Gilchrist Porter

{{infobox officeholder

|name=Gilchrist Porter

|image=Gilchrist Porter (Missouri Congressman).jpg

|state=Missouri

|district={{ushr|MO|2|2nd}}

|term_start=March 4, 1855

|term_end=March 3, 1857

|predecessor=Alfred W. Lamb

|successor=Thomas L. Anderson

|state2=Missouri

|term_start2=March 4, 1851

|term_end2=March 3, 1853

|predecessor2=William Van Ness Bay

|successor2=Alfred W. Lamb

|birth_date={{birth date|1817|11|1}}

|birth_place=Windsor, Virginia, U.S.

|death_date={{death date and age|1894|11|1|1817|11|1}}

|death_place=Hannibal, Missouri, U.S.

|resting_place=Riverside Cemetery

|party=Opposition

|otherparty=Whig

|profession=Politician, lawyer, jurist

}}

Gilchrist Porter (November 1, 1817 – November 1, 1894) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician who served two non-consecutive terms as a U.S. Representative from Missouri from 1851 to 1853, then again from 1855 to 1857.

Early life and education

Born in Windsor, near Fredericksburg, Virginia, Porter received a limited schooling. He studied law, was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Bowling Green, Missouri. He owned slaves.{{Citation|title=Congress slaveowners|date=2022-01-19|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/interactive/2022/congress-slaveowners-names-list/|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=2022-07-10}}

= Congress =

Porter was elected as a Whig to the Thirty-second Congress (March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1853). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1852 to the Thirty-third Congress.

Porter was elected as an Opposition Party candidate to the Thirty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857). He served as chairman of the Committee on Private Land Claims (Thirty-fourth Congress). From 1866 to 1880 he was a Missouri circuit judge.