When Elizabeth Hawkins Porter was born on 21 September 1778, in Virginia, United States, her father, Abner Porter, was 35 and her mother, Hannah Ingram, was 28. She married Elisha Grigsby on 24 May 1796, in Orange, Virginia, United States. They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 5 daughters. She died on 1 September 1843, in Rockbridge, Virginia, United States, at the age of 64, and was buried in Glasgow, Rockbridge, Virginia, United States.
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On April 18, 1780 Richmond became the capital of Virginia. It was the temporary capital from 1780-1788.
Serving the newly created United States of America as the first constitution, the Articles of Confederation were an agreement among the 13 original states preserving the independence and sovereignty of the states. But with a limited central government, the Constitutional Convention came together to replace the Articles of Confederation with a more established Constitution and central government on where the states can be represented and voice their concerns and comments to build up the nation.
In 1796, the Wilderness Road opened up for wagon use. The route was used by colonial and early settlers to reach Kentucky from the East. It started in Virginia, and went southward to Tennessee and then went north to Kentucky. The main danger of this route was Native American attacks.
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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