Porter
Porter names 7 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Porter HORACE, an American diplomatist
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
HORACE, an American diplomatist; born in Huntingdon, Pa., April 15, 1837, son of David R. Porter, who governor of the State. After a became year in the scientific department of Harvard University he entered the United States Military Academy. His graduation took place in 1860. After a brief space as instructor in artillery at West Point, he was assigned to duty in the Department of the East. He was promoted to be 1st lieutenant while under Sherman and Dupont in the expedition against Port Royal. In 1863 he was brevetted captain for gallant services at the capture of Fort Pulaski, where he had command of the siege batteries. In May, 1864, he was brevetted major for his conduct in the battle of the Wilderness. The next year found him brevet lieutenant-colonel, and 1865 brevet Brigadier-General of the United States army. He had been chief of ordnance of the army of the Potomac under General McClellan, but after the battle of Antietam was transferred first to the army of the Ohio and then to the army of the Cumberland. While on the staff of General Thomas at Chattanooga he became acquainted with General Grant. Their intimacy lasted till Grant's death. General Porter became an aide-de-camp on Grant's staff, and was with him dur- When General Grant became Secretary of War General Porter became the assistant secretary, and during his chief's service as President acted as private secretary. General Porter then went into business and was exceedingly successful. He was president of the General National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and the Grant Monument Association. The completion of the Grant monument is largely the result of his efforts. In 1897 he was appointed by President McKinley ambassador to France.
Porter DAVID DIXON, an American naval officer
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
DAVID DIXON, an American naval officer; born in Chester, Pa., June 8, 1813; son of Commodore David Porter. He entered the navy as midshipman in 1829, was employed in 1836 to 1841 in the survey of the coast of the United States; in 1841 appointed as lieutenant to the frigate "Congress." In 1845 was transferred to the National Observatory at Washington, and during the Mexican War to the naval rendezvous at New Orleans; again to the coast survey, and from 1849 to 1853 engaged in command of the California mail steamers. At the commencement of the Civil War he was appointed commander of the steam sloop-of-war, "Powhatan"; distinguishing himself in the capture of New Orleans, and commanded the gunboat and mortar flotilla which co-operated with the squadron of Admiral Farragut in the first attack on Vicksburg. In the fall of 1862 he was placed in command of all the naval forces on the W. rivers above New Orleans, with the rank of rear-admiral. After the war he was appointed superintendent of the United States Naval Academy, Annapo-ing most of the rest of the war. lis. He was made vice-admiral in 1866, 3.75 and in 1870 became admiral. He died in Washington, D. C., Feb. 13, 1891.
Porter FITZ-JOHN, an American military officer
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
FITZ-JOHN, an American military officer; born in Portsmouth, N. H., June 13, 1822; was graduated at the Academy in 1845; United States Military served in the Mexican War, and made brevet captain and major for gallantry at Molino del Rey and Chapultepec. In 1861 was appointed colonel of the 15th U. S. Infantry, displaying great gallantry at Cold Harbor, Malvern Hill, Antietam, and Mechanicsville. For an alleged disobedience at the second battle of Bull Run, Aug. 29, 1862, Porter was court-martialed, and on Jan. 21, 1863, was cashiered. In 1878 a trial was granted, and the court recommended that the former sentence be reversed, and that he be restored to his former rank in the army, but no decisive action was taken In 1882 President Arthur remitted so much of the penalty as prohibited him from holding office. New evidence came to light, General Grant affirming that Porter had been unjustly treated, and a bill was introduced in Congress providing for his reinstatement. In 1886 the bill passed both Houses, and became a law by the signature of the President. He died in Morristown, N. J., May 21, 1901.
Porter DAVID, an American naval officer
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
DAVID, an American naval officer; born in Boston, Mass., Feb. 1, 1780, son of a naval officer. He was appointed midshipman in 1798, lieutenant the year after; saw service in the West Indies, and against Tripoli in 1801-1803; became captain in 1812, and captured the first British warship taken in the war. In 1813, with the "Essex" (32 guns), he nearly destroyed the English whale fishery in the Pacific, and took possession of the Marquesas Islands. March, 1814, his frigate was destroyed by the British in V Valparaiso harbor. He afterward commanded an expedition against pirates in the West Indian waters, and was court-martialed for compelling the authorities at Porto Rico to apologize for imprisoning one of his officers. Porter resigned in 1826, and became head of the Mexican In 1829 the United States appointed him consi-general to the Barbary States, and then minister at Constantinople, where he died, March 3, 1843.
Porter a carrier; one who carries burdens
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a carrier; one who carries burdens, parcels, luggage, etc., for hire. A dark colored malt liquor, so called from having been originally the favorite drink of London porters. In forging (1) A long bar of iron attached in continuation of the axis of a heavy forging, whereby it is guided beneath the hammer or into the furnace, being suspended by chains from a crane above. A cross lever fixed to the porter is the means of rotating the forging beneath the hammer. (2) A smaller bar from whose end an article is forged, as a knife blade, for instance.
Porter SIDNEY WILLIAM (pseudonym O
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
SIDNEY WILLIAM (pseudonym O. Henry), an American author; born in Greensborough, N. C., in 1862. At 18 he moved to Texas, and worked successively as a bank clerk, editor of "The Rolling Stone," on staff of "The Houston Daily," etc. Among his works are "The Four Million," " lion," "Rolling Stone," "Cabbages and Kings," etc. He died in 1910.
Porter ROBERT P., an American statistician
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
ROBERT P., an American statistician; born in Norfolk, England, Jan. 30, 1852; settled in the United States in 1867, and soon afterward engaged in journalism. He was appointed United States commissioner to Cuba and Porto Rico in 1898-1899. Died 1917.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's caught Horace Porter in 1921, the year he died, and left out his most remembered feat: as ambassador in Paris he hunted down the lost grave of John Paul Jones and had the body shipped home in 1905, where it lies at Annapolis. Of the naval Porters, David Dixon and his father David are still standard figures in Civil War and War of 1812 histories, while Fitz-John Porter's court-martial over Second Bull Run, reversed by act of Congress in 1886 as the entry notes, is now generally read by historians as a political prosecution driven by his loyalty to McClellan. The two common nouns have moved furthest: porter the beer, described here as the drink of London porters, dwindled almost to extinction in Britain during the twentieth century before craft brewers revived it from the 1980s, and the hotel and railway porter has largely gone, undone by the wheeled suitcase and self-service travel, though the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, founded in 1925, made the job a landmark in American labour and civil rights history. The forging porter bar is the quiet survivor, still used in heavy forge shops much as described.
Written for this edition, 2026.