Joseph Porter Sr
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Joseph Porter Sr (abt. 1739 - abt. 1820)

Joseph Porter Sr aka Pourter
Born about in North Carolinamap [uncertain]
Son of [uncertain] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of — married 1776 in Wilkes, North Carolina, United Statesmap
Descendants descendants
Father of , , , , , , , , , , , , and
Died about at about age 81 in Wilkes, North Carolina, United Statesmap
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Profile last modified | Created 7 Sep 2011
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Contents

Biography

Joseph Porter Sr was born about 1739 in North Carolina. [citation needed]

He married Sarah Jane Reynolds. [citation needed]

Joseph Porter and his family were living in Wilkes County when the county was formed from Surry County in 1777. In 1779 Joseph received a land grant containing over 300 acres lying on both sides of Fisher's Creek at the Yadkin River.
1776 Project
Joseph Porter Sr served with Wilkes County Regiment, North Carolina Militia during the American Revolution.
Daughters of the American Revolution
Joseph Porter Sr is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A134660.

He served in the Wilkes County Militia during the American Revolutionary War, and fought at the Battle of King's Mountain, and was paid for services in 1782. He served as a constable, a juror and a bondsman during the latter part of the 1770s and most of the 1780s. [1]

Joseph Porter signed his Last Will on 28 April 1820 and was proved at the October 1820 session of the Wilkes County Court by the oaths of John Rousseau and John Reynolds. [2] He identified three children but no mention of his wife, which implies she predeceased him.

Residence

The 1784 North Carolina State Census shows Joseph Porter as head of household in Wilkes County. See attachment. [3]

In the 1790 U.S. Census, he was recorded in Wilkes County as head of an eight person household.[4] It is unclear whom is represented in the family at this time. The two young male children may be Joseph and Francis (what happened to William?). One of the males 16 and up may have been Robert or James (ages may vary) and the other one Joseph Porter I. The four females are believed to be Joseph's wife and his children Sarah, Nancy, Mary, and perhaps Maugretter. Further investigation required.

The 1800 U.S. Census shows a male between 10-16 (presumably Joseph Porter II), two males between 16-26 (presumably William and Francis), a male 45+ (presumably Joseph Porter I), a female between 10-16 (presumably Sarah), and a female 45+ (presumably Sarah, Joseph Porter I spouse).[5]

The 1810 U.S Census shows a male between 26-45 (presumably Joseph Porter II) and a male 45+ (presumably Joseph Porter I).[6]

Date: 1784

Census Place: Wilkes County, North Carolina, United States
Joseph Porter was enumerated as head of household. See attachment.[3]

Date: 1790

Census Place: Wilkes, North Carolina, United States
Joseph Porter was enumerated as head of an eight person household.[4]
Free White Persons - Males - Under 16: 2
Free White Persons - Males - 16 and over: 2
Free White Persons - Females: 4

Date: 1800

Place: Morgan, Wilkes, North Carolina, United States
Joseph Porter was enumerated as head of a six person household.[5]
Free White Persons - Males -10 thru 15: 1
Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25: 2
Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over: 1
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 15: 1
Free White Persons - Females - 45 and over: 1

Date: 1810

Place: Wilkesborough, Wilkes, North Carolina, United States
Joseph Porter was enumerated as head of a four person household.[6]
Free White Persons - Males - 26 thru 44 : 1
Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over: 1
Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25: 1
Free White Persons - Females - 45 and over : 1

Children

His last will and testament lists three children: sons Joseph and Francis and daughter Mary "Mollie".

  1. Mary "Molly" Porter b: Abt. 1774 in Wilkes County,NC d: Abt. 1849; married William Johnson
  2. Francis Reynolds Porter b: Abt. 1782 in Wilkes County, NC d: Abt. 1839 in Molls Creek Area, Russell Co, VA; married Malinda Johnson b: Abt. 1785 in North Carolina d: Abt. 1860 in Molls Creek Area, Russell Co, VA m: 27 Nov 1802 in Wilkes County, North Carolina
  3. Joseph Porter, Jr. b: 04 Feb 1784 in Wilkes County, NC d: Abt. 1870 in Wilkes County, NC; married Elizabeth Sarah Johnson b: Abt. 1783 in Wilkes County, NC d: Abt. 1862 in Wilkes County, NC m: Abt. 1803

Other possible children. Sources are needed to prove relationship.

  1. Eve Porter b: Abt. 1765 in Wilkes County, NC d: Abt.1830 in Wilkes County, NC; married Adam Jacob Staley b: Abt. 1740 in Germany d: May 1824 in Wilkes County, NC; m: Abt. 1782 in Randolph County, NC
  2. Nancy Porter b: Abt. 1775 in Wilkes County, NC married John Cornwell about 06 Aug 1880 in Wilkes County, NC
  3. Sarah Porter b: Abt. 1778 in Wilkes County, NC d: Abt. 1820 in Harlan Co, KY; married Hezekiah I. Hall b: Bet. 1770 - 1775 in Wilkes County, NC d: Bet. 1845 - 1846 in Harlan Co, KY; m: Abt. 1795 in Wilkes County, NC
  4. Lois Porter b: Abt. 1786 in Wilkes County, NC d: Abt. 1870 in Wilkes County, NC; married Aaron Chambers m: 21 Jul 1818 in Wilkes County, NC.
  5. James Porter b: Abt. 1788 in Wilkes County, NC d: Abt. 1839
  6. William Porter b: Abt. 1792 in Wilkes County, NC
  7. Maugretter "Molly" Porter b: Abt. 1794 in Wilkes County, NC; married John Arnell
  8. Elizabeth Porter b: Abt. 1796 in Wilkes County, NC; married Elijah Arnell
  9. Jane Porter b: Abt. 1800 in Wilkes County, NC; married John Gambill

Joseph Pourter Last Will

His Last Will and Testament was written 28 April 1820 and proved in Oct 1820

"In the name of God amen. I Joseph Pourter of the county of Wilkes and state of NC, being of sound and perfec mind and memory, Blessed to God do this twenty eighth day of April in the year of our Lord One Thousand eight Hundred and twenty make and publish this last will and testament in manner following that is to say first:
I give and Bequeath to my beloved son Joseph Pourter the upper part of my land as far as Francis Pourters, Spring Branch, to his Heirs and assigns forever.
I do give and Bequeath to my son Francis fifty dollars to be raised out of my Estate after my decease.
I also WILL that my son Joseph shall pay for all of my just debts that may come against my Estate after my Decese...which money is to be raised out of my movable property.
I also give and Bequeath unto my daughter Molly one feather bed and furniture and the rest of my property to be sold to the highest bidder and the amount to be divided among my Heirs.
I do hereby declare this to be my last Will and Testament. Revoking all others heretofore made before me...I do hereby appoint my trusty friends, John Reynolds, Senr (son of Francis Reynolds) and John Rousseau my Executors to this last will and testament Sign"d Seal""d and delivered in the presents of us the day and date above mentioned...signed Joseph Pourter (SEAL) [2]

Sources

  1. ↑ Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers Who Served from 1784 to 1811; Record Group: 94, Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1762 - 1984; Series Number: M905; Roll Number: 1National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.;
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Joseph Pourter/Porter Last Will and Testament April 28, 1820 - North Carolina County, District and Probate Courts; Wills, inventories, sales of estates, vol I-N, 1779-1852; Viewed in Ancestry.com 27 June 2020. Ancestry Record 9061 #893422
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Register, Alvaretta K. State Census of North Carolina, 1784-1787. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2001. Accessed Ancestry.com 27 June 2020. North Carolina State Census, attached
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "United States Census, 1790," FamilySearch database accessed 27 June 2020, Joseph Porter, Wilkes, North Carolina, United States; citing p. 150, NARA microfilm publication M637, roll 7; FHL microfilm 568,147. Ancestry Record 5058 #205167 accessed 27 June 2020.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "United States Census, 1800", FamilySearch database accessed 27 June 2020, Joseph Porter, 1800, Morgan, Wilkes, North Carolina, United States. Ancestry Record 7590 #350992 accessed 27 June 2020.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "United States Census, 1810", FamilySearch database accessed 27 June 2020, Joseph Porter, 1810. Wilkesborough, Wilkes, North Carolina, United States. Ancestry Record 7613 #786257 accessed 27 June 2020.

See also:

  • Absher, W. O. "The Heritage of Wilkes County". Winston-Salem, NC: Hunter Pub. Co., and Wilkes Genealogical Society, 1982. Page 388
  • Virginia Genealogical Society Quarterly Author: Ancestry.com Publication: The Generations Network, Inc.
  • Joseph Pourter/Porter article regarding his estate from newspaper the Western Carolinian Oct. 19, 1824 Broken Link.

Acknowledgements

  • WikiTree profile Porter-1913 created on Sep 6, 2011 by Tim Tropeck. See the Changes page for the details of edits including merges.




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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Joseph by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Joseph:

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Comments: 5

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Barry Wood
Elida -- very nice job of compiling most of the known information about Joseph Pourter of Wilkes County, NC.

An important addition, though would be that there is an estate document from 1824 in the Wilkes County Court records that names most of the "other possible children" on your list -- as Joseph Pourter's children. The one exception in Nancy. She is not on the list, and I suspect that she has been suggested a a child of Joseph Pourter only because she happened to get married in Wilkes County, where there were not a lot of other Porters at the time. That said, it's possible that she was his child, but was omitted from the list of heirs by mistake, or because she had died without posterity by 1824. By the way, if you retain reference her to Nancy at all, you need to correct the marriage date that you have for her (1780, not 1880). But I have an idea that, in light of the 1780 marriage, she was a younger sister of Joseph's rather than his daughter, if they were related at all. Marriage in 1780 would place her birth around 1760-64, which would be older than the range I posit for all of Joseph's known children.

Also note that the parenthetical "son of Francis Reynolds" is an editorial comment someone added somewhere along the way. It does not appear in the original will. There are some other errors in the will transcription here that match those on his Geni site. I have posted a "perfect" (not "perfec") transcription on Joseph's profile on the FamilyTree section of FamilySearch.

posted by Barry Wood
Stormy Faw
Porter-1913 and Porter-8142 appear to represent the same person because: Further research has shown that the Joseph Porter from Wilkes County is the same man represented as Joseph Porter from North Carolina with children from Wilkes County. Both profiles reference the same children, spouses, and census records.
posted on Porter-8142 (merged) by Stormy Faw
Tirey-10 Elida Tirey
Porter-8142 and Porter-1913 do not represent the same person because: There are multiple Joseph Porters. Further investigation is required before proceeding with the merge.
posted by Elida Tirey
White-38395 Robin White
I'm not sure what else you need. The children were born in Wilkes Co., and his will is from Wilkes Co. He names three of the children attached here. The Joseph who lived in Wilkes Co., served in the militia or Wilkes Co., and died in Wilkes Co., is not the man in Surry Co
posted by Robin White
edited by Robin White
White-38395 Robin White
Porter-8142 and Porter-1913 appear to represent the same person because: Will was written 8 Apr 1820; probated Oct 1820
posted by Robin White

Joseph is 12 degrees from Maria Mitchell, 24 degrees from Carl Sagan, 22 degrees from Tycho Brahe, 29 degrees from Nicholaus Copernicus, 21 degrees from Eise Eisinga, 20 degrees from Caroline Lucretia Herschel, 24 degrees from Thomas Maclear, 13 degrees from Simon Newcomb, 16 degrees from Isaac Newton, 26 degrees from Pierre Henri Puiseux, 22 degrees from Beatrice Tinsley and 15 degrees from Edith Woodward on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.

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Categories: Patriotic Service, North Carolina, American Revolution | Civil Service, North Carolina, American Revolution | Wilkes County Regiment, North Carolina Militia, American Revolution | Wilkes County, North Carolina, Early Settlers | Battle of Kings Mountain | Uncertain Family | NSDAR Patriot Ancestors