In 1628 he was chosen Governor, and held the position from 1629 until the early part of 1630, when, being accused of stealing cattle, he was superseded by Sir John Harvey.

[4] The jury for the trial, however, was totally subservient to the obvious wishes of Sir John Harvey.

Pott was found guilty and confined to his plantation, Harrop, the first settlement in the area of what is now Williamsburg, where he learned that his entire estate was to be confiscated.

Pott's wife rose from her sickbed and returned to England to plead her husband's case before the king.

The governor therefore appealed to the king to pardon Dr. Pott, "as he was by far the best physician in the colony ... skilled in epidemicals."

Pott was subsequently pardoned, his estate was returned, and he resumed his medical practice in the colony.

In February, 1633, it was enacted by the General Assembly that a fortieth part of the men in "the compasse of the forest" east of Archer's Hope and Queen's Creek to Chesapeake Bay (essentially all of the lower peninsula) should be present "before the first day of March next" at Dr. John Potts' plantation, "newlie built," to erect houses and secure the land in that quarter.