When Adam Clark Porter was born on 7 November 1823, in Charlotte, Washington, Maine, United States, his father, Hugh Porter, was 23 and his mother, Jane Coates, was 23. He married Harriet Abigail Fenderson on 19 April 1846. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 3 daughters. He lived in Wisconsin, United States in 1870 and Oakland, Jefferson, Wisconsin, United States for about 30 years. He died on 19 May 1912, in Cambridge, Dane, Wisconsin, United States, at the age of 88, and was buried in Cambridge, Dane, Wisconsin, United States.
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American settlers began mining the Wisconsin Territory in the early 1800's. The lead ore in the territory had largely been mined previously by American Indians. By 1829, nearly 4,000 miners had moved to Wisconsin Territory. The miners became known as badgers as they burrowed into hillsides for shelter. The name eventually represented the state and Wisconsin is now known as the Badger State. (Wisconsin Historical Society: Lead Mining in Southwestern Wisconsin)
The State of Maine chartered the Calais Railway in 1832, one of the first railway charters to be granted by the state. Construction was very long, as the project was reorganized, abandoned, transferred to other companies, and extended several times. It was finally completed in 1898.
"In 1851, Maine outlawed the sale of alcohol, allowing exceptions only for ""medicinal, mechanical, and manufacturing purposes"". This made Maine the first state to experiment with prohibition. Neal Dow, mayor of Portland, believed that alcohol was linked to slavery and was also convinced by the Christian temperance movement. Dow ran into problems later for his anti-immigration rhetoric against the Irish, and also for breaking his own prohibition laws; although not a designated ""purchaser"", Dow personally purchased alcohol to distribute to local doctors, violating a technicality. As the citizens turned against him, Dow eventually ordered soldiers to fire on protesters. This marked a sharp decline in Dow's political career, and the Maine Law was repealed by 1856. Aspects of the law would remain in tact, however, and ultimately paved the way for the 18th Amendment, which prohibited alcohol on the national level."
English and Scottish: occupational name for the gatekeeper of a walled town or city, or the doorkeeper of a great house, castle, or monastery, from Middle English and Older Scots porter(e), port(o)ur ‘doorkeeper, gatekeeper’ (Anglo-Norman French port(i)er, portur, Latin portarius). The office often came with accommodation, lands, and other privileges for the bearer, and in some cases was hereditary, especially in the case of a royal castle. The name has been established in Ireland since the 13th century. In North America, this surname has absorbed cognates and equivalents in other languages, for example German Pförtner (see Fortner ) and Poertner .
English: occupational name for a man who carried loads for a living, especially one who used his own muscle power rather than a beast of burden or a wheeled vehicle. This sense is from Middle English port(o)ur, porter ‘porter, carrier of burdens’ (Anglo-Norman French portur, porteo(u)r).
Dutch: variant, mostly Americanized, of Poorter, status name for a freeman (burgher) of a town, Middle Dutch portere, modern Dutch poorter. Compare De Porter .
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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