Porters near Barrelville
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++This is a March, 2010 correspondence exchange concerning the Porter cemetery. Minor elements have been redacted for Internet publication, and a few words have been capitalized.
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Karen Weller wrote:
Thank you, Mike Mckenzie and Korns.org, for putting all that great information online about Barrelville, especially the info about the Porter/Huff cemetery on Barney Engle Road! Some of the Porters buried in that cemetery were my ancestors! My Porter cousins from Mt. Savage and Meyersdale recently told me that our ancestor's house in Barrelville was called the "old Johnson place". They said the old house was down theroad by the Barrelville Church, on the left side of the road, with a cemetery nearby. This matched the location of the Porter/Huff cemetery on the map that Mike McKenzie put online. When Mike told me that the house near this cemetery wascalled the old Johnson place, I knew I had found my family's old home!
I have researched the Porters from Allegany County, Maryland, and have collected the information from several different Porter researchers. If anyone who reads this is interested, I can be contacted at . The information below is a summary of my research on my Porter ancestors from Barrelville.
Page 1 of the 1900 Federal Census for District 13, Allegany County, Maryland, lists two families of Porters living togetherin a house just six houses away from Barney Engle. The Engle family lived in house #1, and the Porters lived in house #7.
House #7, Family #7
Porter, Moses - head of house, born June 1879 in Pa., age 20, married 1 year, rents house
Dora - wife, born April 1875 in Pa., age 25, married 1 year
George W. - son, born Feb. 1900 in Md., age 4/12
John T. - father, born Dec. 1841 in Md., age 58, widowed
Weller, Harry - stepson, born Feb. 1898 in WV, age 2
House #7, Family #8
Porter, Cathern - head of house, born May 1818 in Md., age 82, widowed, rents house
George - son, born Feb. 1846 in Md., age 54, single
Mary - daughter, born June 1844 in Md., age 55, single
Catherine Porter was the mother of John T., George, and Mary. This means that there were fourgenerations of the family living together in the house in 1900: Catherine (1), three of her children (2), her grandson Moses (3), and her great-grandson George W. Porter (4).
Catherine was my ggg-grandmother. Her son Henry, my gg-grandfather, was living in Mt. Savage in 1900 with several of his children. Catherine had another daughter, Rebecca, who was married to Simon Gray and living in Elk Lick, Somerset County, Pa. in 1900. Catherine had several children whodied before 1900. She stated on the 1900 censusthat she had given birth to eleven children, butonly five were still living (John T., George, Mary, Henry, and Rebecca). Catherine's husband, William, had died on 25 February 1885, age 68 years, 10 months, and 8 days. Catherine died on 1 December 1902, age 87 years, 6 months, and 14 days. Their deaths werelisted in the records of the WellersburgReformed Church. (The Barrelville Church was not built until 1920 or so.)
My Porter ancestors must have moved to Barrelville sometime after 1880, because they were listed on the 1880 and 1870 census in Wellersburg. There were other Porters in the Barrelville area in 1880 and earlier, who were somekind of cousins to my Porters. Most of the Porters in Allegany County, Maryland are the descendents of two brothers, John and Moses Porter, whowere among the early settlers in the area in the late 1700's. They both served in the Revolutionary War in Bedford County, Pa., andworked on the crew that surveyed the Mason-Dixon Line.They both owned military lots around Mt. Savage, and purchasedmore land nearby.The Porter Farm (Rosemeadows) and Porter Cemeterywest of Mt. Savage, near Eckhart Mines,is still owned by the descendents of John Porter.Moses Porter reportedly settled near Wellersburg, but his military lots were on Savage Mountain,southeast ofMt. Savage. Land records, census records, and wills show that Moses Porter was theancestor of my gg-grandfather Henry Porter.
According to family stories,Henry Porter and his children also lived in the old Johnson housefor a while, probably before 1900, because it is told that one of his daughters (born1871) couldn't wait to marry and leave Barrelville! Henry's wife, Mary Jane Smith, died in 1886, possibly after the birth of their youngest child who was born in April1886. Mary Jane's death is not listed in the Wellersburg church records. I wonder if Henry and his family were living in Barrelville by then.
Some of Henry's descendents remember visiting the old homeplace. One of Henry's granddaughters (age 88 years, born about 1922) remembers her mother taking her there when she was a child to pick apples and strawberries. The old house was gone by then (early 1930's), and the fields were overgrown and full of weeds. Once, after she had climbed the apple tree to shake the branches, they saw a rattlesnake below the tree! She said she climbed way out on a branch and jumped down, and theyquickly left!
One of Henry's great-granddaughters remembers going to Barrelville with her grandparents to visit relativeswhen the old house was still standing. She was very young, and she doesn'tknow who they went to visit, or who was living in the old house. She just remembers that the house was very, very old. She is now 95 years old, born about 1915, which means that this visit could have beenabout1920 or so. I am curious about this old house, the old Johnson place. When was it built? Who were the Johnsons? What happened to the old house? It was there in the early 1920's, and gone by the early 1930's.
The relatives livingin the old housein 1920 could not have been Catherineor her children. Catherine and her son John both died in 1902.Georgeand Marywere living inElk Lickin 1910near their sister Rebecca, and may have died before1920, because they can't be found on the 1920census.Henrymay have died beforethe 1910census. Catherine's grandson Moses and his wife Dora can't be foundafter the 1900 census, and none of my Porter cousins know anything about them. George W. Porter, son of Moses and Dora, probably was the same George Porter who was raised as a foster son of George Gray (son of Rebecca Porter and Simon Gray). The foster son, George Porter, died in 1918 at the age of 18, which matches the 1900 birthdate of George W. Porter, son of Moses and Dora. This accounts for all the Porters listed on the 1900 census living in the old house.
The relatives livingin the old housein 1920 may have been the family of Henry's son, Harry Edgar Porter, who died before 1930, and was buried in the cemetery near the house. By 1930, Harry's widow, Mary,had moved to a house in town,on Barrelville Road.
One of Harry Edgar's grandsons remembers thecemetery behind the old Johnson house. Hesays that there were many gravestones there years ago, but most have been lost, and the iron fence around the cemetery was taken down. Many of the stones had lambs carved on them, probably forchildren who died young. I have never found the burial place of Catherine and William Porter, or their son Henry Porter and his wife Mary Jane. I wonder if they were buried in this cemetery. One of the photos Mike McKenzie included in the info on the Porter/Huff cemetery shows a tombstone made from a rough slab of rock, carved with the initials H.N.P. Could this be the tombstone of my gg-grandfather Henry Porter?
Henry Porter and Mary Jane Smith had the following children.
Name Born DiedMarried
1. Clara 11 May 186923 Jan. 1917John Swauger
2. EmmaJane23 Feb. 1871 6 Oct. 1958Henry Small
3. George Wm.May 1874 Oct. 1934 Tillie Kendall
4. John Walter6 Aug. 1877 before 1958Rose Lowery
5. Harry Edgar18 Jan. 1879 before 1930 Mary Kendall
6. IsabelleApr. 1881 unknown
7. Mary Catherine7 Oct. 1883 11 Apr. 1885
8. NoraApr. 1886 25 Feb. 1960 Norman Emerson
Clara and John Swauger moved to McKeesport, Pa. Emma Jane and Henry Small also moved to McKeesport, and then to Greensburg, Pa. George William and Tillielivedaround Wellersburg and Barrelville. John Walter and Rose lived in Barrelville, and so did Harry and Mary. No one knows anything about Isabelle. Mary Catherine's death is recorded in the Wellersburg church records. Noraand Norman moved toCumberland, Md.
I will send a second e-mail with more information onCatherine and William Porter and their ancestors.
Thankyou for offering to putmy Porter researchonline with the Porter/Huff cemetery link.
Karen SwaugerBordine
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I forwarded your email to Lannie, maybe when he gets a chance he can put some of the info onto the cemetery page. I did ask a few people why they called the old site the "Johnson Place". What i get is that is the name they always known it as. One of the old Porter stone-tombstones is dated 1865, so there must have been Porters there earlier than you originally thought. Most of that mountain, aside from the Barney Engle farm, has been part of a large tract of land as far back as the 1840's or so when Samuel Barrel bought up close to 3000 acres for a coal mining venture, I do not believe the Johnson/Porter farm was ever its own plot of land. I may be wrong but in the early 1900's time frame that land was probably owned by the Cumberland Coal Company( ? ).I guess it could have been possible the farm could have been started by an employee or official of the company. I'll look intowho owned that in the 1880's. One thing that confuses me is the census stating that the Porters lived 6 houses from Barney Engle... to my knowledge there was not any houses between the B. Engles and the Johnson Place. I attached a 1939 USDA aerial that I annotated showing the Johnson place. Here is a link, the top of their page shows the Barney Engle house. Also, credit has to go to Lannie for creating the Barrelville and cemetery page, my credits usually involve snapping a few photos and passing along some info... regards Mike
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Thanks for forwardingmy e-mail to Lannie. You mentioned the date 1865 on one of the Porter tombstones.Do you know if that is a date of death?or birth? Can you read anything else on that stone?or on the stone with the initials HNP? I know there were other Porters there before 1880.Some of them were descendents of John Porter and Nancy McKenzie,who owned the farm called Rose Meadows near Eckhart. Moses Porter, brother of John, was my 5th great-grandfather.Another brother, Henry Porter, was in Allegany County for a while, but reportedly moved to Kentucky. There was also a brother named Josiah Porterabout whom little is known. SomewhereI read that a group of Porters from the Frostburg area moved to Indiana in the early1800's, but I don't know who they were.
The father of my ggg-grandmother Catherine Porter was one of the landowners who sold land to Samuel Barrell in 1838 or so. Catherine's maiden name was Porter.Family stories say that her husband, William Porter, was her cousin, but his parents have never been identified.Catherine's father was also named William. He was born about 1775-1780 in Allegany County, andwas the son of Moses Porter and Margaret McKenzie. Moses owned two military lots on Savage Mountain, which his son William inheritedin 1816. William married Mary Nelson andwas listed on the 1810, 1820, and 1830 censusinAllegany County. After William sold his father's military lots to Samuel Barrell,heand hischildren allmovedto Londonderry Township, Bedford County, Pa., wherethey were listed on the 1840census. William died in 1843, but most of his children stayed around Cook's Mills. William's children, including Catherine, were named in his will, written in 1836. Catherine and her husband William married in 1837 in Allegany County. They were in the Cook's Mills areain 1840, 1850, and 1860, Wellersburg in 1870 and 1880, and the widow Catherine was in Barrelville in 1900.
SinceCatherine Porter and her husband William Porter were cousins, several of their children evidently inherited a recessive gene from both parents for a condition called "pituitary dwarfism". They were actually midgets, not dwarfs. Their bodies were normal in proportion, just very small. I have a copy of a newspaper obituary from 1898 or 1899 forCatherine's son Mosesthat describes the heights ofher sons Moses, George, and John (Jack) as 4' 4",4' 2", and 4' 4", andher daughter Mary (Molly)as 3' 3", although the parents and another daughter (Rebecca, 5' 6") were normal in height, andanother son, Henry,was 6' 1"tall "in his stocking feet". Family stories say that Catherine had two other sons of normal height who died as young adults, but she had three more children who died as children, and it is not known if they were midgets or not. I have been given photos of two of the midget brothers, the midget sister Molly, and the normal sister Rebecca. I do not have a photo of the normal brother Henry (my gg-grandfather). I've heard themidgets referred to as "the short Porters from Wellersburg".
You said that you thought there were no houses between the Barney Engle house and the old Johnson place. Can I ask what map shows that? Because if it wasa mappublished by the Beers Company about 1878 or 1880,I have found that those maps only showed the homes of landowners, and not of renters. I compared one of those maps from a different areato the census of 1870 and 1880, and found that the maps only showed the homes of landowners. The Beers Company published similar maps and biographical histories all across the U.S. about 1880.
It would be interesting to look at deeds to see who actually owned the old Johnson place in 1900. My Porters stated on the 1900 census that they rented the house.Do you know what courthouse would have these deeds? Cumberland? I could pay a researcher to check the deeds, and go back through time to see the history of the house.
I can't tell which building on the attached 1939 aerial photo is the old Johnson house. Thanks, though.
Can you please send paragraphs 2 and 3 above to your friend Lannie to add to my earlier summary on my Porter ancestors.
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Karen,
The carved stone with the 1865 date does not have anything other than a tree carved into it and the name Porter, this may have been a new born child ? Really hard to speculate, sort of odd though the time was taken to carve a tree, makes me think it may have been a newborn . The other stone with HNP, has nothing else. There may be other stones, I looked briefly but never really looked hard. There wasdefinitely many other graves, i could tell from the sunken areas, my grandfather showed me this about 30 years ago. About the house between the Barney Engle place and the Johnson place, I have never seen a map, just the 1898 topo that shows the house locations, Lannie and I had not had much luck finding any maps of this area, he does have two maps posted from around 1875 and one from 1841, but they really don't show house locations. If you have any maps of the area we would love to get a copy. I said I didn't think there were any houses between the two places because of my personal knowledge of the area, also if there was the 1898 and 1900 topos would surely show them. Houses back then, especially up on the mountains were almost always close to a water source/spring, the Engle and Johnson place was, and between them there are not any to my knowledge. I do not think the house was visible on the 1939 aerial, probably gone by then, but it was in the general area, comparing it to the topos would probably pin point its location. You can search the court house records with this link.. the username is plato, password is plato# click on advance search, then in description just type a name or military lot number, it will bring up matches. Not all are viewable online but alot are. I have no idea of how to find a deed to the Johnson place, as I am not aware it was ever a separate property. Happy Hunting, I'll forward this email to Lannie. regards Mike
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This is a handwritten note from Barrelville resident Francis Bridges from the same month.
1. James Porter lived in Barrelville most of his life. For awhile he and his wife Hazel lived in a small bungalow across the creek behind Prince Albert. The back wall of the house was part of the old power house. Jimmy and my Father were good friends. Jimmy told my father that his sister died at a young age and was buried at the (Porter Huff) cemetery by the Johnson Farm on the hill above Barrelville.
2. William and Lilly (Retzer) Bennet of (Newtown), Mt. Savage had daughters Phylliss, Marion, Eleanor. Phylliss married Lester Reed. Eleanor married John Wingert. They ran the service station next to the Melody Manor. Phyllis told me several years before her death, that her cousin was buried at the (Porter Huff) cemetery above Barrelville. The child’s last name was Retzer. I think she said that the child was a boy.