavior was in violation of House rules.
Potter was charged with “Public reports that were ‘highly injurious’ to member’s reputation and ‘derogatory to the dignity of this House,’ touching on his conduct since he took his seat as a member.”[6] The House of Commons debated the charge facing Potter on January 1, 1835, and voted to expel him from the chamber the following day.[7]
Mark Hyman is an Emmy award-winning investigative journalist. Follow him on Twitter, Gettr, and Parler at @markhyman, and on Truth Social at @markhyman81.
His books Washington Babylon: From George Washington to Donald Trump, Scandals That Rocked the Nation and Pardongate: How Bill and Hillary Clinton and their Brothers Profited from Pardons are on sale now (here and here).
[1] Ernest G. Fischer, Robert Potter: Founder of the Texas Navy, (Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing Company, 1976), 23.
[2] Ibid, 23.
[3] Ibid, 23.
[4] Ibid, 25.
[5] Ibid, 26.
[6] “Disciplinary Actions by the General Assembly Against Members of the House or Senate,” website of the North Carolina General Assembly, accessed November 15, 2018, http://www.ncleg.net/library/Documents/DisciplinaryActionsAgainstMembers.pdf.
[7] Journals of the Senate and House of Commons of the General Assembly of North Carolina at the Session 1834–1835, p. 231, accessed November 15, 2018, http://digital.ncdcr.gov/cdm/ref/collection/p249901coll22/id/490191/.