Author: Potter, William J. (1829-1893). Radical minister in the American Free Thought tradition. He was influenced by the Transcendentalists and later, Darwin.
Title: Autograph Letter Signed by the Radical Minister William J. Potter Regarding a Lecture He Will Give.
Description: New Bedford, MA: December 30, 1874. 1874. - Octavo, 8 inches high by 5 inches wide. Two pages penned on the first and third pages of a folded sheet. Over 150 words penned by the radical minister William J. Potter addressed to a Mrs. Richmond regarding arrangements for a lecture he will give at the meeting of her club. After mentioning that she should expect him on the 5 p.m. train, as that is the earliest he can leave Boston for Lowell that day, he expresses his pleasure that she likes his latest essay: "I am glad if you have found so much to enjoy in my essay on 'The New Protestantism'" and, though he would be tempted to read it at the lecture he had "thought of reading a paper which I call 'Two Views of Tradition, - The Ecclesiastical & the Scientific.' And on the whole this seems to me more appropriate." Signed "Wm. J. Potter". In a postscript, Potter suggests that if Mrs. Richmond's not fully recovered her health by then, it might be better to postpone the meeting and he would then come later in the season. Folded several times for mailing with a small piece out from the bottom front corner of the second page.

The Unitarian minister and Freethinker William James Potter (1829-1893) was a radical minister in the American Free Thought tradition of his era. Influenced by the Transcendentalists, he was later strongly influenced by Charles Darwin. Moving from his Quaker foundations to Unitarian Christianity and then towards free religion, Potter was a founder with David Atwood Wasson of the Free Religious Association (1867-1920). Potter drafted the Free Religious Association's constitution and eventually served as it's president: "The new society would dedicate itself to the emancipation of religion from the thralldom of irrational and traditional authorities." From 1859 to 1892, he served as the minister of the Unitarian Church in New Bedford (First Congregational Society). Potter was the poet Conrad Aiken's grandfather. In his autobiography "Ushant", Aiken says that his entire life was devoted to the ideas and work of Potter. Very good .

Keywords: RELIGION; AMERICANA; AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED; WILLIAM J. POTTER; UNITARIAN CHRISTIANITY; RADICAL MINISTER; AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED; SIGNATURE; FREETHINKER; FREE THOUGHT TRADITION; MOVEMENT; QUAKER; FREE RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATION; TRANSCENDENTALISTS; FIRST CON

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