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 John Porter Sr. and four of his sons served in the American Revolution; sons who served were John Porter, Jr, Captain William Porter, Nathaniel Porter, and Oliver Cromwell Porter. My DAR Patriot, John Porter, Jr. served in the 5th VA Regiment of the Continental Line February 1776-77 commanded by Cols. Scott & Parker, crossed the Delaware with Washington (26 Dec 1776), transferred to then Col. Daniel Morgan's Rifles in May/June 1777- fought at Freeman's Farm (19 Sept 1777); present at Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga (17 Oct 1777); at Valley Forge when enlistment ended Feb 1778; re-enlisted 1780. Participated with brothers William, Nathaniel and Oliver in the 1781 Carolina Campaign of Gen Nathaniel Greene as part of Gen Morgan's division. (His tombstone has the inscription Col. John Porter.) Some of this information came from DAR info, Fold 3, ancestry.com, Wiki tree, and familysearch.org.

In the late 1790s, he moved to Kentucky and settled in Butler (then Logan) County about ½ mile from his brother William, and about 1 mile from Sugar Grove, on the Little Muddy Creek.  After reaching KY, John Porter, Jr. and his brothers were instrumental in naming the Butler County seat "Morgantown" for Gen Morgan. John Porter, Jr. was elected to six terms as representative to the KY House of Representatives - first for Logan then Butler Counties. 

John Porter, Jr., my 5th great grandfather, was born on 24 October 1759 in Prince Edward County, Virginia. He died on 24 September 1833 in Butler County, KY, being buried in the Porter Cemetery. He was the son of John Porter, Sr. and Mary Polly Anthony who came from Belfast, Ireland. John married Sarah Sally Clark (1762-1832) in Virginia on 3 January 1785. This was the same Sarah Clark who was portrayed in a dramatic monologue by my aunt, Joyce Porter Hammers during the 1980s and 90s in numerous schools and community events. Sarah and John gave birth to Benjamin Porter, my 4th great grandfather on 18 January 1795 in Virginia; he died on 9 July 1849 in Caldwell, Burleson County, Texas. Benjamin married Mary Proctor (1802-1823) on 23 September 1819 in Logan County, Kentucky. After Mary’s death he married Matilda Wilson and later they took their children and moved to Texas. Benjamin and Mary had a son Clark Thomas Porter I, my 3rd great grandfather, on 22 May 1822 in Kentucky who died on 4 May 1887 in Butler County. Clark after the death of his 1st wife, married Margaret Ellen Austin (1835-1880) on 8 September 1857 in Butler County, KY. They had Robert Benjamin Porter, my 2nd great grandfather, on 18 April 1862 who died on 8 March 1950 in Butler County. He was a blacksmith in the community of Eden, also operating the store and post office out of the same building. Ben married Guiruda Plum House (1870-1887) on 10 September 1887. They had 11 children, Clark Thomas Porter II, my grandfather was born on 10 December 1899 in Eden, KY and died 21 March 1965 at home in Eden. Clark married Mabel Johnson (1905-1985) on 14 January 1920, whom he had met when going to Captain Ed’s boat for supplies, at Aberdeen on the Green River. They had 9 children one of them was Bonnie Louise Porter, my mother born in August of 1927 and died on 2 December 2013 in her home on Eden Loop. She married George Warden Romans (1919-1969), a WW II veteran on 12 November 1946. 

As part of America 250, the Butler County Chapter NSDAR members will be continuing our series of articles about our Patriots of the American Revolution. If you have a Revolutionary Patriot in your family line and are interested in joining our chapter please contact the Regent, Lynda O’Driscoll at 270.734.5137 or any chapter member.