Notes for Matthew T. Porter
Matthew Tolbert Porter who was born on January 26, 1841. This date is from his tombstone. Indeed, there is some evidence which indicates he may have been born in 1838 or 1839. Matthew was raised in Hempstead County Arkansas and was called "Teague" by his family and friends. He learned the leather trades and was a shoemaker and a saddle maker. He was said to be able to run like a deer. In about 1970, one of our Billingsley cousins sent a letter to Wilma Faye Porter Green saying that Matthew Tolbert Porter held the world record for the 100 yard dash, but as luck would have it, the records of that feat were destroyed in a fire. For the race, Matthew made his own shoes.
Matthew married before 1860 to a woman named Elizabeth. They had one daughter named Eliza who was born about 1860. Matthew was a saddle maker and kept leaving his saddles lying around the house and on the bed. Elizabeth complained once too often and Matthew up and left her. It is not known whether they ever divorced or not. Nor is it known whether Elizabeth ever remarried. Their daughter Eliza is said to have run a service station or a small market in either Blevins or Delight, Arkansas. A marriage record has been found in Hempstead Co., AR which shows J. H. Sutton and Eliza C. Porter married on Feb. 27, 1881. This may be the same Eliza who was the daughter of Matthew T. Porter and his first wife.
Shortly after the Civil War began, Matthew Tolbert Porter enlisted in Co. B, 4th Ark. Infantry on August 17, 1861 in Lawrence County, Missouri. He was discharged the following October due to illness. There is evidence to suggest that he enlisted in Co. K, 4th Ark Cavalry in 1863. After the war, Matthew Porter was never the same. According to his daughter-in-law, Mary Susie Wingfield Porter, he lost much of his strength which he never recovered.
On December 15, 1868, Matthew Tolbert Porter married Mary Susan "Julie" Stockton who was born on September 14, 1851 in Tishomingo County, Mississippi. She was the daughter of Elijah Winchester Stockton and Martha Jane Gracey. The Stockton family moved from Mississippi to Hempstead County, Arkansas shortly after the end of the Civil War. They settled near what is now known as Nubbin Hill in Nevada County, Arkansas. Nevada County was established in 1871 from parts of Hempstead, Columbia, and Ouachita Counties. Elijah Winchester Stockton was a farmer and was said to have donated five acres of land to the establishment of Providence Cemetery in Nevada County. Elijah and Martha Stockton were buried in Providence Cemetery where their tombstones were recently discovered by Dudley Stockton and surveyed by Jerry and Jeanie McKelvy.
Matthew Tolbert Porter died on November 30, 1897 and is buried at Nubbin Hill (Missionary Grove) Cemetery next to his wife Mary Susan Stockton Porter who died on May 23, 1926.
Matthew and Mary Susan Porter had nine children: Richard Elijah, Sarah Jane, Mary Rachel, Mathew Tolbert*, Delia "Dealie", Henry Lara, Albert Lee, and Major. The name and birth date of one of their children is unknown. He or she probably died in infancy.
Jim Porter
The Porter Research Site
Buried: Missionary Grove Cemetery, Nevada Co, Arkansas
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