Andrew Porter (Revolutionary War officer)

Andrew Porter (September 24, 1743 – November 16, 1813) was an American officer during the Revolutionary War.[1]

Andrew Porter
Born(1743-09-24)September 24, 1743
Norristown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedNovember 16, 1812(1812-11-16) (aged 69)
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.
AllegianceUnited States
Continental Marines, Continental Army
RankColonel
Battles/warsBattle of Trenton
Battle of Princeton
Battle of Brandywine
Battle of Germantown
Tioga Point
Spouse(s)Elizabeth McDowell
Eliza Parker
Children13, including George, David, James
RelationsHorace Porter (grandson)
Andrew Porter (grandson)
Mary Todd Lincoln (great-granddaughter)
Other workPennsylvania surveyor-general
TypeRoadside
CriteriaAmerican Revolution, Military
DesignatedMarch 11, 1949
LocationW. Main & Selma Sts., Norristown
Marker TextRevolutionary War officer; surveyor of western and northern State boundaries, 1784-87; Surveyor-General, 1809-13. Born near here, 1743; died at Harrisburg, 1813. His home, "Selma," is marked, a block distant.

Early life

Porter was born on September 24, 1743 at Norriton, his father's farm near Norristown, Pennsylvania.[2] He was one of the fourteen children of Robert Porter (1698–1770) and Lileous (née Christy) Porter (1708–1771). His father had immigrated from Derry, Ireland, to New Hampshire in 1720, and later moved to Pennsylvania.[3]

Career

Andrew moved to Philadelphia as a young man, where he became a schoolmaster and amateur astronomer.[4] In 1776, he joined the American forces in the Revolutionary War as a captain of marines. He later moved to the artillery, in which branch he served at the battles of Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown, and Tioga Point. He was later directed by General George Washington to supervise the preparation of artillery ammunition for the Siege of Yorktown.[5] By the end of the war, he had been promoted to the rank of colonel.[2]

Post Revolutionary War

After the end of the war, Porter continued to serve in a military role with the Pennsylvania militia, rising to the rank of major general. He also served as the state's surveyor-general, and was one of the commissioners tasked with determining the boundaries between Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Ohio.[2][5]

He was offered the position of Brigadier general in the U.S. Army, at the end of the War, and United States Secretary of War by President Madison, but he declined both due to his advanced age.[2]

Personal life

Andrew Porter was married twice, first to Elizabeth McDowell (1747–1773), with whom he had five children, including:[3]

  • Robert Porter (1768–1842), who married Sarah Williams (1775–1816)[6]
  • Elizabeth Rittenhouse Porter (1769–1850), who married Robert Porter Parker (1760–1800) and was the grandmother of Mary Todd Lincoln.[7]

After the death of his first wife, he remarried to Eliza Parker (1750–1821), with whom he had eight more children, including:[3][8]

Porter died on November 16, 1813 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Porter Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania formed in 1814 is named for Andrew Porter.

Descendants

His grandson through his son David, Horace Porter (1837–1921), was a Union general in the American Civil War who served as aide-de-camp to General Grant and later U.S. Ambassador to France. He is also a Medal of Honor Recipient. [9][10]

His grandson through his son George was Andrew Porter (1820–1872), also a brigadier general in the Union during the American Civil War who was an important staff officer under George B. McClellan during the 1862 Peninsula Campaign, serving as the Provost Marshal of the Army of the Potomac.[11]

Through his daughter Elizabeth, he was the great-grandfather of Mary Todd Lincoln, the wife of 16th President Abraham Lincoln.[7]

References
  1. The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 1880. p. 261. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  2. Sons of the American Revolution (1902). A National Register of the Society, Sons of the American Revolution, Volume 2 Volume 2 of A National Register of the Society Sons of the American Revolution: Comp. and Pub. Under the Auspices of the National Publication Committee, Sons of the American Revolution A National Register of the Society, Sons of the American Revolution, Sons of the American Revolution. Press of A. H. Kellogg, 1902. p. 332. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  3. Green, Thomas Marshall (1889). Historic Families of Kentucky: With Special Reference to Stocks Immediately Derived from the Valley of Virginia; Tracing in Detail Their Various Genealogical Connexions and Illustrating from Historic Sources Their Influence Upon the Political and Social Development of Kentucky and the States of the South and West. R. Clarke. p. 271. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  4. "Description: Andrew Porter papers". discover.hsp.org. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  5. "To George Washington from Andrew Porter, 24 August 1789". founders.archives.gov. Founders Online, National Archives. Retrieved 23 August 2017. Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, vol. 3, 15 June 1789–5 September 1789, ed. Dorothy Twohig. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1989, p. 534.
  6. Sons of the Revolution Pennsylvania Society (1898). Decennial Register of the Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution: 1888-1898. F. B. Lippincott. p. 79. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  7. Evans, W. A. (2010). Mrs. Abraham Lincoln: A Study of Her Personality and Her Influence on Lincoln. SIU Press. ISBN 9780809385607. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  8. Unrue, Darlene Harbour (2010). Katherine Anne Porter Remembered. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 9780817316679. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  9. "HORACE PORTER". The New York Times. 30 May 1921. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  10. "NOTED MEN AT BIER OF GENERAL PORTER; Hear 'Taps' Soundsd Over Veteran at Simple Services in 5thAv. Presbyterian Church.DEEDS PRAISED IN PRAYER Rev. Dr. John Kelman Gives Thanksfor "One of the Great Gentlemen of the Olden Days."". The New York Times. 3 June 1921. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  11. Miller, Richard F. (2014). States at War, Volume 3: A Reference Guide for Pennsylvania in the Civil War. University Press of New England. p. 371. ISBN 9781611686197. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
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