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P
rendered service of a valuable and lasting
character. Most richly does he merit the
high esteem and cordial regard in which
he is held by his friends and neighbors
and the entire community.
(The Porter Line).
This ancient family, which has a record
of nearly three centuries in New Eng-
land, was founded by William de la
Grande, a Norman knight, who accompanied
William the Conqueror to England,
and in return for his services was
given lands in or near Kenilworth, War-
wickshire.
Ralph, or Roger, son of William, became
Grand Porteur to King Henry the
First, and from his tenure of this high
office was derived the family name.
The escutcheon of the Porters is as
follows
:
Arms—Argent, on a fesse sable between bar-
rulets or, three bells of the first.
Crest—A portcullis argent chained or.
Motto— Vigilantia et virtute.
(I) John Porter, founder of the Amer-
ican branch of the family, was born in
England about 1596, and about 1637 is
known to have been of Hingham, Massachusetts.
Later he removed to Salem
and there passed the remainder of his
life. He was a man of prominence in the
community, holding high and responsible
offices, and is said to have been a personal
friend of Governor Endicott. John
His death
Porter married Mary .
occurred in 1676.
(II) Samuel Porter, son of John and
Mary Porter, was born, probably, in England,
and was a mariner, owning a farm
in Wenham, near Wenham pond. He
married Hannah Dodge. He died about
1660.
(HI) John (2) Porter, son of Samuel
and Hannah (Dodge) Porter, was born
in 1658, and about 1680 moved from Dan-
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
245
vers to Wenham. He was a maltster and
lived on a farm. He married Lydia Her-
rick. Mr. Porter was an active and influ-
ential citizen, and lived to the venerable
age of ninety-five years, passing away in
1753-
(IV) Nehemiah Porter, son of John
(2) and Lydia (Herrick) Porter, was born
in 1692, in Wenham, Massachusetts, and
was a weaver and yeoman, living on a
farm in Ipswich given him by his father.
He married, in 1717, Hannah Smith,
daughter of Hezekiah Smith, of Beverly.
He died in Ipswich in 1784.
(V) Nehemiah (2) Porter, son of Nehemiah
(i) and Hannah (Smith) Porter,
was born March 22, 1720. He early determined
to study for the ministry. He
graduated from Harvard College, and in
1750 was ordained pastor of the church
in Chebacco parish where he remained
sixteen years. At the end of that time he
went to Nova Scotia where, however, he
spent but a few years, returning ere long
to Massachusetts and accepting a pastor-
ate in Ashfield, which he retained to the
close of his long life. He married (first)
January 20, 1749, Rebecca Chipman,
daughter of the Rev. John Chipman, of
Beverly, Massachusetts. The Chipmans
were numbered among the old Colonial
families of the Province. Mr. Porter married
(second) Elizabeth Nowell, of Boston.
During the Revolutionary War he
volunteered as chaplain and always be-
lieved that his prayers turned the tide
of battle at Saratoga. To his great honor
be it recorded that he was strongly anti-
slavery. Many anecdotes are related il-
lustrative of his strength of principle, his
originality of mind and his trenchant and
ready wit. A gentleman who refused to
attend church ended his argument with
"I have a right to think as I have a mind
to." To which Mr. Porter instantly re-
plied, "You have no right to think