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Robert Caldwell Pottenger

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Robert Caldwell Pottenger

Birth
Gethsemane, Nelson County, Kentucky, USA
Death
10 May 1837 (aged 16)
Gethsemane, Nelson County, Kentucky, USA
Burial
Nelson County, Kentucky, USA Add to Map
Memorial ID
View Source
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Son of Samuel Pottenger and Lucinda (Jameson) Pottenger. Age 16

Robert Caldwell Pottinger was the first born in Sam Jr.’s log house on Lot No.1 in New Haven, KY. Robert was a twin and born a few minutes before Thomas Jefferson Pottinger under the care of the town’s new physician, Dr. William Elliot. Robert was the first white child to be born in New Haven. His middle name Caldwell is from his grandfather’s first wife; Jenny Caldwell Logan.

He died at age 16 from pneumonia. In the early part of the year, he had become overheated from playing sports during recess outside at the St. Joseph's College in Bardstown. Later that day in the classroom, he sat next to a broken window in which the glass had not been replaced. The cold spring air blew in across him, and he developed pneumonia, and he never recovered. For weeks he continued to go to school where he collapsed and died.

He still used an "e" in his name on all his school work before his brothers changed in to an "i". He is buried in the Pottinger Family Cemetery and his old headstone reflects the "e".
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Son of Samuel Pottenger and Lucinda (Jameson) Pottenger. Age 16

Robert Caldwell Pottinger was the first born in Sam Jr.’s log house on Lot No.1 in New Haven, KY. Robert was a twin and born a few minutes before Thomas Jefferson Pottinger under the care of the town’s new physician, Dr. William Elliot. Robert was the first white child to be born in New Haven. His middle name Caldwell is from his grandfather’s first wife; Jenny Caldwell Logan.

He died at age 16 from pneumonia. In the early part of the year, he had become overheated from playing sports during recess outside at the St. Joseph's College in Bardstown. Later that day in the classroom, he sat next to a broken window in which the glass had not been replaced. The cold spring air blew in across him, and he developed pneumonia, and he never recovered. For weeks he continued to go to school where he collapsed and died.

He still used an "e" in his name on all his school work before his brothers changed in to an "i". He is buried in the Pottinger Family Cemetery and his old headstone reflects the "e".


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