Person:Mary Porter (96)

I am not sure about the name of Mary Jane (Jean) Porter. Family history book shows her as Jane(Jean). Since she has a sister named Mary, I find it odd that they would name two daughters Mary. This family has a colorful history. They were early settlers in Lebanon, KY and helped to establish the Lebanon Church and they are buried in the Church Cemetery there amongst most of their kin. Nathaniel and Jane migrated to Kentucky in 1795 with a group of young married people consisting of Andersons, Carlisles, Kennedys, Moses and Alexander McClure, McPhersons and McCulloughs. The father of Jane McClure had refused to allow his daughter to marry young McClure and leave with the group. Nathaniel started with them but at the end of the first days journey, returned to the Porter cabin after a long, hard ride and near dawn persuaded Jane to leave without her father's consent. William, the father must have relented when he could not stop her because his signature is on the marriage bond or permission to marry. She rode on the horse behind him to the County Court House, where they were married and then rode hard to join their relatives and friends. Some time later, Jane Porter McClure and Mrs. Kennedy returned unescorted back to Virginia to visit their parents. It was early in the 1800's and no doubt they left young children with relatives and friends. It is said that Nathaniel McClure warned them to ride the ridges and keep out of the canebrakes, and prayed every day for their safety. On the return trip, one of her brothers accompanied them to the river, presumed to be the Ohio. This was the last time Jane saw any of her family. Her father died in 1804 and a few years later, her mother and five brothers migrated to Tennessee. In 1799 the McClure family settled in the lebanon Hills on Bullock Pen Creek in Boone Co.,KY. The house which they built there was still standing in 1936. Nathaniel and Jane had 11 children: Mary (Polly) 1796 John Allen b. 28 Sep.1797 d. 28 Dec.1850 Hannah b. 10 Jan.1799 d. 12 Nov.1851 Lily b. 1801 Elizabeth(Betsy) b. 1803 d.1883 William Porter b. 1806 d. 1883 Jean Porter b. 1809 d. 1875 Rebecca b. 1811 d. 1851 Nathaniel b. 1813 d. 24 March 1895 Nancy Ann b. 1815 d. 1902 Margaret b. 28 April 1818 d. 23 April 1883

There is additional information on this family in a book entitled "Never Say Goodbye" by Weiss and is about their genealogy trek to Lebanon and their history and of the refurbishing work they did at the Lebanon Cemetery.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Ancestry.com. Public Member Trees: (Note: not considered a reliable primary source).

   http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=amweil&id=I662

2.   A Family history of William Porter Jr. of Rockbridge County, VA.