As I mentioned in Hole in the Wall, Part 1, I have had a feeling that a William Lee Porter was the son of my 3rd Great Grandfather, William Porter. William Lee is found first in College Township, Knox County, Ohio in his marriage record to Martha Wallace on 10 Jul 1843. College Township was at one time part of Pleasant Township, so we're looking at the same general area of Knox County, Ohio. Up to today every record I have seen states that William Lee Porter was born in New York. I had great luck in ordering the compiled service record for Orrin Clinton Porter (see Hole in the Wall, Part 2), so I decided to order one for this William Lee Porter. His records are a little funny in that he was not permanently assigned to a regiment/company during the Civil War, but enough information was available to order his records. The CD arrived today. Two sets of enlistment papers were included, both stating that he was born in Chautauqua County, New York! So since Orrin Clinton Porter also states that he was born in Chautauqua County, New York it is my feeling that William is at least related to Orrin Porter.
William Lee Porter is the person I used as a parameter when looking for 2nd Great Grandpa William in New York in the 1830 federal census. Having been born in 1822 William Lee would have been marked in the 5-9 age group. Lots of William Porters living in New York in 1830; however, I finally found one living in Chautauqua County, New York that I could not discount. Seeing that Orrin Clinton Porter, a known son of William Porter, was born in Chautauqua County, New York I knew that I had the right family.
I know that William Lee's place of birth does not give me absolute proof that he is the son of 2nd Great Grandpa William Porter, or even the brother of Orrin Clinton Porter. There are other male Porters, aged 30-39, living in Chautauqua County, New York in 1830 who have male children 5-9. However, being that William Lee could very well be the oldest male child shown in William's 1830 federal census entry, at the right age 5-9, and is named William I'm thinking that these two are father and son. Also other than William, William Lee, and Orrin Clinton, there are no other Porter males who have moved to Pleasant Township, Knox, Ohio from New York.
Of course I need to do more investigation into the other Porters living in Chautauqua County, NY in 1830. Of course I need more proof. As mentioned previously I have on order from the Allen County Public Library several articles published in the Chautauqua Genealogist, the newsletter of the Chautauqua County Genealogical Society. Hopefully something will be learned from these articles. I also live a mere 3-hour drive to Mayville, Chautauqua, New York so a trip to explore that county's records is on my to-do list.
tpratt, writer of the Gen Journey blog, is also looking at the Porters of Chautauqua County, New York, specifically a Nancy A. Porter. He has eliminated a Samuel Porter as her father. Online family trees at Ancestry.Com list William Porter as her father. But we all know about the reliability of the online trees at Ancestry! I will be looking into Nancy A. Porter also.
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