Born in Veldhausen, Province of Hanover, Ostfriesland Prussia (Western Germany); graduate of Kampen Seminary in the Netherlands (1883); served as minister at Altreformierte Kirche in Uelsen (1883-1885) and Ihrhove and Neermoor congregations (1885-1889); emigrated to Ridott, Illinois, in 1889; pastor for the Christian Reformed Church at Ridott and German Valley, Illinois (1889-1892), Parkersburg, Iowa (1892-1896) and Emden and Clara City, Minnesota, congregations (1896-1900); German Presbyterian Church congregation at Kamrar, Iowa (1900-1904); 1st Presbyterian Church congregation at Dubuque, Iowa (1904-1905); and German Reformed Church congregation at Forreston, Illinois (1905-1914). He passed away on March 14, 1931, in Oregon, Illinois. The collection includes Biography of Steffen Gerrit Potgieter (1827-1919) and Herman Johann Potgieter (1856-1931) (1998), photograph of Herman J Potgieter, ca. 1924, and letters of call from various church congregations to Herman J. Potgieter from 1883-1885, 1888, 1890, 1892-1896, 1898, 1905. Potgieter’s name also appears as Potgeter (German spelling) and eventually Potter (English spelling) in 1923
