Augustus Seymour Porter

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Augustus S. Porter

| image = Augustus Porter.jpg

| imagesize = 200

| jr/sr = United States Senator

| state = Michigan

| party = Whig

| term = January 20, 1840 – March 3, 1845

| preceded = Lucius Lyon

| succeeded = Lewis Cass

| office2 = 14th Mayor of Detroit

| term2 = 1838 – March 14, 1839

| preceded2 = Henry Howard

| succeeded2 = Asher B. Bates

| birth_date = {{birth date|1798|1|18}}

| birth_place = Canandaigua, New York

| death_date = {{death date and age|1872|9|18|1798|1|18}}

| death_place = Niagara Falls, New York

| parents = Augustus Porter
Lavinia Steele

| spouse = {{plainlist|

{{marriage|Sarah A. Mansfield|1822|1824|reason=died}}
{{marriage|Sarah G. Barnard|1832}}

}}

| education = Canandaigua Academy

| alma_mater = Union College

| children = 3

| profession = Lawyer

| relatives = Peter Porter, Jr. (half-brother)
Peter Buell Porter (uncle)
Peter A. Porter (cousin)

}}

Augustus Seymour Porter (January 18, 1798{{spaced ndash}}September 18, 1872) was a U.S. statesman from the state of Michigan.

Early life

He was born in Canandaigua, New York, the son of Augustus Porter (1769–1849) and his first wife, Lavinia Steele.{{cite book|last1=Welles|first1=Albert|title=History of the Buell Family in England: From the Remotest Times Ascertainable from Our Ancient Histories, and in America, from Town, Parish, Church and Family Records. Illustrated with Portraits and Coat Armorial|date=1881|publisher=Society Library|location=New York, NY|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ma4aAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA114|access-date=14 November 2016|language=en}} His brothers were Albert Howell Porter (1801-1888) and Peter Buell Porter, Jr. (1806–1871), and his uncle was Peter Buell Porter (1773–1844), the United States Secretary of War under John Quincy Adams.

He attended Canandaigua Academy,{{CongBio|inline=1|P000437}} and graduated from Union College, in Schenectady, New York, in 1818, studied law and was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Detroit, Michigan.

Career

Porter became the recorder of Detroit in 1830 and was the treasurer of the Michigan Pioneer Society in 1837. He was elected mayor of Detroit in 1838, resigning in 1839 to run for the United States Senate, and was succeeded as mayor by Asher B. Bates on March 14, 1839.

He was elected as a Whig to the United States Senate, and served from January 20, 1840, until March 3, 1845.{{cite book|last1=Press|first1=C. Q.|title=American Political Leaders 1789-2009|date=October 6, 2009|publisher=CQ Press|location=Washington, D.C.|isbn=9781452267265|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ktR1AwAAQBAJ&q=Augustus+Seymour+Porter|access-date=14 November 2016|language=en}} He did not run for reelection in 1844. He was chairman of the Committee on Roads and Canals, 1841–1845, and was on the Committee on Enrolled Bills, 1841–1843.

Personal life

On July 25, 1822, he married Sarah A. Mansfield (d. 1824). Mansfield died a few months after the birth of Porter's only son:

Samuel M. Porter (b. 1824), who died in youth.

On September 24, 1832, he married his second wife, Sarah G. Barnard (1807–1885),{{cite book|last1=Leavenworth|first1=Elias Warner|title=A Genealogy of the Leavenworth Family in the United States: With Historical Introduction, Etc|date=1873|publisher=S. G. Hitchcock & Company|location=Syracuse, N.Y.|url=https://archive.org/details/agenealogyleave01unkngoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/agenealogyleave01unkngoog/page/n499 239]|access-date=10 May 2017|language=en}} his cousin and the daughter of Robert Foster Barnard (1784–1850) and Augusta Porter (1786–1833). Sarah was the sister of Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard (1809–1889), a Columbia University President, and Gen. John G. Barnard (1815–1882).{{cite news|title=Obituary 1 -- Mrs. S.G. Porter of Niagara Falls|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1885/03/29/archives/obituary-1-no-title.html|access-date=10 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=29 March 1885}} She was also a niece of Senator Henry Clay (1777–1852).{{cite book|title=History of the Buell Family in England: From the Remotest Times Ascertainable from Our Ancient Histories, and in America, from Town, Parish, Church and Family Records. Illustrated with Portraits and Coat Armorial|date=1881|publisher=Society Library|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ma4aAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA313|access-date=10 May 2017|language=en}} Together, they had:

Jane A. Porter (b. 1833)
Sarah Frederica Porter (b. 1836), who married Stephen E. Burrall (1826–1868),{{cite book|last1=Andrews|first1=Henry Porter|title=The Descendants of John Porter of Windsor, Conn. 1635-9|date=1893|publisher=G.W. Ball, printer|url=https://archive.org/details/descendantsjohn00wigggoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/descendantsjohn00wigggoog/page/n657 761]|access-date=10 May 2017|language=en}} in 1863,{{cite news|title=MARRIED.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1863/09/14/news/married.html|access-date=10 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=14 September 1863}}{{cite book|last1=Staff|first1=New England Historic Genealogical Society|title=The New England Historical and Genealogical Register: Volume 24 1870|date=December 1, 1994|publisher=Heritage Books|isbn=9780788400711|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r301ndLxbbkC&pg=PA182|access-date=10 May 2017|language=en}} and who lived in London in 1885.

In 1848, he moved to his father's residence, in Niagara Falls, New York, and died there on September 18, 1872.{{cite news|title=Hon. Augustus S. Porter.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1872/10/03/archives/hon-augustus-s-porter.html|access-date=10 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=3 October 1872}} He is interred in Oakwood Cemetery in Niagara Falls, New York.{{cite web|title = The Political Graveyard| url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/porter1.html#R9M0J9RW4| access-date = September 14, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100826045919/http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/porter1.html| archive-date= 26 August 2010 | url-status= live}} Sarah died at Newport, Isle of Wight on April 30, 1885.{{cite book|last1=Andrews|first1=Henry Porter|title=The Descendants of John Porter of Windsor, Conn. 1635-9|date=1893|publisher=G.W. Ball, printer|location=Saratoga Springs|edition=Vol. II|url=https://archive.org/details/descendantsjohn00wigggoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/descendantsjohn00wigggoog/page/n369 616]|access-date=14 November 2016|language=en}}

=Descendants=

Through his youngest daughter, he was the grandfather of Guy Augustus Porter–Burrall (1865–1890),{{cite book|title=Fairbairn's Book of Crests of the Families of Great Britain and Ireland|date=1892|publisher=T. C. and E. C. Jack|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tf02AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA362|access-date=10 May 2017|language=en}} a Cambridge University lawyer and Lieutenant in the British Army,{{cite book|last1=Venn|first1=John|title=Alumni Cantabrigienses: A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900|date=September 15, 2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781108036115|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WPPcP39XDDIC&pg=PA461|access-date=10 May 2017|language=en}} and Stephen E. Porter–Burrall (1868–1896), an 1883 Eton College graduate.{{cite book|last1=Chetwynd-Stapylton|first1=Henry Edward|title=Second Series of Eton School Lists: Comprising the Years Between 1853 and 1892, with Notes and Index|date=1900|publisher=R.I. Drake|url=https://archive.org/details/secondserieseto00stapgoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/secondserieseto00stapgoog/page/n285 502]|access-date=10 May 2017|language=en}} The family assumed the name of Porter–Burrall, by letters patent from Queen Victoria, on August 16, 1886.