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11 June 2022

Andrew Porter

[Revolutionary War Patriot Series, Part 6 of 12]

 

Born:  circa 1734
Died:  11 June 1821 in Prince Edward County, Virginia

Service:  Patriotic Service

  • Provided supplies, 1782
  • Paid supply tax, 1783

Wife:  Margaret Ewing

Children:

  • Robert
  • Samuel
  • Jane, wife of James Trabue
  • Rebecca
  • Sarah, wife of William Mitchell
  • Elizabeth, wife of John Hamilton
  • Eleanor, wife of William Williams
  • Margaret, wife of Stephen Woodrum


  

Timeline:

13 August 1754
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Andrew Porter appeared in court twice on the same day, though both cases against him were dismissed.  The first case, for assault and battery, was dismissed because the plaintiff failed to prosecute, and the second case was dismissed by order of the plaintiff's attorney.



1755
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Andrew Porter appeared on a “List of Tithables from Buffalo to the County Line” taken by Mr. Ewing.

 

12 December 1759
Prince Edward County, Virginia
William Ewing Jr. of Maryland granted power of attorney to Andrew Porter to manage “all manner [of] business wherein I am anyways concerned and interested” and to “commence & prosecute suits for me”.


 

10 June 1760
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Andrew Porter appeared on a “List of Tithers Taken by Joel Watkins.”

 

30 August 1763
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Andrew Porter received a land grant for 400 acres on both sides of the south fork of Sawneys Creek.


 

29 December 1763
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Andrew & Margaret Porter sold 100 acres of land on both sides of Sawneys Creek of land to John Mcilroy for £27.

 

19 March 1764
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Andrew & Margaret Porter sold 150 acres of land on the branches of Sawneys Creek to James Weakley for £15.


 

26 July 1765
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Andrew Porter received a land grant for 800 acres on both sides of the middle fork of Sawneys Creek.


 

18 April 1772
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Andrew Porter and his wife sold land to James Roys for £19.

 

17 April 1780
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Andrew Porter purchased 200 acres of land on both sides of Sawneys Creek from William Mills for £3,300.

 

20 August 1781
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Andrew Porter was bondsman when his daughter Jane Ewing Porter married James Trabue of Charlotte County.  James had served as Commissary General under Col. George Rogers Clark and had been a prisoner of the British at Montreal, escaping in 1780.


 

1782
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Andrew Porter was counted on a “List of Souls in Capt. Dick Holland Company” with 8 whites and 1 black.

 

September 1782
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Andrew Porter presented claims in court for providing supplies and services:

  • 24 gallons brandy & 8 diets to Asst. Dep. QM Gamble
  • 9 diets & pasturage for 89 cattle
  • Smith’s work on a wagon
  • 7 diets for men on the march to the Prince Edward County courthouse
  • 9 gallons whiskey, 18 gallons brandy
  • 7 diets to the Augusta militia
  • 22 gallons & 3 quarts brandy & 1 keg for General Green’s army
  • 170 lbs. hay, 1½ bushel 1 peck & 2 quarts corn
  • 2 gallons brandy for the Augusta militia

 


 

1783
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Andrew Porter and his son Robert appeared on the 1783 tax list.  Andrew was taxed on 1 male over the age of 21, 1 slave over the age of 16, 3 horses, and 20 cattle;  Robert was taxed on 1 male over 21, and 2 horses.


 

23 May 1786
Montgomery County, Virginia
The will of Samuel Ewing, brother-in-law of Andrew Porter, was recorded.  Samuel made bequests to his sister Margaret Porter’s children Robert, Betty, Samuel, Margaret, Sarah, Elender, and Rebecah.

 

7 January 1789
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Andrew Porter gave consent for his daughter Elenor to marry William Williams.


 

8 November 1791
Wythe County, Virginia
The will of James Ewing, brother-in-law of Andrew Porter, was recorded.  James left one moiety to Andrew’s children, but did not list them by name.

 

15 May 1792
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Andrew Porter sold 108 acres of land to William Matthews for £80.

 

9 July 1793
Wythe County, Virginia
The will of William Ewing, brother-in-law of Andrew Porter, was recorded.  William made bequests to his sister Margaret Porter’s children Robert, Sam, Rebeckah.

 

12 September 1795
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Andrew Porter sold 126 acres of land on both sides of the middle branch of Sawneys Creek to John Dabney for £69.

 

16 June 1797
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Robert Kelso gave 50 acres of land to Andrew Porter “for and in consideration of the natural love and affection” and $1.  The relationship between the two men is unclear.

 

12 September 1797
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Andrew Porter gave consent for his daughter Margaret (“Peggy”) to marry Stephen Woodrum.  Stephen had served as a private under Capt. Watts and Col. White during the Revolutionary War.


 

30 October 1800
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Andrew & Margaret Porter gave consent for their daughter Sarah to marry William Mitchell Jr.


 

15 September 1806
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Stephen Woodrum filed suit against his father-in-law Andrew Porter, alleging that Andrew had promised him land, trying to persuade Stephen to remain in Virginia rather than move westward to Tennessee.  Stephen hoped “that the court will by their decree compel the said defendant [Andrew] to make to your orator [Stephen] a full + perfect title in fee to the aforesaid one hundred acres of land and that your worships will make such other or further decree touching the premises as justice shall dictate + to the court may seem right.”  On 20 April 1807, Andrew responded that Stephen had married his daughter without his consent, and that Stephen had “proved to be a lying improvident character.”  He stated that he had promised to give 60 acres to his daughter and her heirs, and was still willing to do so.  The outcome of the case is not certain, but no deed from Andrew to either Stephen or Peggy Woodrum was recorded in Prince Edward County deed books.  By the 1810 census, Stephen had left Virginia and was living in Adair County, Kentucky.


 

23 September 1807
Prince Edward County, Virginia
John & Frances White filed suit against Andrew Porter.  Frances White had previously been married to William Mills, from whom Andrew Porter had purchased 200 acres of land.  Frances claimed that she had refused to relinquish her right of dower, and that as a result, Andrew retained one third of the purchase price.  The complainants were now seeking compensation.  On 22 March 1808, Andrew responded that he had paid the full amount to William Mills in his lifetime, and that:

“altho the said bill is in the name of John White and Frances his wife he has good grounds to believe and is well convinced in his own mind that there is not to be found in this or any other state such a person as John White husband to the said Frances late Frances Mills, but verily believes the said Frances has no lawful husband + now lives in fornication with some person perhaps said White … the said Frances let her be Frances White or Black or any other name she may please to assume is not entitled to dower in said 200 acres of land because she voluntarily and against the consent of her husband William Mills left him and went off with one – Wooten with whom she lived as was generally reported in adultery nor did she return to the said Mills during the remainder of his life tho he lived many years after her elopement”

While Frances may or may not have deserted her first husband William Mills, there was a marriage recorded for Frances Mills to John White Sr. on 19 August 1792 in Montgomery County, Virginia.  It should be noted that, while the deed as recorded in 1780 did not include a release of dower from William’s wife, it did include a note by William Mills acknowledging full payment.  The chancery court file also included another receipt, dated 30 July 1781 and witnessed by William Porter and Alexander Ewing.


 

1810
Prince Edward County, Virginia
In the 1810 U.S. federal census, there were five people in Andrew Porter’s household:  1 male and 1 female over the age of 45;  1 male and 1 female between the ages of 16-25;  and 1 female between the ages of 26-44.

 

20 June 1814
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Andrew Porter sold 117 acres of land on the middle fork of Sawneys Creek to his grandson William Williams for $350.

 

17 November 1814
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Andrew Porter sold 60 acres of land on the waters of Sawneys Creek to Isham Clarke for £63.

 

15 July 1815
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Andrew Porter sold 120 acres of land on the middle fork of Sawneys Creek to his grandson William Williams for £126.

 

December 1815
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Andrew Porter’s daughter Rebecah died between 14 December, when she wrote her will, and 18 December, when her will was recorded.  Rebecah made bequests to her sister Betsy, and to her nephew and niece William and Sally Williams, children of her sister Nelly.

 

25 September 1817
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Andrew Porter sold 136 ¼ acres of land on both sides of Sawneys Creek to Garnett Andrews for $845.

 

June 1818
Prince Edward County, Virginia
William & Sarah Mitchell filed suit against Sarah’s father Andrew Porter & Garnett Andrews.  The couple alleged that after their marriage, Andrew had allowed them to settle on land known as Mills tract, containing 100 acres, promising to give it to them if they cleared and improved the property.  However, Andrew had instead sold part of the tract to Garnett Andrews.  On 18 March 1819, the court ordered a survey made of the claimed 100 acres, which showed that about 22 acres had been part of the land sold to Garnett Andrews.  On 16 November 1819, Andrew Porter responded that he had allowed the couple to reside on the land, but that he never promised to give them the land.  In his will, Andrew ordered that this Mills tract be rented out, and the revenues be paid to his son Samuel.  However, on 28 August 1823, Samuel freely deeded the Mills tract to his sister Sarah.


 

1820
Prince Edward County, Virginia
In the 1820 U.S. federal census, there were 3 people in Andrew Porter’s household:  1 male over the age of 45, and 2 slaves, 1 male and 1 female, over the age of 45.

 

31 January 1821
Prince Edward County, Virginia
William Williams, Robert Ransome, and Andrew Porter had the boundaries of six acres of land on the south side of Sawneys Creek clarified, stating the original survey was “very incorrect” and “left the lines in confusion”.  The land had previously been sold by Andrew Porter to William Williams, who later sold it to Robert Ransome.  On 19 February 1821, William Williams and Robert Ransome sold the same six acres to Andrew Porter for $10.

 

11 June 1821
Prince Edward County, Virginia
William McKinney wrote a letter on 25 June 1821 to Samuel and Robert Porter, informing them that their father Andrew Porter had died on Tuesday the 11th.


 

19 November 1821
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Andrew Porter’s will was proved in court.

I Andrew Porter of Prince Edward County being weak but of sound mind and memory and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die do make + ordain this my last will + testament.  First I desire to give my soul to God of whom I received it and my body to the dust to be decently buried at the discretion of my executors hereafter named.  I wish all my stock of every description to be sold with the crop now growing, household and kitchen furniture &c and pay all my lawfull debts.  I then give to my son Robert Porter six shillings.  I order the hundred + two acres of land part of Mills tract more or less to be rented out, and the money collected + pay the taxes and the balance to go to my son Samuel Porter during his life.  I then leave to my great grand son James Porter of Wythe Co VA fifteen pounds current money.  I give to my daughter Jane E. Trabue twenty pounds current money;  now I believe that I owe Robert + James Trabue twenty two dollars which I order to be paid.  Then I give to my daughter Elizabeth Hamilton one shilling + six pence;  to my daughter Peggy Woodrum all the property lent her by me when she went to house keeping amounting to forty pounds or there abouts;  with one shilling and pence to my daughter Sarah Mitchell.  My will is that my two slaves Tom + Cate receive their freedom and that my executors pay them thirty dollars each for the purchase of paying their expences to a free state if they choose to go, if they do not think proper to go to a free state they may choose their master or mistress + continue in this state.  I give to my grand son Wm. Williams one shilling + six pence + also to my grand daughter Sarah Williams one shilling + six pence.  I wish my executors to rent out the land whereon I now live + after paying the taxes of said land to divide the balance of the money between my great grand son James Porter + Jane E. Trabue.  I do appoint William McKinney + Charles McKinney his brother both of Charlotte County my executors to this my last will + testament.  Witness my hand + seal this 23d day of June 1820.

 

Andrew [his mark] Porter

 


 

A map of Prince Edward County from 1820 shows the location of Andrew’s property on Sawney’s Creek.


 

Sources:

 

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