Pvt. (CSA), John Wilson Porter

John Wilson Porter was born in Butler County, KY on September 18, 1835 to Benjamin Clark Porter and Maltilda J. Wilson. In the winter of 1847, at the age of 12, he moved to Texas with his parents who settled north of Caldwell in Burleson County.

It is reported that he traveled 300 miles from home to receive an education at McKenzie Insitute in Clarksville, Red River County, Texas.

He first married Jeffa Elizabeth Duncan on January 15, 1857. They had three sons (William Benjamin, John Duncan and Charles Clark) and one daughter (Dora Jeffa).

During the Civil War, he served in Co. "F", Eighth Texas Infantry, Young's Brigade, Walker's Division, CSA Trans-Miss Division.

Elizabeth died December 10, 1866 and John married second to Ellen O. Grisham in 1867. They had two sons (Edgar Thomas and James Dahle) and one daughter (Minnie) who died at the age of two.

His second wife, Ellen, died December 27, 1881 and John then married a third time in 1883 to Jennie S. McKinney.

John Wilson was a very successful farmer and influential citizen in Burleson County for many years, amassing 900 acres of farm land near Hix. He was a member of the Burleson County Commisioner's Court from Precinct 3, serving 4 years from 1879-1883; he served again from 1887-1889 when plans were being draw for a new courthouse.

He was an active member of the Macedonia Hix Baptist Church. He reportedly served as superintendent of its Sunday School for many years.

In 1897 he was elected to the 25th Texas Legislature as Representativefrom from Lee, Burleson and Washington Counties.

After 1900, he and Jennie retired to Rockdale in Milam County where he bought a home and was able to live off of his investments. He was among the first owners of an automobile there. He and Jennie were living in Rockdale at the time of the 1910 Census.

Jennie died of Birght's disease on July 29, 1915 in the Providence Sanitarium in Waco, McLennan County, Texas. She was buried in the Little River Baptist Church Cemetery in Milam County between Cameron and Calvert.

John was now 80 years old and by himself for the first time. He moved to Morgan in Bosque County, Texas to be near his daughter Dora Jeffa Hill. He died in Morgan on February 17, 1919. He was listed as a widower on his death certificate. His body was returned to Burleson County for burial in the Hix Cemetery near his first two wives and mothers of his children.

Porter, J. W. BATTLE UNIT NAME: 12th Regiment, Texas Infantry (Young's) SIDE: Confederacy COMPANY: F
SOLDIER'S RANK IN: Private SOLDIER'S RANK OUT: Private ALTERNATE NAME: FILM NUMBER: M227 ROLL 29 PLAQUE NUMBER: NOTES: none

12th Infantry Regiment [also called 8th Regiment] was organized and mustered in Confederate service at Waco, Texas, during the spring of 1862. Its members were recruited in the towns and cities of Clarksville, Cameron, Hempstead, Nacogdoches, Fairfield, and Waco, and the counties of Comanche, Milam, and Grimes. The regiment was assigned to O. Young's and Waul's Brigade, Trans-Mississippi Department, and saw action in Louisiana and Arkansas. After fighting at Jenkins' Ferry, it moved to Hempstead and disbanded in the spring of 1865. The field officers were Colonel Overton Young; Lieutenant Colonels William Clark, B.A. Philpott, and James W. Raine; and Major Erastus Smith.