****************************************************************************
File contributed to the Fulton County ILGenWeb Project
Copyright 2008, all rights reserved.

These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format 
without the written consent of the author at http://fulton.ilgenweb.net.

****************************************************************************

Source: Portrait and Biographical Album of Fulton County
Biographical Publishing Co., Chicago, 1890

****************************************************************************

The Biography of John G. PORTER 

Pages 298-299, transcribed in full by Danni Hopkins 

[Surnames: ATKINS, GUYAN, HANNA, MARTIN, PORTER, SHIELDS, SNODGRASS] 

    
JOHN G. PORTER was a pioneer of this county, and for more than forty years has been an important factor in promoting its agricultural and industrial interests, and in advancing its upbuilding. He is a skillful farmer and is managing a large, finely improved farm, and at the same time is conducting a good business as a stonemason, bricklayer and plasterer. His interests are centered in Woodland Township, where he has made his home ever since he came to the county. 
    
Mr. Porter was born in County Tyrone, in the North of Ireland, August 12, 1812. His father, John G. Porter, was also a native of that part of Ireland. He as the boss mason for Bishop Porter, who occupied next to the highest bishopric in Ireland for thirty-three years. The father of our subject had charge of the men who took care of the parks and pleasure grounds, and in one park there were two thousand deer. Mr. Porter was a member of the Church of England and died true to the faith at the age of sixty-six years. Early in life he had married Mary Hanna, who was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, and was also a member of the Church of England. She lived to be fifty-five years old. Her father lived to the venerable age of ninety years. 
    
Our subject was one of eight children. He was given excellent educational advantages in his boyhood as he attended school very steadily during the week, and Sunday-school every Sunday. When he was fourteen years of age his uncle, John Hanna, a resident of Quebec, Canada, urged him to come to America and make his home with him. The bright, adventurous lad eagerly accepted his uncle's invitation, but on the first day of the voyage he was so sea-sick that he heartily wished himself back on terra firma and offered the captain of the vessel $250 to land him, at which the captain laughed. He was, however, kindly cared for by the lady passengers on board the ship, and his misery was brought to a close at the end of six weeks, when the vessel arrived in harbor at Quebec. Mr. Porter staid with his uncle in that city one year, and helped him in his store. His next venture was to go to New York City, where he bound himself for a period of five years for his board and clothes to learn the four trades of bricklaying, stone-masonry, stonecutting and plastering. He served throughout the entire length of his apprenticeship and thoroughly mastered each calling. He worked at them in New York City, Harlem, Brooklyn, and many other places, and received very high wages. He sagaciously judged that in a newly settled country like the State of Illinois, a young man of caliber and ability would find a fine opening for the exercise of his various callings, and in the spring of 1846 he emigrated to this county. He traveled the first four hundred miles of his journey in a stage over the mountains, and while at a way station sipping a cup of tea his hand satchel and $200 were stolen. From Pittsburg he traveled by water to St. Louis, and thence up the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers to this part of the country. 
    
Our subject had previously traded some land in Genesee County, N. Y., for land here, and on his arrival he bought more land, making in all four hundred and eighty acres. The two first years that he lived here were spent partly at his trades in St. Louis and partly in developing his land here. Three hundred and thirty acres of his estate lay in Warren County, and one hundred and sixty acres in Woodland Township. He settled on the latter quarter, which was all heavily timbered, and be built a small frame house and a log stable. He cleared about forty acres of that place, and then disposed of it at an advance on the original price, and bought one hundred and sixty acres on section11, the same township. He has worked at improving his farm and at his various callings ever since, and has prospered well. He now has three hundred acres of land finely cultivated, supplied with ample buildings and every convenience for carrying on agriculture. 
    
Mr. Porter was first married, in 1837, to Miss Eliza Guyan. She died childless in middle life. His second marriage, which was solemnized in 1842, was with Eliza A. Snodgrass, who was born in Harrison County, Ind., July 24, 1824. Of this marriage ten children have been born, eight of whom grew to maturity: Sarah J. (Mrs. Shields), Julia (Mrs. Atkins), John W., William A., Emory D., Alexander (deceased), Catherine A. (Mrs. Martin), and Addison G. Mr. and Mrs. Porter have been members of the Christian Church for thirty-five years. In politics he has given an unswerving allegiance to the Democratic party. He is an honest, intelligent man, has true Irish wit, and is a favorite with all.