Despite the fame of the fictional Harry Potter, Richard Potter of New Hampshire is credited as America’s first successful stage magician, hypnotist and ventriloquist. Legend says he was able to climb a rope and disappear while performing outdoors surrounded by spectators. That's the legend. His best known illusion was "crawling through a log" and Potter could throw his voice, especially using bird sounds, with great skill. Whether he was the first to use a ventriloguist’s doll or dummy isn’t known. Reportedly Potter was rhe son of an English baronet and an African American serving woman (some say "slave"). He was educated in Europe and traveled widely before beginning his 25 year career as a performer in post-Revolutionary America. He lived with his father in Hopkington, NH and later married and lived in Andover, NH. Potter’s prestidigitation with eggs, money and cards was considered of scientific interest and he often performed at the Columbia Museum in Boston. He could throw knives and touch a hot iron to his tongue, walk on flames, dance on eggs without breaking them. He performed in New York and all over New England. Charles Brewster, in his history of Portsmouth, NH refers to Potter as living on what is now State Street. Potter apparently had a son of the same name who performed magic like his father. In 1813 Potter, a successful performer, bought a 175-acre farm in Andover, NH, in the village now known as Potter’s Place. Potter and his wife Sally were buried in the front yard of their estate, but the bodies were later moved by the town to a their current location. His story intrigued Harry Houdini who included Potter in his popular magazine of magic.