Am hoping someone has some ideas on my Potter dilemma. It is a convoluted situation which has been complicated by my late paternal grandmother's tendency to "embroider" on the facts. Various family members took notes after talking with my grandmother. She told some family members she was the granddaughter of Capt. Joseph Potter and one of his four wives, Juraine Gavazza or Cavazza but she told my deceased father that Juraine may have been a "cruel stepmother." Juraine is said to have been a Spanish lady but her surname usually is considered Italian or sometimes Portugese from what I have been able to learn. My grandmother was consistent to all that she spoke to about four wives. Capt. Joseph and Juraine had at least three daughters including my great-grandmother Juraine Jennie Potter, born in l858. These girls are said to have been educated at the Moravian Seminary in Bethlehem, Pa. My grandmother told my father that two of the daughters disappeared into oblivion. These would have been her aunts and I don't know their names. Capt. Joseph Potter is said to have been born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and died in Nyack, New York. Dates unknown. He is said to have had a brother named Thomas B. Potter who married a woman by the name of Harriett A. (?). Joseph was a member of the Merchant Fleet out of New York City, according to my grandmother. And he engaged in the West Indies trade. The story was that he so disapproved of one of his daughter's marriage (my great-grandmother) he burned down the Potter home in Nyack, N.Y. All was lost except a chair and a comb. And he disowned and disinherited my great-grandmother, Juraine Jennie Potter, as well. This is not exactly accurate on several points. Several years back, a search with a Nyack historian could find no record of any fire involving a Potter family. I don't know what became of the comb but have seen a child's chair that is said to have been made in the West Indies. I also remember another very grand chair that my grandmother had and said belonged to her grandfather, Capt. Joseph Potter. No one was allowed to sit in it because of its great age. Heavily and elaborately carved with a worn leather back and seat fastened with brass studs. My grandmother also maintained that Capt. Potter commanded the Blockade Ship "Union" at Savannah during the Civil War. A check of military records shows this was either a fabrication or exaggeration of Capt. Potter's true role in the Civil War. Any feedback would be appreciated. Susan Stewart