John Porter 1 2 3
- Born: 9 Sep 1797, Alexandria, Huntingdon, PA 1 2
- Marriage (1): Maria Bucher on 13 Mar 1821 1 2
- Died: 24 Mar 1881, Pennsylvania Furnace, Huntingdon, PA at age 83 1 2
- Buried: Alexandria: Alexandria Cemetery, Huntingdon, PA 1 2
FamilySearch ID: KN3G-LYD.
Noted events in his life were:
1. Book: Autobiography of son Anthony Toomer Porter. Read complete book at http://books.google.com/books/about/Led_on.html?id=08cEAAAAYAAJ, 1898. 4
My father, John Porter, was born in 1795. He graduated with distinction from the South Carolina College and Studied law. On the 16th of December, 1819, he married Esther Ann Toomer, daughter of Anthony Toomer, and from them were born two sons and three daughters - Charlotte, who died February 15, 1835; John, who died September 9, 1841; Eliza Cheesborough, who married Dr. E. B. Brown, and afterwards Robert E. Fraser, and died in 1861; Hannah, who married Dr. John F. Lessesne; and myself, whom God has spared to outlive them all.
I was only nine months old when my father died. His death occurred on October 25, 1828, at the early age of thirty-three years. My father was a man of very marked character. He was elected a member of the Legislature of South Carolina, at the age of twenty-one, and served for several years. He was a member of the Episcopal Diocesan Convention at the time of his death.
Fourteen years after my father's death, while travelling to Columbia by the railroad, we came to the section of country where cotton is grown, and I mistook the cotton for fields of Irish potatoes. Being surprised at the extent of the planting, I observed that someone seemed to believe in potatoes. I was then a boy in my fifteenth year. A gentleman on the seat before me turned and said :
"My young friend, where were you brought up?"
Perceiving my mistake, I replied, "Had you, sir, never seen a rice field, and mistook the first you ever saw for oats, I should correct your error. I see now that this is cotton, not Irish potatoes."
"May I ask your name?"
"Certainly, my name is Anthony Toomer Porter."
" And where is your home?" he asked.
"Georgetown, South Carolina."
"Are you any relation to Col. John Porter, who died in 1828?"
"His son, sir," I replied.
Rising from his seat, and taking off his hat, he extended his hand, saying, "I am Gen. Waddy Thompson" [at one time Minister to Mexico] "let me take the hand of the son of John Porter. To your father I am indebted more than to any other man; we were in the South Carolina College together, and to his interposition and influence I owe all I have ever been."
He then told me much of my father's college life, and of the influence he exercised in college. He was the referee and umpire in every dispute and difficulty, and the beloved of every student and professor. This conversation and others like it, which I had with many persons, have had a great deal to do with the makeup of my life.
2. Book: Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Blair County. 1
John Lyon Porter, a member of the firm of Austin Brothers & Porter, of Tyrone, is a descendant of the old and honorable Scotch-Irish Presbyterian Porter family of central Pennsylvania. He is a son of George B. and Sallie (Lyon) Porter, and was born at Carlsville, Clarion county, Pennsylvania, September 15, 1857.
His paternal great-grandfather, Hon. Thomas Porter, was born in Ireland, and came to America at some time during the last half of the eighteenth century. He was a farmer by occupation, settled in Centre county, and died at Alexandria, Huntingdon county.
He was a democrat in politics, a ruling elder in the Presbyterian church, and married Jane Montgomery, a native of Centre county, by whom he had three children: John, Charles and Elizabeth. After his death his widow became the wife of Dr. William Jackson, and died at Alexandria.
The eldest son, John Porter (grandfather), was born at Alexandria, September 9, 1797, died at Pennsylvania Furnace, same county, March 24, 1881, and his remains were interred in the Alexandria cemetery.
He served as an elder of the Presbyterian church for over sixty years, and was elected by the democrats, in 1830, to represent Huntingdon county in the house of representatives of Pennsylvania.
He served as an adjutant in the 29th regiment State militia, was one of the incorporators of the Pennsylvania railroad, and was for many years in partnership with a Mr. Bucher in the mercantile business at Alexandria.
On March 13, 1821, Mr. Porter married Mariah Bucher, by whom he had eight children, four sons and four daughters. One of these sons, George B. Porter (father) was born at Alexandria, March 13, 1826. He followed farming for some time, and then was engaged in the mercantile business in Alexandria.
He is independent in politics, has served for several years as an elder in the Presbyterian church of Alexandria, and has always been active in the cause of religion in his community.
On December 23, 1851, Mr. Porter married Sallie Lyon, who died May 15, 1860, and left three children: Myla wife A. M. LaPorte; John Lyon; and William L., who is secretary of the Young Men's Christian association of York, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Porter was born in 1831. She was a daughter of John Lyon by his third wife, who was a Miss Patton previous to her marriage.
John Lyon was the senior member of the great iron manufacturing firm of Lyon, Shorb & Co., which owned several forges, furnaces and rolling mills in this State. He lived to be eighty-four years of age, and a fuller account of his life will be found in the sketch of Dr. W. L. Lowrie, of Tyrone.
John L. Porter received his education at Lawrenceville High School, New Jersey, and learned the trade of machinist, which he followed until 1878, when he went to Spruce Creek valley, where he was engaged in farming for eight years. At the end of that time, in 1886, he came to Tyrone, and during the next year became a member of the present firm of Austin Brothers & Porter. In 1890 this firm erected their large and well equipped foundry and machine shop plant near Tyrone, on the Little Juniata River. Their principal buildings are machine shop, 40 X 100 feet, a foundry, 40 X 60 feet, and a pattern department and engine room in a structure 35 X 60 feet. They employ twenty men, have a large trade, and build a very large number of steam engines and shears to cut iron. They use first-class material, employ skilled workmen, and produce work that ranks high for quality and general excellence. November 25, 1880 Mr. Porter married Caroline, daughter of William M. Phillips, of Alexandria, Huntingdon county. To their union have been born two children: Susan M. (deceased) and Ruth. John L. Porter is a republican in politics, and a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Tyrone. He is a good businessman, a practical and expert machinist, and an active worker in the Presbyterian Church, of which his paternal ancestors have been worthy members for generations.
3. He was elected as State Legislature in 1816 in , , SC. 5
4. He was educated at studied law at South Carolina College about 1812 in Columbia, Richland, SC. 6
5. Member of Episcopal Diocesan Convention in 1828 in , , SC. 5
John married Maria Bucher, daughter of John Conrad Bucher Jr. and Hannah Mytinger, on 13 Mar 1821.1 2 (Maria Bucher was born on 3 May 1801 in Alexandria, Huntingdon, PA,2 3 died on 17 Jan 1892 in Alexandria, Huntingdon, PA 2 and was buried in Alexandria: Alexandria Cemetery, Huntingdon, PA 2.)
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