Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 08.djvu/398

 rUKTEIi

PORTER

tary History of Tennessee, War of 1SG1-G5, pub- lislio.l uiuler tho direction of the Confederate VrttTHUs" associaliiwi.

PORTER, John Addison, chemist, was born iu Catskiil. N.Y., March 15, 1822. He was grad- uated from Yale college, A.B., 18-42; A.M., 1845; was tutor in Delaware college, Newark, Del., 1844-45. and professor of rhetoric and modern languages there, 1845-47. He studied agricultural chemistry under Liebig at the University of Giessen. 1847-50 ; was assistant at the Lawrence Scientific school. Harvard university, iu 1850; was professor of chemistry and applied arts at Brown university, 1850-52; professor of analytical and agricultural chemistry at Yale, 1852-56, and professor of organic chemistry, 1856-64. He was married to Josephine Earl, daughter of Joseph E. Slieflield (q.v.), and was instrumental in securing from his fatlier-in-law the generous donation that estiiblished the Sheffield Scientific school. He was a member of several scientific societies, and received the degree ofM.D. from Yale in 1855. During the civil war he published the Connecticut War Record, a monthly. In 1842 he founded the Scroll and Key society of Yale, ^vhich established to his memory in 1871 the John A. Porter essay prize of $250. He is the author of : Pri)icii)les of Chemistry (1856); First Book of Chemistry and Allied Sciences (1857); Selections from the Kalerala, the Great Finnish Epic (1868). He died in New Haven, Conn., Aug. 25, 1866.

PORTER, John Addison, journalist, was born in New Haven, Conn., April 17, 1856 ; son of Prof. John Addison (q.v.) and Josephine Earl (Sheffield) Porter. He attended the Hopkins grammar school, and the General Russell military academy at New Haven, and was graduated from Y'ale, A.B., 1878, A.M., 1881. He studied law in Cleveland, Ohio, but in 1880 joined the local stafT of the Hartford Courant. In 1881 he was chosen literary editor of tlie New York Observer, and in 1882 wa.s married to Amy E., daughter of Judge Samuel K. Betts of New Y^ork. He re- moved to Washington, D.C., where he renewed his newspaper connections, wrote frequently for the daily jtress, and in 1884 conducted a pub- lishing business, and was apix)inted by Senator Tlioma.s C. Piatt, a clerk on the select committee on Indian affairs. He removed to Pomfret, Conn., in 18*^6. pnrcliased a third interest in the Hart- ford Evening Post, and became managing editor and editor-in-chief. He was a representative in the state legislature in 1890 ; a delegate to the Republican national convention of 1892 ; candi- date for governor of the state in 1894, retiring in favor of the successful candidate, and was the unsucce-ssful candidate in 1896 and 1898. He was largely instrumental in persuading the Con- necticut delegates to the St. Louis convention to

cast their votes for William McKinley ; and was appointed ambassador to Italy, but declined in order to accept the position of private secretary to President McKinley. He is the author of : 77/e Corporation of Yale College (1885) ; Origin and Administration of the City of Waslmigton (1885), and Sketches of Yale Life (1886). He died at Pomfret, Conn., Dec. 15, 1900.

PORTER, John Kilham, jurist, was born in Waterford, N.Y^, Jan. 12, 1819; son of Dr. Elijah and Mary (Lawrence) Porter ; grandson of Moses and Sarah (Kilham) Porter, and of David and Abigail (Burch) Lawrence, and a descendant of John Porter, who settled in Windsor, Conn., about 1639. He was graduated at Union college in 1837; studied law in the office of Nicholas B. Doe and Richard B. Kimball (q.v.) at Waterfoi-d, N.Y., and settled in practice there in partnership with the former. He was a delegate to the Whig national convention of 1844, where his ad- dress gave him a national reputation, and was a member of the state constitutional convention of 1846. He became associated with Nicholas Hill, Jr., and Peter Cagger in the practice of law in Albany, N.Y^., in 1848, and in 1859 assumed charge of the firm's cases in the court of appeals. Chai'les O'Conor (q.v.) employed him as his as- sociate in conducting the Parrish will case ; and Horace Greeley selected him as his counsel in the libel suit brought against the Tribune by De Witt C. Littlejohn. He was married, first. May 27, 1847, to Sophie R., daughter of Eli M. Todd of Waterford, N.Y., and secondly, Nov. 18, 1861, to Harriett Tibbetts, daughter of John Cramer of Waterford. He was judge of the court of ap- peals, 1864-68, the first year by appointment, and then by election for a term of eight years, and resigned in 1868, resuming practice in New Y'ork city. William M. Tweed unsuccessfully sought to secure his legal services in defending him against the charges brought by the Citizens' com- mittee, and he was subsequently appointed to ex- amine the accounts of the city comptroller. He was also counsel for the Erie Railway company ; for General Babcock in the whiskey frauds trial ; for Mrs. Tilton in the Beecher-Tilton trial, in 1875, and senior counsel for the people in the trial of the assassin Guiteau, 1882. He died in Water- ford, N.Y., April 11, 1892.

PORTER, Joshua, jurist, was born in Lebanon, Conn., in 1730; son of Nathaniel Buell and Eunice (Horton) Porter, and a descendant of John Porter, who emigrated from Warwick, England, to New England in 1628, and settled in Windsor, Conn., in 1639. He was graduated from Yale, A.B., 1754, A.M., 1757, studied medi- cine, and practised in Salisbury, Conn. He was a member of the Connecticut legislature for more than forty sessions ; a member of the com-