Person talk:James Porter (25)

I presume the husband here is Samuel Porter of Temple Hill in Castle's Wood. He is usually said to have married Elizabeth Duncan. He's commonly thought to be kin to Patrick Porter of nearby Fall Creek. Patrick had a son Samuel, but that Samuel is much younger than the man who married Elizabeth Duncan. In checking Ancestry family trees I noticed that at least some submitters confused Patrick's son with Samuel of Temple Hill. Samuel of Temple Hill has a very interesting, and complex history. He was among those who followed Boone to Kentucky, settling at (I think) Riddles Station. During the British-Indian attacks in that area he and his family were among those made captive and taken to Detroit. After sometime in captivity he apparently swore allegiance to the British crown, and returned to the Castle's Woods area where he lived out his life. After the war he was accused of having been a Tory by Arthur Campbell, brother of General WIlliam Campbell of Kings Mountain. Campbell had very strong anti Tory sentiments and known for his summary execution of Tories. It took the intercession of Porter's onetime neighbor in Castle's Woods General William Russell, to get Campbell to back off. Russell (who had married the wife of William Campbell after the later's death during the seige of Yorktown, and hence Arthur Campbell's brotherinlaw by marriage) argued that Porter's oath of allegiance was simply a matter of necessity , done to get him out of captivity. Q 07:52, 5 June 2009 (EDT)