John Porter (bef. 1608 - aft. 1674)

Born before 1608 in England

Husband of Margaret (Unknown) Porter — married about 1630 (to about 1665) in England [uncertain]

Husband of Harwood Long — married 1670 in Weymouth, Norfolk, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died after 25 Apr 1674 after age 66 in Kingston, Washington, Rhode Island [uncertain]

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John Porter migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See Great Migration Begins, by R. C. Anderson, Vol. 3, p. 1501) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Disputed Origins

John Porter's parentage is unknown. He was not the son of Samuel and Sarah PORTER; their son was John PORTER.

Disambiguation

"Pope makes the Roxbury man the same as the John Porter who was later in Hingham and Salem, but the Roxbury church admissionrecord for PHILIP SHERMAN explicitly states the move of the Roxbury manto Rhode Island."^[1]

Biography

John Porter, estimated by Robert Charles Anderson to have been born by 1608, was an early colonist in New England and a signer of the Portsmouth Compact, establishing the first government in what became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

He joined the Roxbury church with his first wife Margaret in 1633,^[2]

He was made freeman there 5 November 1633.^[3]

A few years later, he became a supporter of the dissident ministers John Wheelwright and Anne Hutchinson during what is known as the Antinomian Controversy. He and many others were disarmed for signing a petition in support of Wheelwright, and were compelled to leave the colony. ^[4]

He was on the Committee to lay out land at Portsmouth, Rhode Island 20 May 1638, 16November 1638, 2 January 1638/9, 30 April 1639.^[5]

He is recorded as a freeman three more times:

• at organization of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, 7 March 1637/8 [RICR 1:52].
• at the establishment of the joint government of Newport and Portsmouth, 12March 1639/40 [RICR 1:100].
• In Portsmouth section of 1655 list of RhodeIsland freemen [RICR 1:300].

Porter and a group of more than 20 men signed the Portsmouth Compact forming a new government, and settled on Aquidneck Island (called Rhode Island), establishing the town of Portsmouth. Here Porter became very active in civic affairs, serving on numerous committees over a period of two decades, and being elected for several terms as Assistant, Selectman, and Commissioner. He was named in Rhode Island's colonial charter, the Royal Charter of 1663, as one of the ten Assistants to the Governor.

In 1658, Porter joined several others in purchasing a large tract of land on the west side of Narragansett Bay, called the Pettaquamscutt Purchase, which became South Kingstown, Rhode Island.

LETTER RELATIVE TO PETAQUOMPSCOT PURCHASE IN RHODE ISLAND ^[6]

On the 20th of Jan., 1657, Quassaquanch, Kachanaquant and Quequaquennet, chief sachems of Narraganset, sold to Samuel Wilbor, John Hull of Boston, goldsmith, John Porter, Samuel Wilson, and Thomas Mumford, a large tract of land which was called the Petaquompscot Purchase. The jurisdiction of this place was for a time claimed by Massachusetts. This company afterward bought other tracts. Subsequently they admitted into partnership two distinguished gentleman who were afterwards governors of Rhode Island, William Brenton and Benedict Arnold. It is in relation to these tracts of land that Thomas Mumford writes John Hull*, “Thomas Mumford’s sons,” says Potter, “who were Thomas, (who was 66 years old in 1722, and had a son William), Peleg, who was 74 years old in 1733, and George.” In 1701, Thomas Mumford was chosen Deputy for Kings Town, R. I.; and one of the Justices of the Peace for Westerly, in 1703, was Thomas Mumford. Samuel Wilson was one of the conservators of the peace at Petaquompscot. Samuel Wilbor’s wife was a daughter of John Porter.^[7]

After 1665, he removed to Pettaquamscutt.

He died 6 Sep 1676 in Kingston, Washington, Rhode Island.

Family

He married first by 1630 Margaret, maiden name not yet known, widow of _____Odding, probably in England, by whom he had his only known child:^[8]

1. Hannah, married by about 1650 Samuel Wilbore, son of another Portsmouth Compact signerSAMUEL WILBORE.

His step-daughter, Sarah Odding, married another Rhode Island compact signer, Philip Sherman."

By the spring of 1665, he became involved with Herodias (aka Horod) (Long) (Hicks) (Gardiner) and abandoned his wife Margaret who went to court seeking assistance:

on 3 May 1665 "Margaret Porter, the wife of John Porter," petitioned the Rhode Island court for relief, since her husband had abandoned her, upon which the court ordered that John Porter's estate be impounded for her benefit [RICR 2:119-121]; Porter soon made provision for his wife, and the attachment of his estate was ended [RICR 2:126-27].

Porter remained with Herodias. Anderson does not believe they ever married.^[9]

On 23 October 1667the indictment was "against Mr. John Porter of Narragansett in the King'sProvince and Harrud Long alias Gardiner for that they are suspected tocohabit and so to live in way of incontinency" [RICT 2:61]. On 11 May1668 John Porter finally appeared in court, entered a plea of not guilty,and was acquitted [RICT 2:65]. Horrod was herself brought into court andtried on the same charge and was also acquitted, 21 October 1668 [RICT2:70; see also RICT 2:100].

He later deeded property to some of Herodias' Gardiner children:

• On 1 January1671[/2?] "John Porter of Petiqomscut in Narrogansett" deeded to "WilliamGardiner, son to Georg[e] Gardiner," two hundred acres at Newport;consented to by "Horad Porter" [RILE 1:95].
• On 27 December 1671 JohnPorter granted to Nicholas Gardiner "a sixth part of the thousand acres... laid out to us the six purchasers of the Narragansett Land"; "HoradPorter" consented [RILE 1:99].
• On 22 November 1673 "John Porter & HoradPorter my wife" gave to Nicholas Gardiner one hundred acres [RILE1:99-100]

Sources

1. ↑ The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010), (Originally Published as: New England Historic Genealogical Society. Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vols., 1995). p. 1501-1504. [1]
2. ↑ Roxbury Church Records, p 78, member #74
3. ↑ Massachusetts Bay Court (Colony?) Records, 1:368
4. ↑ Winthrop Papers 4:14
5. ↑ RICR 1:55, 62, 64, 71
6. ↑ From the original in the Archives of the N. E. Historical Genealogy Society
7. ↑ See Potter’s Early History of Narragansett, 275-299; Memoir of John Hull, in Am. Antiq. Soc. Coll., vol. iii, p. 125. Wilbur-403 12:36, 5 September 2015 (EDT)
8. ↑ TAG 73:176-80
9. ↑ Anderson, citing RICR2:99-104; Austin 81; TAG 21:194-95

See also:

• Wikipedia: John Porter (settler)