814 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
EMERY DAVIS POTTER. 
BY J. E. GTJNCKEL. 
[Read before the American Fisheries Society.] 
A biographical sketch is probably the least interesting 
of any subject that could possibly be presented to a society 
the aim and object of which is the consideration of the 
propagation and protection of fish, but if you will bear 
with me for a very few minutes I will present to your 
attention a subject that will excite your interest and com- 
mand your appreciation. By request I am to speak to 
you of a man whose name has been familiarly known 
throughout the United States, and intimately known to 
many of us for nearly half a century. As a member of 
this Society and as fish commissioner of Ohio for many 
years, no person took a greater personal interest in the 
propagation and distribution of fish. From the first ex- 
periments, in 1853, of artificial breeding of trout, when 
he was intimately associated with the late Dr. Theodatus 
Garlick, to the time of his death in 1896, he was a faithful 
advocate of the objects of thiB Society. I would like to 
invite your attention to a brief memorial touching the life 
history of our esteemed companion, showing his relation- 
ship to the interests of this association, and what we learn 
from the lessons so patiently taught us for nearly a cen- 
tury. 
Some of the most distinguished men of the country 
have paid the highest tribute to his memory. Men of 
national reputation have paid homage to his worth and 
expressed their admiration of his many virtues. 
Emery Davis Potter was born in Providence, R. I., Oct. 
7, 1804, and died Feb. 12, 1896, in the 92d year of his age. 
The family removed to Otsego county, N. Y., in 1806. 
Like most of the early pioneers of our country, he devoted 
his leisure hours to studying such books as fell by chance 
into bis possession, and during the winter he attended 
the public schools, receiving such instruction in the 
branches of learning as were taught in those days. After 
many years of hard, earnest labor he entered the law 
office of John A. Dix, at Cooperstown. N. Y. Mr. Dix 
was subsequently governor of New York; later United 
States Senator from that State, and Secretary of the Treas- 
ury. Completing- his studies, Mr. Potter was admitted to 
practice in New York, but soon decided to make his home 
in the West. He arrived at Toledo, O., in the winter of 
1834. His qualities as a lawyer and his high standing 
among the people were appreciated, and in 1838 he was 
postmaster in Toledo. In 1839 he was elected by the Leg- 
islature as presiding judge of the Common Pleas Court 
of the Thirteenth Judicial District, covering all of north- 
western Ohio. 
Many interesting experiences he delighted to repeat in 
later years relative to his traveling from county to county 
on horseback, through dense wilderness, and how in the 
absence of bridges he was compelled to swim streams and 
resort to methods wholly unknown to the present gener- 
ation in the same section. Wild animals roamed at will 
in the forest; the streams were filled with fish and in such 
vast quantities he often selected the size and kind desired 
in advance of biting. In 1843 he waB elected a member 
of Congress from a district embracing ten counties. In 
Congress he at once took a prominent position which laid 
the foundation for his great interest in fish and fishing 
for the welfare and happiness of mankind, which fol- 
lowed him through the remaining years of his eventful 
life. He served with John Quincy Adams on the select 
committee on the Smithson will, which led to the found- 
ing of the Smithsonian Institute, now one of the most 
valuable and interesting institutions in the world. In 
1847 we find him mayor of the city of Toledo, and during 
this year he was elected to the Ohio Legislature. In 1848 
he was elected to the Thirty-first Congress, where he took 
a specially prominent part in the long struggle for 
speaker, receiving within three votes of being elected to 
that office. He was made chairman on the committee of 
post offices and post roads, and as such was the author of 
the bill providing for cheap postage and the coining of 
the 3-cent silver piece. Of this he said: "Speaker Cobb 
made me chairman of the committee of post offices. Dur- 
ing my first term in Congress postage was reduced from 
18, 12, 10 and 6 cents, according to distance. It was 10 
cents for a single sheet to any part of the country. I had 
been corresponding with Sir Rowland Hill and was con- 
vinced that the rates of postage could be reduced in this 
country without incurring debt. I introduced a bill re- 
ducing the postage to 3 cents, a uniform rate for all 
distances in the United States. I was deeply interested. 
The main objections came from Senator Tooms, a dis- 
tinguished and polished gentleman, whose principal ob- 
jection was that we had no money, no change less than a 
5-cent piece. I knew I had to do something to offset this 
plea, so I went to the mint and told them I wanted a 
3-cent coin made. They sent me 300 or 400 of the little 
silver pieces, so I had my pockets full when Mr. Tooms 
was ready to make his final speech against me. I walked 
over to his seat just before he was ready and I said: 'So 
you've got no change less than 5-cent pieces, how do you 
like this for postage?' I pulled out a handful of the silver 
3-cent pieces, and as he surveyed them carefully he re- 
plied, good-naturedly, 'I'll give up, you have conquered.' 
He voted for the bill. I afterward got the 3-cent pieces 
authorized by the Government." 
It was in 1853 that Mr. Potter became first interested in 
the artificial breeding of fish. The successful experiments 
were made by Dr. Theodatus Garlick and Mr. Potter, and 
from that time to his death he devoted his leisure in the 
study and work of this interesting subject. 
ttJ^^A 6 T m a PPo m ted judge of the Federal Court of 
Utah, but declined the honor. In 1859 he was appointed 
?oAi °£ of customa f or the Toledo district, serving until 
• h o™ 6 was elected as Senator to the Ohio Legislature 
in 1873, serving until 1875. It was during this term that 
?C r ' a?^ T f ° unded the law providing, at the expense of 
the State, for the propagation of fish in Ohio. To his 
personal attention and good management the successful 
introduction and establishment of that policy by the State 
was largely due. He was a member of the Ohio State 
i j V ommi881c J n for M manv y ears as te thought he 
could be of service to the State and people. No man took 
greater delight in personally watching the many changing 
conditions of the millions of eggs hatched out in the dif- 
ferent hatcheries of Ohio, or greater interest in distribut- 
ing small fish in the inland streams and rivers 
In addition to the national offices held by him he was 
at various times a member of the common council, citv 
solicitor, member of the board of education of the city of 
Toledo, and there was not a fishing or hunting club 
organized in Toledo but what he was asked to hold some 
office, and was president of one association for over 
twenty-five years. Such part of his time as was not occu- 
pied by his business was passed in the society of men 
whose acquaintance was sufficient proof of the esteem in 
which his talents were held, and the friendship of such 
men was ample evidence of his moral worth. His amiable 
temper, agreeable manner and unaffected benevolence in- 
spired all who knew him with esteem and regard. He 
was one of the most enthusiastic and successful anglers of 
our times. At the green old age of 90 he could bring to 
his net the gamiest black bass known in the rapidly flow- 
ing streams of our Western country, and he had that 
sweet and amiable disposition characteristic of all true 
anglers that, whether fish were wont to take his lure or 
not, he considered that "No recreation was so harmless 
and which had so many rational inducements to health 
and true enjoyment as angling," After a tedious winter's 
session of Congress he and Daniel Webster found relief 
in angling for salmon in the Kennebec and trout in the 
various streams of Massachusetts. He was a companion 
of John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay, and sat at the 
bedside of the great Kentuckian when his spirit took its 
flight. He was a life-long companion of the late Chief 
Justice Waite and Allen G. Thurman. 
The unselfishness of his life was most remarkable. 
There are different degrees of unselfishness. There are 
good men who are willing to devote themselves to a great 
cause if they may choose the part of the work that suits 
them; Mr. Potter had no choice. All that he asked was 
that the service was needed. No life can have a loftier 
purpose than his. His genial sympathy and good nature 
attracted every person and every interest of the whole 
community. No consciousness of high political honors 
lifted him above his neighbors. A great man is always 
greater than any one of his actions. 
The object of the American Fisheries Society is to de- 
vise means to restore to the lakes, rivers and streams in 
this country the food fish supply. The members by study, 
by experiment and intercourse with each other learned 
the best methods of fishculture, and by the skill which 
they have now acquired are able to bring into the world, 
by artificial means, more young fish than nature can in 
its ordinary course supply. Had it not been for the mem- 
bers of this Society the fish industries of the great fresh- 
EMERY DAVIS POTTER. 
water bodies, as well as the game fish for sport in the 
rivers and streams would by this time be entirely demor- 
alized, if not destroyed. Mr. Potter and Dr. Garlick 
watched with eager eyes the first spawn gathered in a 
rude box, and the result is better told by referring to Mr. 
Potter's address before this Society, at Put-in-Bay, in 
1890, where he says: "About the latter part of January 
the eyes appeared in the eggs, and about March 1, 1854, 
there lay prone on his side on his gravelly bed the first 
baby fish artificially propagated on this continent." 
From this experiment has arisen an industry the benefits 
of which have been realized by every civilized nation of 
the earth. The question had attracted the attention of 
fishermen and the ablest scientists in America and Europe. 
This was the beginning of his active interest in the propa- 
gation of fish. He saw with feelings of the deepest regret 
that each year the hand of commerce was advancing 
across the waters of the great lakes, and miles and miles 
of netting with its destructive tentacles extending in every 
direction, that in a few years our lakes and streams would 
be mere watery wastes. How true were his predictions 
we all know. 
In 1871 he appeared before the General Assembly of 
Ohio. "Gentlemen," he said, "you have but one ques- 
tion to consider: Shall the fish and game be destroyed 
from the face of the earth by indiscriminate slaughter, or- 
shall wholesome laws be enacted, so that the future gen- 
erations may share in their products? Our lakes, our 
rivers and our lands are the nation's wealth. The earth 
only produces her fruits by careful husbandry. Shall we 
neglect our waters, the great source of our riches, for the 
want of an economical husbandry, or shall we let them 
become a barren waste, when abundance awaits an intel- 
ligent cultivation under judicious and wholesome laws?" 
His interest never wavered in watching the protection 
of fish and game. 
Anent his first experience in "the gentle art" of angling 
I quote from a manuscript penned by Mr, Potter for my 
use when he was in his 90bh year: "When I was 16 
years of age," he writes, "not liking farming very 
well, I made up my mind to go a-fishing to sea. I had a 
colt on the farm called my own, although I had never 
invested any money in it. This I sold, and with the 
money I started for New York. Arriving at Albany, for 
the sake of economy I took passage on a lumber sloop. 
Down about West Point we were becalmed and laid to. 
After dark, it being very warm weather, the table was set 
in the cabin, with the windows open and the lamp lighted. 
We were all seated around the table, when all at once a 
huge sturgeon bounded through the window upon the 
table, scattering dishes and supper in every direction. He 
took complete possession of the cabin, much to my enjoy- 
ment. We soon dragged him on deck, and for the rest of 
the voyage had plenty of what the captain called 'Albany 
beef.' Not finding a ship in New York, I worked my way 
to Boston, where I found at Long Wharf a vessel just 
fitted out and ready to sail for the banks of Newfound- 
land on a codfishing voyage. This was just what I 
wanted. I had caught speckled trout in all the mountain 
streams of New York, and I ached for a taste of the gentle 
art at sea. I got it. I found before the season was over 
that the gentle art had lost its romance in codfishing off 
the banks, and ohl how I longed for the speckled trout in 
the clear streams of my native home." 
At the age of 91 Mr. Potter penned me the following 
interesting sketch: "I am often asked what has been the 
cause of my robust health. I can best answer by giving 
my manner of life from the beginning. From my early 
childhood I fished the cold streams of Herkimer and 
Otsego counties for the speckled trout with an alder pole, 
with chalk line and angle worms, and passing through 
all the gradations of the art up to the rod and reel, with 
a book of selected flies. For over fifty years scarcely a 
summer has passed that I have not spent several weeks 
on the north shore of Lake Superior among the trout 
and bass, taking in all the favorite fishing grounds from 
the Soo to Fort William, including the famous Nipigon. 
My profession being a lawyer (I was the first lawyer that 
hung out a shingle in Toledo) required close application 
to office work, but in the fishing season on every Satur- 
day morning before breakfast I took my fishing traps 
and spent the entire day, taking neither food nor liquors 
of any kind till my return home in the evening. My 
Saturday's respite from office labor I continued for nearly 
sixty years. I can say without boasting, although nearly 
100 years old, that I see well, hear well, feed well, digest 
well and sleep well and without any organic impairment, 
and can keep with my bird dogs afield from morning 
until night. I will say for the young people — and know- 
ingly too — that there is no sport that brings a person so 
closely into contact with nature at her best as angling. 
It first charms and then makes the art recreation. It 
leads you into the woods, where you are delighted with 
new scenes and sweet sounds; it gives you ample exer- 
cise for every muscle of your body. The music of the 
mountain brook, the cool air from the mossy pascade, 
the scent of wild flowers and rare ferns and the most 
perfect picture of woodland beauty are all the fortunate 
heritage of that happy man who goes a-fishing." 
ANGLING NOTES. 
Fly-Fishing for Tarpon. 
Within the past year I mentioned in this column that 
Dr. Wm. H. Drummond, of Montreal, had taken a tarpon 
on a fly in Jamaica, but my file of Forest and Stream is 
not at hand at this moment and I cannot recall the cir- 
cumstances of the capture. 
Dr. Drummond has, however, recently returned from 
another visit to Jamaica, and while there devoted some 
little time to fishing, about which he writes me as follows: 
"In six days' fishing in Jamaica I caught over 150 tarpon 
in fly-fishing, fish from 2 or 31bs. up to 71bs., the average, 
I suppose, being about 2£ or 31bs. Such perfect devils 
when hooked 1 never met. I was almost afraid of them. 
They come at you like tigers and take fly or bait right 
into the air as they leap, and if your rod tip is at the 
wrong angle, bang! she goes. I broke three or four rods, 
including a 'steel' that I thought would stand anything. 
I also fished two days for 'mountain mullet,' which they 
say closely resemble our trout in everything but color, 
being of a peculiar bluish tint, but failed to catch one. 
In fact I did not see a mullet out of the water." As Dr. 
Drummond is president of the St. Maurice Club in 
Canada, he means the common brook trout when he says 
the mullet of Jamaica is said to resemble our trout, but I 
have no idea what the fish really is. Tarpon on the arti- 
ficial fly, even if the fish weigh but 2£ or 31bs., must be 
sport a notch or two above bigger tarpon on a short stiff 
rod, and if anglers come from Europe to catch tarpon in 
Florida and Texas waters they will next go on to Jamaica 
for tarpon on the fly rod. 
Growth of Trout Fry. 
At the meeting of the American Fisheries Society, when 
one of the papers was being discussed by the members, 
the growth of brook trout was referred to, and all admit- 
ted that Long Island waters produced trout of greater 
size at the same age than any other waters. 
I had just planted a lot of yearling trout that were 9in. in 
length, that were reared at the Cold Spring Harbor Sta- 
tion of the Fisheries, Game and Forest Commission, and 
they were not fish that had been specially fed. Commis- 
sioner Thompson told of yearlings of even greater size in 
the ponds of a private club, of which he is the president, 
on Long Island. When I returned home I found a letter 
from Mr. C. C. Wood, superintendent of the Plymouth 
Rock Trout Co., in which he said: "I am sending you 
specimens of our brook trout fry batched in January last, 
which will interest you. They are not the largest indi- 
vidual fish we could select, but a fair average of our old- 
est fry." They were fry that any fish breeder might well 
be proud of, and I measured one over and found it lf-in. 
long. I then wrote to Foreman C. H. Walters to send 
me specimens of his January fry from the Cold Spring 
Harbor Station of the Fisheries, Game and Forest Commis- 
sion of New York. He writes: "I send a fair sample of 
our trout fry. I could send larger ones, but you say you 
want an average lot. These were hatched about the mid- 
dle of January. You know we did not keep the first fry 
that hatched, but sent them away to fill applications, as the 
rearing ponds were not then ready for them." These 
trout will average about 2£in. in length, but one of them 
is 2^in. long. 
I asked Commissioner Thompson to send me speci- 
mens from his club waters, and while they vary more in 
size than the others, one of them is full 3in. long, and 
the shortest one is 2£in. in length. The three lots of fry 
were all well conditioned fish, those fron Commissioner 
Thompson being especially deep in the body for the 
length. At his club he feeds no liver. Minnows are 
procured and the flesh peeled from the bones by Bteam, 
and the flesh is then fed. I am very glad to testify to the 
size of the fry of this year's growth sent to me by Mr. 
Thompson, for during the discussion at the American 
Fisheries Society meeting at the New York Aquarium, 
where Mr. Thompson said hejhad fry of this year that 
were 3in. long, an expression of mine, as I afterward 
read it in the stenographer's minutes, expressed surprise 
