My Genealogy Hound

HENRY H. PORTER is the Secretary of the Mutual City and Village Fire Insurance Company, engineer and manager of the Dowagiac Construction Company, and Secretary and Treasurer of the Dowagiac Gas and Electric Company. He was born in Jordan, Onondaga County, N. Y., on the 12th of October, 1847. On the maternal side he is descended from Huguenot ancestry, his grandfather Blanchard having been a refugee from France and an early settler of Washington County, N. Y. The paternal grandfather, William Porter, was born in Ireland, whence he emigrated to the United States and located in Washington County, N. Y. He served as Associate Judge of the county and was a prominent attorney and counselor-at-law.

William Porter, Jr., father of our subject, was born in Hebron, Washington County, N. Y., and in his youth attended the Union College, at Schenectady, graduating from that institution. Thence he went to Camillus, where he studied law, and was admitted to the Bar at Syracuse. He commenced the practice of his profession at Jordan, and also had offices in both Syracuse and Auburn. At Salem, Washington County, he married Helen Jane Blanchard, daughter of Judge Anthony Blanchard. Six children were born of this union, four of whom are still living: Anthony B., of New York City; William H., of Auburn, N. Y.; Jennie B. Leet, of Scranton, Pa.; and our subject.

Politically, Mr. Porter was a Democrat. He received the appointment of Postmaster at Jordan, N. Y., and was a member of the State Legislature. He was nominated for Congress and made a splendid canvass, but was defeated by a small majority by his opponent, Dennis McCarthy. Afterward he was again nominated for Congress, his opponent being Senator Hiscock, and notwithstanding the fact that he was seventy-two years old, he spoke every night for four weeks in the campaign. He died in his eighty-first year, March 27, 1887, at his home in Jordan, N. Y. The mother of our subject died December 9, 1892, in her eighty-fifth year.

An untiring worker, a logical thinker, and a man of unusually sound judgment, Mr. Porter won considerable fame in professional circles and was conceded to be one of the most eminent men of the Bar of New York. At the time of his death he left seven cases in the Court of Appeals. His was a career illustrating the fact that industry and energy will almost invariably bring to their possessor well-merited success. Gentlemanly in demeanor and cordial in manner, he numbered his friends by the hundreds and enjoyed great popularity. In his religious views he was very liberal. He was General-in-Chief of the State Militia of New York, and at the opening of the Rebellion was urged to accept the Colonelcy of the One Hundred and Twenty-second New York Infantry, but could not be prevailed upon to do so. His sympathies were on the side of the Union.

In the Jordan Academy the subject of this sketch received a good education. When seventeen years old he enlisted, in 1865, as a member of Company F, One Hundred and Ninety-third New York Infantry, having run away from home in order to join the army. However, his martial impulses were indefinitely postponed by the arrival of his father on the scene, at Auburn, N. Y., and he was obliged to return home. A short time afterward he went to Elbridge, N. Y., where he clerked in a general store for three and one-half years. Then, purchasing a stock of drugs, he embarked in business as a druggist and continued thus occupied until his store was burned out.

October 25, 1870, occurred the marriage of Mr. Porter to Miss Georgiana, daughter of Israel K. Perry, a farmer of Onondaga County, N. Y. Mrs. Porter was born and reared in Onondaga County, N. Y., receiving a good education in the Monroe Collegiate Institute. After his marriage Mr. Porter located at Syracuse, N. Y., where he engaged in the wholesale confectionery and fruit business. Later he settled on a farm in Onondaga County and labored as a tiller of the soil until 1877, when he came to Michigan. While farming in New York, and while filling the position of Superintendent of Implements at the State Fair, he became acquainted with Seth Green, the “father of fish culture.” This gentleman gave him considerable instruction in the business and advised him to go into it. He followed the advice and built one of the finest hatching establishments in the State of New York. Mr. Porter hybridized the first crosses that were ever made between the salmon trout and the brook trout. After writing to many of the prominent fishery men concerning the matter, he published an article in the Forest and Stream explaining it in full. They are now on exhibition at the Smithsonian Institute. He was the first to cross the California salmon with the brook trout, and also the first to hatch and raise the celebrated Michigan grayling, specimens of which are on exhibition at the Smithsonian Institute. For two years he furnished eggs on contract to the State of Michigan, and while thus engaged was urged by Gov. Bagley, of Michigan, and George H. Jerome, who was at the head of the fish commission, to come to this State and investigate their work, as what had been done prior to that time had proved a failure.

During his visit to Michigan, Mr. Porter accepted the position tendered him and superintended the State Fishery at Pokagon, Cass County. Hither, a short time afterward, he brought his family. After filling the position in the fisheries for one season, he came to Dowagiac and engaged in the grocery business with Frank J. Mosher, under the firm name of F. J. Mosher & Co. Two years were thus spent, and then Mr. Porter engaged in business as a produce dealer. While in the grocery business he became interested in the City and Village Fire Insurance Company and acted as its agent here. Upon the resignation of one of its Directors he he was elected to fill the vacant place. After serving as Director one year, he was elected Treasurer, and served in that capacity until 1884, since which time he has been Secretary.

At the time Mr. Porter was elected Secretary of the City and Village Insurance Company it was located at Niles, and for some time previous its business had steadily decreased until it seemed that there was no prospect of a better state of things. However, since Mr. Porter became connected with the company and removed the office to Dowagiac it has enjoyed a steady increase of business, and now has an assessable capital stock of $1,500,000. In addition to his other interests, he is a hydraulic engineer. He is a senior member of the Michigan Engineering Society, and is manager of the Dowagiac Construction Company, which has offices in Dowagiac and Chicago.

The Dowagiac Gas and Electric Light Company was organized in February, 1890, at which time Mr. Porter was elected Secretary and Treasurer, and is still serving in that capacity. He and his wife have one son, William C., who is connected with his father in business.

Under the first administration of President Cleveland, Mr. Porter was appointed Postmaster at Dowagiac, but for political reasons the Senate refused to confirm the appointment. Upon the election of Cleveland the second time, he was solicited by prominent Democrats and Republicans to accept the appointment of Postmaster of this city, but for business reasons he refused. He served as Chairman of the first Democratic caucus in the city of Dowagiac, and has been a leader among the Democrats for many years. In his religious views he is very liberal. Since twenty-one years of age he has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is also identified with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Order of Elks. He was the “father” of the society called the American Legion of Honor in the State.

In the estimation of our subject, this sketch would be incomplete were no mention made of his maternal ancestors. In referring to the family genealogy we find the following facts: Gen. John Williams married Mrs. Susana (Thomas) Turner, a descendant of a family belonging to the Claud MacGregors, and they became the parents of four children. Maria, the youngest of the number, married Anthony I. Blanchard and they had a family of three sons and three daughters, of whom Helen Jane, the mother of our subject, was the youngest. Anthony I. Blanchard was Colonel of the Second New Hampshire Regiment and was the first Judge of the Common Pleas Court of Washington County, N. Y., having been appointed to that position March 12, 1810. In 1796 he was chosen Assistant Attorney-General of New York, and in 1801 became District Attorney. He served as a member of the New York General Assembly for two terms, in 1796-97.

Gen. John Williams, the great-grandfather of our subject, was born at Barnstable, Devon, England, in 1752, and received a good education in his native land. For one year he served as Major on an English man-of-war, and after completing his medical and surgical studies emigrated from England in 1773, and, coming to America, settled at Salem, N. Y., where he followed the profession of a physician. May 20, 1775, at the commencement of the Revolutionary War, he was elected to represent his county in the General Assembly, which met in New York City. In June, 1775, he was appointed Surgeon of a regiment, and in February of the following year he was commissioned Colonel of the regiment that had been raised principally through his efforts. After serving as commanding officer, he was promoted, April 8, 1777, to the rank of Brigadier-General, and meantime still fulfilled his duties as a member of the Assembly. He gave his vote for the ordinance creating the State of New York and adopting its constitution. From 1792 until 1796 he served in Congress. For more than twenty-five years, from the organization of the State of New York until his death, he was Judge of the county of Charlotte and its successor, Washington County. As a member of the State Senate he offered the resolution, which was adopted, to build the canal connecting the Hudson River with Lake Champlain on the east and the Great Lakes on the west. His death occurred at Salem, N. Y., on the 22d of July, 1806.