John Porter, Sr was born in Belfast, Antrim, Ulster in 1711. His parents were Thomas Porter (1667-1720) and Mary Sidney (1673-1718). In 1740, John married Mary Polly Anthony in Belfast. There were eight children from this marriage: William, John, Oliver C., Nathaniel, Francis, Florence, Rachel and Anna. William is believed to have been born in Belfast in 1746 and Florence in 1748. All of the other children are believed to have been born in Prince Edward County, Virginia Colony (formerly Amelia until 1754). This suggests that John and family left Belfast sometime after 1748. Wife Mary died in 1762. John then married Ann Dixon, widow of John Carson on 25 May 1762.

Four of John Porter, Sr’s sons served with the Continental Army. William, who attained the rank of Captain, served with the 12th Virginia, then the 8th Virginia of the Continental Line. When General Daniel Morgan returned to the Army and joined General Nathaniel Green, Commander of the Southern Command, on October 2d, 1780, William became a member of Morgan’s light infantry corps. William fought at the Battle of Cowpens, January 17, 1781 and was severely wounded. He received a saber cut to his face which left him disfigured, almost losing his nose. He was discovered barely alive on the battlefield that night by his brothers.

John served with the 5th Virginia Regiment of the Continental Line in 1776-1777, crossing the Delaware with General Washington. He then transferred to (then) Colonel Daniel Morgan’s Rifles and fought at Freeman’s Farm, and was present at Burgoyne’s surrender at Saratoga. He reenlisted in 1778 and 1780. John participated with brothers William, Nathaniel, and Oliver, and stepbrother Tommie Carson in the Carolinas Campaign of General Greene as a part of General Morgan’s division, fighting at Cowpens, Guilford Courthouse, the Siege of Ninety-Six, Eutaw Springs and Yorktown.

Less is known of Oliver and Nathaniel’s service and as younger brothers they became old enough to serve only later in the War. They were with their brother William’s company of Morgan’s division and were present at the siege of Yorktown.

Many would consider having provided four sons to the Continental Line in the cause of American freedom to be a significant contribution. Additionally, John Porter, Sr. is thought to have served in the local militia. However, he is my Patriot Ancestor because of his willingness to place his name on a document which could well have caused him to be hung for treason.

John Porter, Sr was a Scots Irish Presbyterian, formerly a resident of Ulster, but originally from Scotland. The Scots Irish were dissenters who opposed the doctrine of the Church of England, the official church of England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, headed by the king. The freedom to worship as they chose was a significant reason the Scots Irish came to America and settled in the back country of Virginia and other colonies; these were beyond the reach of the Church of England with its form of worship, requirement of mandatory attendance and taxes to support  the local parish. Additionally, the Scots Presbyterians had been poorly treated by the English Church and English property owners while in Ulster. The fact that John named his third son Oliver Cromwell Porter, after the man who led a civil war against the king, speaks to his degree of regard for the British monarchy.

John Porter, Sr was a member of Buffaloe Presbyterian Church, a congregation of like minded Scots and Scots Irish families in Prince Edward County. Prince Edward is just east of the Blue Ridge Mountains and at that time was not far from the western limit of settlement in Virginia.

Having decided to break with Great Britain, Virginia’s fifth Revolutionary Convention voted to prepare a plan of government for Virginia. The result was the Virginia Declaration of Rights, adopted on June 12, 1776. This document is considered a noted forerunner of the Bill Of Rights. In response, the men of Buffaloe Presbyterian Church gathered on Tuesday, September 24, 1776 to affirm their support of the Virginia Declaration of Rights and its ideas of freedom, religious liberty, and the end of “British Tyranny and Bondage”. Titled Petition of 160 Inhabitants of Prince Edward County, September 24, 1776, it was probably written by the Reverend Richard Sankey, minister at Buffaloe, who signed it first. Among the 160 members of the congregation who signed the document was John Porter, Sr, and his sons William, John, and Nathaniel. Also signing the document were others of my ancestors, James Reid and his two sons Joseph and Robert. The document is included below in its entirety.

TRANSCRIPTION

Petition of 160 Inhabitants of Prince Edward County, September 24, 1776

To the Honourable the President and House of Delegates of the Common Wealth of Virginia, to meet at Williamsburg the first Tuesday in October 1776.

The Petition of Sundry of the Inhabitants of Prince Edward County, respectfully sheweth, That we heartily approve and Chearfully submit ourselves to the form of Government adopted at your last Session: hoping that our united American States will long continue free and Independent. The last Article of the Bill of Rights we also esteem as the rising Sun of religious Liberty, to releave us from a long Night of ecclesiastic Bondage: And we do most earnestly request and expect that you would go on to complete what is so nobly begun; raise religious as well as civil Liberty to the Zenith of Glory, and make Virginia an Asylum for free enquiry, knowlege, and the virtuous of every Denomination. Justice to ourselves and Posterity, as well as a regard to the honour of the Common Wealth, makes it our indispensable Duty, in particular to intreat, That without Delay, You would pull down all Church E[s]tablishments; Abolish every Tax upon Conscience and private Judgment; and leave each Individual to rise or sink according to his Merit, and the general Laws of the Land. The whole amount of what we desire, is, That Our Honourable Legislature would blot out every Vestige of British Tyranny and Bondage, and define accurately between civil and ecclesiastic Authority; then leave our Lord Jesus Christ the Honour of being the Sole Lawgiver and Governor in his Church; and every one in the Things of Religion to stand or fall to Him; He being, in this respect the only rightful Master.

     And your Petitioners as in duty bound, shall ever pray;— September 24th 1776

Sources

Bradshaw, Herbert Clarence, History of Prince Edward County, Virginia. The Dietz Press, Inc, Richmond, Virginia, 1955.

Burrey, John Junior, “The Future Holds the Answer: The Porter-Fannin Families”, The Weekly Madisonian, Madison, GA, Issues of July 19th, 26th, August 2ns, 9th, and 16th, 1895

Historical Foundation, Cumberland Presbyterian Church, “Porter Family Information”, Manuscript, Cordova, Tennessee.

North America Family Histories, 1500 -2000, Oliver Cromwell Porter….Daughters of the American Revolution #A091203….

North American Family Histories, 1500-2000, John Porter…Daughters of the American Revolution #A091120

North American Family Histories, 1500-2000, William Porter..Daughters of the American Revolution #A091357

North American Family Histories, 1500-2000, John Porter, Sr…Daughters of the American Revolution #A091120

Various Documents, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia

Porter, John M., CPT, CSA, “Porter: History of our Family Connection” (as revised) Manuscript, 1872.

Porter, John, Jr, Widow’s Pension Application File, Archive and Roll Number M804 & 1954 Butler County, Kentucky, 1833

Porter, Oliver, Survivor’s Pension Application File, Archive and Roll Number M804 & 1955, Greene County, Georgia, 1833