SHEBOYGAN HISTORY

August W. Pott, Page 661

AUGUST W. POTT, Municipal Judge of Sheboygan, and editor and publisher of the Sheboygan Zeitung, was born in the town of Herman, of this county, January 14, 1855, and is a son of August and Justina (Hoehfeld) Pott, of whom see sketch elsewhere in this work.  While an infant, he was brought by his parents to Sheboygan City, where he was reared to manhood.  His education was obtained in the city schools, and in the German and English Academy of Milwaukee.  While still a youth, he began an apprenticeship to the printer's trade under his father, in the Zeitung office, continuing to work in that office until 1874, when he started out to see the world and perfect himself in his trade.  He traveled and worked as a journeyman printer in various offices in the West and East, spending considerable time in Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Newark.  He returned to his home in 1877, having been called back by the sad event of the drowning of his brother William.

    On the 10th of April, 1878, he was united in marriage, in Sheboygan, to Miss Mary Bruns, a daughter of Albert Bruns, who died as a soldier in the late war.  Her mother survives, and still resides in Sheboygan.  Mrs. Pott was born in the town of Herman, Sheboygan County.

    Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Pott, five sons and two daughters, all of whom are living except one son.  The eldest is August A., and the others in order of birth are Laura; William G.; Edwin, who died aged four years; Elsa; Robert H. and Emil B.  Mr. Pott and wife are members of the German Reformed Church.

    In politics, he is an earnest Republican, having held various public offices.  He was elected City Comptroller, serving one term in that office; was School Superintendent one term; President of the School Board one year; and in 1887 was elected Municipal Judge.  Serving one term of four years in that office he was re-elected in the spring of 1891, and is now serving his second term.  He is a member of the Concordia Singing Society, of which he was President many years, or until he declined to serve longer; he is also a member of the "Arbeiter Fortbildungs," and of the Turnverein societies.  He is a Master Mason, a member of Sheboygan Lodge No. 11, and is also a member of the Royal Arcanum.

    In June, 1880, Mr. Pott revived the Sheboygan Zeitung, which had suspended publication after his father's death, and in December, 1881, bought the Sheboygan Tribune, which he consolidated with the Zeitung, and that he has continued to publish.  The Zeitung is a six-column quarto, with a four-page supplement, and is the only German Republican paper published in Sheboygan County.  The Zeitung office is well equipped for all sorts of job work, and the paper has a large and increasing circulation.