William Ross Porter
William Ross Porter, a representative citizen of Brown Township, residing on his valuable farm of 187 acres, was born April 12, 1845, where he now resides, in a building which then occupied the site of his present resilience. He is a son of Joseph C. and Margaret (McCurdy) Porter.
The father of Mr. Porter was born in York County, Pennsylvania, in 1806, where he remained until after his marriage and the birth of two children. In the spring of 1840. he reached Oxford Township, Delaware County, locating one mile north of where he finally settled. He purchased a tract of land but did not retain it on account of flaws in the title. He then came to Brown Township and bought 48 acres, on which stood a log barn and a small brick building which had been used for silk-worm culture. The land was covered with mulberry trees. Joseph C. Porter lived to the age of 87 years. He was a man of importance in his community and served both as township trustee and as a justice of the peace. His death took place March 29, 1894. He married Margaret McCurdy, who was born September 29, 1813, and died March 25, 1898. Their family consisted of five sons and five daughters, namely: Maria Jane, born September 27, 1835, died March 25, 1852; James Alexander, born July 31, 1837, was killed at the battle of Chickamauga, during the Civil War, a member of Company D, One Hundred and Twenty-first Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry; John McCurdy, born October 27, 1840, died February 3, 1885; Margaret Rebecca, born January 27, 1843, married B. F. Longwell, and died October 8, 1885; William R.; Martha Elizabeth, born May 17, 1847, married James Carlisle, now deceased, and her home is at Mt. Gilead; Daniel Clark, born September 9, 1840, died August 11, 1887, survived by his widow, formerly Jennie Reeves, of Bridgeton, New Jersey; Joseph Irvin, born April 1, 1852, married Harriet Johnson, formerly of Delaware, but now they reside in California; Mary Caroline, born July 22, 1836, residing in Kansas, married Rev. Nelson A. Shedd; and Olive Isabel, who was born January 19, 1860, married Dr. Stickney and they reside at Kilbourne.
William R. Porter was married June 6, 1900, to Ella Pettibone Moore, a widow with two daughters, Florence and Natalie Moore. whose father, John Moore, had been a resident of Brown Township. Mrs. Ella Porter is the daughter of Hector H. and Mary (Hunter) Pettibone, who came to Delaware from Connecticut in their childhood, and with the exception of a few years spent their entire lives there. Mr. Porter is a Republican, but has accepted no public office except that of school director. His farm is one of the most desirable ones within a radius of seven miles of Delaware.
20th Century History of Delaware County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens, Edited and compiled by James R. Lytle, Delaware, Ohio, Biographical Publishing Co., Chicago, 1908