Who are the parents of William Robert Porter Jr (B:02/16/1784 Washington, PA, US D: 06/11/1833 Hopewell, Muskingum, OH)?

Question

I am verifying the patrilineal ancestry of Susie Virginia Porter, and I have come to a major conflict in the collective genealogy. William Robert Porter Jr is almost certainly her ancestor, but I am unable to find conclusive evidence for the jump to William Porter Esq or Pvt William Porter. According to Kimberly at Genealogy.com the father of William Porter Esq who married Elizabeth Wright of Kishacoquillas Valley, PA is Robert Porter of Armagh, Ireland. However, according to the FamilySearch.org genealogy William Porter Esq, who married Elizabeth Wright of Kishacoquillas Valley, PA, his father is James Porter and his mother is Eleanor Gillesple.

My sense is that there is a conflation of William Porters here or possibly Robert Porter is AKA James Porter though it would be pure speculation I think at this point. The primary issue is that the records I can access up to William Robert Porter Jr indicate clear links from the descendants to the ancestors. The link from William Robert Porter Jr to William Porter Esq is only tentatively supported by a rough geographic proximity in time.

I noted during my upload that James Porter and Eleanor Gillesple/Gillespie exist on wikitree.

Comments

Based on birth location and date, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_Pennsylvania , William Robert Porter Jr was born 3 years after the incorporation of the Washington County area in Pennsylvania, 8 years after the ratification of the US constitution, 16 years after European colonists had settled in the area, and 27 years after Europeans had arrived in the area. According to Wikipedia, "Delaware Indian chief Tangooqua (article absent), commonly known as "Catfish", had a camp on a branch of Chartiers Creek, in what is now part of the city of Washington.^[3] The French labeled the area "Wissameking", meaning "catfish place", as early as 1757.^[3] The area of Washington was settled by many immigrants from Scotland and the north of Ireland along with settlers from eastern and central parts of colonial Virginia. It was first settled by colonists around 1768."

So the potential pool of parents is native Americans, French explorers, Scottish or Irish immigrants, or colonists from Virginia.

Answer 1

I don't know if it will help, but in the "Early Landowners of Pennsylvania: Atlas of Township Warrantee Maps of Washington County, PA" there are a couple of Porters and Joseph is in Mount Pleasant Township and warrenteed almost 200 acres in 1785.  This is next to a very large tract of 2800 acres patented to George Washington in 1774.  This fellow might be worth looking at.

Comments

William Robert Porter Jr's wife supposedly received a very large sum of money according to one story I've read. I'll see if I can get access to a copy.

Answer 2

William Robert Porter Jr' 1744- 1833 is son of William  Robert Sr Esq 1752-1821 The Children you have listed for William Jr. are his siblings. I show he and Mary with two Children, I have been to the cemetery in Hopewell Ohio, it is about 15 miles from my farm

Comments

If William Robert Porter Jr born 1744 is the son of William Robert Sr Esq born 1752 then William Sr was 8 years from being born when he conceived Jr. That is certainly impossible. I assume that to be a typo.

Updated birth dates for my well documented relatives indicates that the William Robert Porter Jr that I am interest in was born 1784.
Furthermore, the Joseph Porter who I am relatively certain is the correctly identified direct ancestor of me and my great grandparents is documented to be the son of William Porter and Mary Richey according to his death certificate:
"Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X8N4-YWR : 8 December 2014), Joseph Porter, 04 Sep 1916; citing Hopewell, Muskingum, Ohio, reference fn 57975; FHL microfilm 1,983,756.

His wife is Susan Griffith, and they are positively identified in this document:
"Ohio Probate Records, 1789-1996," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1961-31184-927-12?cc=1992421 : 1 July 2014), Licking > Applications 1885-1897 vol 3-4 > image 248 of 532; county courthouses, Ohio.

There is a William Porter born 1814 who is the sibling of Joseph Porter born 1822 and the son of William Porter born 1784. Technically, I think the William born 1814 is probably III rather than Jr though he would likely have been referred to as Jr during his lifetime.

Looking at Pvt William Porter Sr Esq, it looks like he indeed does have a son, Joseph, who might have a brother William, but the Joseph who is a child of Pvt William Porter Sr Esq is married to someone other than Susan Griffith, has different birth and death dates, has different relations, and is not my direct ancestor. If Pvt William Porter Esq is an ancestor of mine then it would be likely that the Joseph I am a direct descendant of is named after the Joseph you're thinking of.