Individual Details

William Porter

(Abt 1798 - 8 Jul 1838)



JTL gives birth year of about 1784 in VA which would be before parents' marriage; Joe Taylor had 1798 - in Butler Co KY, but Butler not formed until 1810 from Logan Co.


Said to have fought at Tippecanoe, Indiana Territory (7 Nov 1811) under Gen. Harrison. Was one of the initial settlers of Morgantown KY.
1820 US Census, Butler Co KY
William Porter: 2m -10, 1m 26-45; 1f 10-16; 1f 16-26 (I would think the 16-26 female is Nancy. They did have son Wm H. b. 1818. Someone else apparently lives with them.)
There were three William Porters in the Butler Co Census in 1820. This one was in Morgantown and was William "Junr", next to Francis Porter, Junr. Then in the alpha listing he seems to be repeated but the "Junr" designation is not there and a William Sr appears. Both a Francis Junr and Francis Sr are in the alpha listing.

1830 Butler Co Census. Citizens in Morgantown
William Porter: 1m -5 [John], 1m 5-10 [unk son], 2m 10-15 [Wm H and ???], 1m 20-30, 1m 40-50 [If William was born about 1798 he should have been age 30-40, so age is wrong and there is an extra adult male]; 1f -5 [Permelia], 1f 5-10 [Sallie], 1f 20-30 [Nancy but she was age 32]
Francis D. Porter was living next door.

Logan Co KY Equity Case 14-303
William & Nancy Porter sued the heirs of William Haden regarding the division of the slaves. They stated that all the heirs had been advanced money, property, etc. in William Haden's lifetime and the only fair division would be for each one to make an accounting. In their opinion the slaves would likely have to be sold in order to make an equitable division. William & Nancy had received three slaves, two of whom were old and likely to be of great expense to them. The slaves were named as in the division. The heirs named were James & Joseph Haden, sons; William & John, sons of John M. Haden dec'd & gsons of William Haden; Samuel Haden; Polly who intermarried with John Wilson; William Haden, Junior; the daughters of William Whitsitt by his dec'd wife Milly dau of said William Haden who were Sally R. & Nancy A. Whitsitt, and Ellen C. Comfort, wife of William Comfort; the daughters of Thomas Proctor by his decd wife Sally, dau of said William who were Polly Porter wife of Benjamin Porter, Aroah [Aurora] D. C. & Sally Proctor; Benjamin Haden, son of Ben Haden dec'd who was a son of William; and Sally Haden the younger, daughter of said William, and the Oratrix, Nancy Haden Porter.
Interesting points made in the case were that a survey made when the widow's dower was assigned was attached to the bill. Also the inventory and sale of the estate of William Haden was attached. These papers were not in the file.
The case was filed 22 Feb 1822 and was continued through November, 1824. Final disposition is not given but there was a list of costs implying that either the Porters lost their case or withdrew it. The costs were listed as $5.94 to Complainants [William & Nancy Porter] and $12.74, Costs recovered by Defendants.
Guardians ad litum [for this case] were appointed for the minors in 1824. By that time, James Haden who had been Administrator for William Haden, had himself died. His stepmother, the widow Sally Haden had died, and the daughter of the older dau Sally, Polly who had married Benjamin Porter had also died, leaving a child. George W. Morton [their uncle] was appointed guardian for the children of James Haden; Joseph Haden was guardian for John & Wm Haden, sons of John M. Haden, and also of Sally P. Whitsitt, youngest daughter of Milly [Haden] & William Whitsitt; Benjamin Porter was guardian for Clark Porter, heir of Polly Proctor Porter [Benjamin was Clark's father]; Edward Collins was guardian for Benjamin Haden; Samuel Haden was guardian for Sally the younger, youngest child of William Haden and his only child by Sarah (Johnston) Haden his 3rd wife. The most interesting thing about this document is that Sally P. Whitsett's mother is listed as Mildred Whitsett - in all other documents she is referred to as either Milly or Emily. On the back of one of the documents is the note that Thomas Proctor was guardian for his youngest daughter, Sally. There is the note that Thomas Proctor Jr delivered notice of the pending guardianships to each of the Guardians except for Benjamin Porter on the 30th & 31st of Oct, 1823. William Hoy [husband of Aurora Proctor] delived the notice to Benjamin Porter on 10 Mar 1924. [Porter probably lived in Butler Co at this time.]
William Hoy & Aurora Proctor Hoy did make a answer to the above suit on 5 May 1824, stating that they would agree to bring in all advancements made to her mother, Sally Haden Proctor or to her husband Thomas during the eight years after their marriage. [Presumbably Sally & Thomas were married for eight years before she died.] Aurora did state that she was entitled to one-third of her mother's share, but did not mention her sisters in this document. They stated her parents had received about $300 in gifts of money, a colt, and a woman's saddle. The three heirs of Sally had received three slaves in the division which William Hoy now had on hire from Thomas Proctor. They were also to have received some money from other heirs, but had not. Hoy swore on his oath before Cardwell Breathitt, JP, on 4 May 1824.

Logan Co DB Q, p.245 26 Apr 1830 William Porter & Nancy his wife sold the 100 acres she inherited from her father's estate to Thomas Blakey for $400. Rec. 3 May 1830

William Porter was murdered; possibly on a flatboat trip connected with his salt business.

Events

BirthAbt 1798Virginia
Marriage21 Oct 1817Logan County, Kentucky - Nancy J. Haden
Death8 Jul 1838New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana

Families

SpouseNancy J. Haden (1798 - 1884)
ChildCol. William Haden Porter (1818 - 1880)
Child[son] Porter (1820 - )
ChildSarah Jane "Sallie" Porter (1823 - 1865)
ChildPermelia A. Porter (1827 - 1888)
ChildJohn Porter (1829 - )
ChildEgbert O. Porter (1830 - )
ChildMartin VanBuren Porter (1834 - 1879)
FatherJohn Porter Jr. (1759 - 1833)
MotherSarah "Sally" Clark (1764 - 1832)
SiblingCol. John Wilson Porter (1790 - 1846)
SiblingOliver Cromwell Porter (1793 - 1866)
SiblingAnn "Nancy" Porter (1794 - 1842)
SiblingBenjamin Porter (1795 - 1849)
SiblingElijah R. Porter (1795 - )
SiblingMary Alice "Polly Ann" Porter (1802 - 1828)
SiblingBeverly Porter (1805 - 1833)

Endnotes