Mary Florence Webber Potts was an American businesswoman and inventor. Mary invented clothes irons with detachable wooden handles and they were exhibited at the 1876 Philadelphia Exposition World's Fair and the 1894 Chicago World's Fair. Her inventions were prominent throughout North America and the European continent in the 20th century and became the most popular heavy metal irons ever made.
Mary received her first patent of an improved clothes iron at the age of 19. Her next patented invention was an improvement on that model a year later which featured a detachable wooden handle. It was produced and sold by American Machine Company as a four piece kit package of detachable parts. Mary's products were distributed throughout Montgomery Ward and Sears Roebuck and Company and were manufactured until 1951.
The daughter of Jacob Hanec Webber and Anna (McKinley) Webber, Mary married Joseph Hunt Potts June 7, 1868 at the Episcopal Church in Ottumwa, Iowa and was the mother of two children.
Her obituary published in the Morning Post Baltimore Maryland June 26, 1922 states:
Mrs. Mary F. Potts died on Saturday in Baltimore, where for some time past she had resided. For many years Mrs. Potts made her home in Camden. She was the inventor of the Mrs. Potts Iron, an invention widely sold all over the country. Tributes to her kindness and generosity repeatedly have been paid by her old neighbors. Mrs. Potts leaves two children, Oscero Potts, head of the Potts Manufacturing Company, and Mrs. Arthur (Leona) Rossiter of Baltimore. The internment will take place in the New Camden Cemetery late this afternoon.
Sources:
Iowa, County Marriages 1838-1934 Marriage Record for Joseph H. Potts and Mary F. Webber June 7, 1868 Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa
Wikipedia page Mary Florence Webber Potts
Obituary published Morning Post June 26, 1922 page 12
Mary received her first patent of an improved clothes iron at the age of 19. Her next patented invention was an improvement on that model a year later which featured a detachable wooden handle. It was produced and sold by American Machine Company as a four piece kit package of detachable parts. Mary's products were distributed throughout Montgomery Ward and Sears Roebuck and Company and were manufactured until 1951.
The daughter of Jacob Hanec Webber and Anna (McKinley) Webber, Mary married Joseph Hunt Potts June 7, 1868 at the Episcopal Church in Ottumwa, Iowa and was the mother of two children.
Her obituary published in the Morning Post Baltimore Maryland June 26, 1922 states:
Mrs. Mary F. Potts died on Saturday in Baltimore, where for some time past she had resided. For many years Mrs. Potts made her home in Camden. She was the inventor of the Mrs. Potts Iron, an invention widely sold all over the country. Tributes to her kindness and generosity repeatedly have been paid by her old neighbors. Mrs. Potts leaves two children, Oscero Potts, head of the Potts Manufacturing Company, and Mrs. Arthur (Leona) Rossiter of Baltimore. The internment will take place in the New Camden Cemetery late this afternoon.
Sources:
Iowa, County Marriages 1838-1934 Marriage Record for Joseph H. Potts and Mary F. Webber June 7, 1868 Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa
Wikipedia page Mary Florence Webber Potts
Obituary published Morning Post June 26, 1922 page 12
Mary Florence Webber Potts was an American businesswoman and inventor. Mary invented clothes irons with detachable wooden handles and they were exhibited at the 1876 Philadelphia Exposition World's Fair and the 1894 Chicago World's Fair. Her inventions were prominent throughout North America and the European continent in the 20th century and became the most popular heavy metal irons ever made.
Mary received her first patent of an improved clothes iron at the age of 19. Her next patented invention was an improvement on that model a year later which featured a detachable wooden handle. It was produced and sold by American Machine Company as a four piece kit package of detachable parts. Mary's products were distributed throughout Montgomery Ward and Sears Roebuck and Company and were manufactured until 1951.
The daughter of Jacob Hanec Webber and Anna (McKinley) Webber, Mary married Joseph Hunt Potts June 7, 1868 at the Episcopal Church in Ottumwa, Iowa and was the mother of two children.
Her obituary published in the Morning Post Baltimore Maryland June 26, 1922 states:
Mrs. Mary F. Potts died on Saturday in Baltimore, where for some time past she had resided. For many years Mrs. Potts made her home in Camden. She was the inventor of the Mrs. Potts Iron, an invention widely sold all over the country. Tributes to her kindness and generosity repeatedly have been paid by her old neighbors. Mrs. Potts leaves two children, Oscero Potts, head of the Potts Manufacturing Company, and Mrs. Arthur (Leona) Rossiter of Baltimore. The internment will take place in the New Camden Cemetery late this afternoon.
Sources:
Iowa, County Marriages 1838-1934 Marriage Record for Joseph H. Potts and Mary F. Webber June 7, 1868 Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa
Wikipedia page Mary Florence Webber Potts
Obituary published Morning Post June 26, 1922 page 12
Mary received her first patent of an improved clothes iron at the age of 19. Her next patented invention was an improvement on that model a year later which featured a detachable wooden handle. It was produced and sold by American Machine Company as a four piece kit package of detachable parts. Mary's products were distributed throughout Montgomery Ward and Sears Roebuck and Company and were manufactured until 1951.
The daughter of Jacob Hanec Webber and Anna (McKinley) Webber, Mary married Joseph Hunt Potts June 7, 1868 at the Episcopal Church in Ottumwa, Iowa and was the mother of two children.
Her obituary published in the Morning Post Baltimore Maryland June 26, 1922 states:
Mrs. Mary F. Potts died on Saturday in Baltimore, where for some time past she had resided. For many years Mrs. Potts made her home in Camden. She was the inventor of the Mrs. Potts Iron, an invention widely sold all over the country. Tributes to her kindness and generosity repeatedly have been paid by her old neighbors. Mrs. Potts leaves two children, Oscero Potts, head of the Potts Manufacturing Company, and Mrs. Arthur (Leona) Rossiter of Baltimore. The internment will take place in the New Camden Cemetery late this afternoon.
Sources:
Iowa, County Marriages 1838-1934 Marriage Record for Joseph H. Potts and Mary F. Webber June 7, 1868 Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa
Wikipedia page Mary Florence Webber Potts
Obituary published Morning Post June 26, 1922 page 12
Gravesite Details
wife of Joseph Hunt Potts. (D.1901)
Family Members
Siblings
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
