Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 08.djvu/391

 PORTER

PORTER

PORTER, Andrew, soldier, was born in Lan- caster, Pa., July 10, 1820; son of George Bryan Porter (q.v.). He attended the U.S. Military academy, 1836-37, and upon the outbreak of the ■war with Mexico, was appointed 1st lieutenant of mounted rifles. He was appointed captain, Maj^ 15, 18-17, and was brevetted major for gallantry at Contreras and Cherubusco, and lieutenant- colonel for gallantry at Chapultepec, Sept. 13, 1847. He served in Texas and in the southwest, and in 1861 was ordered to Washington and given command of the 16tli U.S. infantry. He commanded a brigade in the 2nd division, Mc- Dowell's army, at the battle of Bull Run, and on the disablement of Gen. David Hunter, succeeded to the command of the 2d division. He was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers. May 17, 1861; was provost-marshal-general for the Army of the Potomac, 1861-62; organized troops at Harrisburg, Pa., in 1862, and in November, 1863, was assigned to a command in Pennsylvania. He was provost-marshal-general of Washington; was mustered out, April 4, 1864. and resigned his commission, April 20, 1864. He died in Paris, France, Jan. 3, 1872.

PORTER, Augustus Steele, U.S. senator, was born in Canandaigua, N.Y., Jan. 18, 1798. He was graduated from Union college, Schenectady, N.Y., in 1818, and practised law at Black Rock, N.Y. He removed to Detroit, Mich., about 1822; was mayor of the city, 1836-38, and was elected to the U.S. senate as a Whig, serving, 1839-45. He removed to Niagara Falls, N.Y., in 1848, where his father resided, and he lived in retire- ment, his only national service being that of dele- gate to the Union convention at Philadelphia, 1866. He died at Niagara Falls, N.Y., Sept. 18, 1872.

PORTER, Benjamin Curtis, artist, was born in Melrose, Mass.; son of Charles and Julia (Curtis) Porter. He studied art at an early age, and traveled extensively in America and Europe. For some years he gave his attention to figure painting, but finally devoted himself entirely to portraiture, establishing a studio in New York city. In 1876 he exhibited at the National Academy of Design, New York city, and was elected an associate in 1878, and an academician in 1880. He was married in 1887 to Mary Louise Clark of Connecticut. He was awarded a medal at the Paris exposition, 1900, and at the Pan- American exposition, Buffalo, 1901. His princi- pal works include: Henry V. and the Pi'incess Kate {18Q8); The Mandolin Player and Cnpid u-ith Butterflies (1874); The Hour Glass (1876): Portrait of Lady tvith Dog (1876); Portrait of Boy ivith Dog (1884), and numerous other por- traits, among the subjects being Cornelius Van- derbilt, Mrs. Henry Clews, Mrs. Abram S. Hewitt and Mrs. Harry Payne Whitney. VIII. — 24

PORTER, Charlotte, author and editor, was born in Towanda, Pa., Jan. 6, 1859; daughter of Dr. Henry Clinton and Eliza Elinor (Betts) Porter; grand-daughter of Horace and Hannah Twitchell (Frisbie) Porter, Waterbury, Conn., and of Nathaniel Noble and Eliza Montague (Warner) Betts, Towanda, Pa., and a descendant of Daniel Porter, called "the bone-setter" in the Records of General Court at New Haven, Conn., who moved from Danvers, Mass., to Farmington, Conn., in 1635. She was a student at W^ells college, Aurora, N.Y., 1873-75, graduating B.S. in the latter year, and while an undergraduate editing the Wells College Chronicle. In 1882 she removed to Philadelphia, Pa., and in 1883 visited Europe, contributing meanwhile to magazines. She editexi Shakesjyeariana, 1886-88; the Ethical Record, 1888, and in January, 1889, with Helen Archibald Clarke, founded Poet-Lore. They removed to Boston in April, 1892, where they continued the magazine. She is the author of: Dramatic Motive in Broivning's Sti'affoi-d (1897). Her other works, prepared in collaboration with Miss Clarke, are as follows: Poems of Robert Broioning (2 vols., 1896); The Ring and the Book (1897); Clever Tales, translated (1897); Robert Browning's Complete Works, Camberwell edition (12 vols., 1898); The Works of Mrs. Broioning, Coxhoe edition (6 vols., 1900); Brouming Study Programmes (1900); Shakespeare Studies: Mac- beth (1902); Shakespeare's Works, Elizabethan Edition, First Folio Text, ivith Critical Litroduc- tions and Notes.- two initial volumes, Love's Labor's Lost and Midsummer Night's Dream (1902-03).

PORTER, David, naval officer, was born in Boston, Mass., Feb. 1, 1780; son of Capt. David Porter, and grandson of Capt. Alexander Por- ter, who commanded „ merchant vessels sail- ing for New England ports, previous to the Revolutionary war. Capt. David Porter, Sr., commanded the sloop Delight, 1778-80, and the ship Aurora in 1780. He was cap- tured and imprisoned in the prison-ship Jer- sey, New York har- bor, where he found his brother Samuel in a dying condition, and remained with him till the end, when he succeeded in escap- ing from the ship in a water-cask. He con- tinued to serve in the nav\' until the clo.se of the war. He was appointed sailing-master in