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He was born on April 20, 1824 at Lawrenceburg, Indiana, United States, the descendant of John Porter, possibly an emigrant from Ireland, who was living in Lancaster County, in the eighteenth century. He was the son of Thomas and Miranda (Tousey) Porter. The family soon moved to a farm in Kentucky just across the Ohio River, where the boy grew up.
He attended Hanover College and Asbury College, now De Pauw University, and was graduated from Asbury in 1843. He read law in Lawrenceburg with the father of John C. Spooner.
In 1845 he began practice in Indianapolis. He supplemented his slender income as a lawyer by writing digests of the state supreme court opinions for the Indianapolis Journal. So creditably were these written that, when the court's reporter died, the judges unanimously recommended him for the vacancy, and he was appointed by the governor on January 21, 1853. In the next election the Democrats elected him to this office, and he served till 1856. He had been city attorney from 1851 to 1853 and was elected city councilman for the years 1857 to 1859. He was twice elected to the federal House of Representatives; he served from 1859 to 1863 and declined a third term because of the small salary.
Resuming the practice of law in 1863, he became the head of one of the most successful legal firms in Indiana. From 1863 to 1865 his partner was W. P. Fishback; at the close of the Civil War. Benjamin Harrison, later president of the United States, joined the firm. From 1863 to 1877 Porter gave his undivided attention to law. The large clientele that was built up by his firm enabled him to amass a comfortable fortune. In 1878, President Hayes, at the suggestion of John Sherman, appointed him first comptroller of the treasury.
He resigned in 1880, after he had been nominated as governor of Indiana. Nominated against his will in order to carry the important October election in a doubtful state, he brought to bear all his great political skill and charm. The campaign of 1880 was one of the most intense and memorable in the state. The Republicans, well financed by local and eastern contributions and led by Porter and Harrison, won.
In 1888, as delegate-at-large to the Republican National Convention at Chicago, he made the leading speech nominating his former partner, Benjamin Harrison, for president. On March 13, 1889, he was appointed minister to Italy. He assisted in the delicate negotiations that followed the killing of several Italians during the Mafia riots in New Orleans in 1891, though the major principles maintained by the United States were determined in Washington by Harrison and Blaine. Fortunately, before this incident occurred he had applied to the department of state for his annual leave, and by granting it and extending it until the question was settled, the department avoided the necessity of recalling him, when the Italian government recalled Baron Fava.
After his return home he devoted the remainder of his life to the gathering of material and writing a history of Indiana. He died in Indianapolis.
Albert Gallatin Porter was the 19th Governor of Indiana, he did much to make possible the drainage of 800, 000 acres of swamp land in the state, and he improved the administration of state institutions. He was the second person born in Indiana to become the state's governor, he started of Indiana's industrialization that continued for several decades. He also was the head of one of the most successful legal firms in Indiana together with Benjamin Harrison, later president of the United States. Porter was first comptroller of the treasury and as comptroller, he settled numerous claims against the government, many of which grew out of the Civil War.
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The proslavery attitude of the Democratic party caused him to join the newly formed Republican party in 1856.
In Congress he favored the vigorous prosecution of the war and the abolition of the franking privilege, and he gave much time to judicial matters.
His had natural tact, culture, and geniality.
On November 30, 1846, he was married to Minerva Virginia Brown of Indianapolis, who died in 1875. They had five children.
On January 5, 1881, he was married to his second wife, Cornelia Stone, in New York City.
