Background
He was born on October 31, 1788 near Norristown, Pennsylvania, United States, the son of Andrew Porter and Elizabeth (Parker) Porter.
(Excerpt from Communication From the Governor of Pennsylva...)
Excerpt from Communication From the Governor of Pennsylvania, Transmitting the Report of the Commissioners for the Sale of the Delaware Division, Pennsylvania Canal, to the Legislature of the State That the Commissioners organized, in pursuance of the authority vested In them, and resolved to open books for the subscription to the stock of the corporation proposed to be created, on the first day of June last. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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He was born on October 31, 1788 near Norristown, Pennsylvania, United States, the son of Andrew Porter and Elizabeth (Parker) Porter.
He attended Norristown Academy. Later he studied law but his health failed and it was necessary for him to abandon his studies.
After his father's appointment as surveyor-general of the state he accompanied him to Harrisburg as a clerk and remained there until 1812.
Because of ill health he moved to West Township, Huntingdon County, to learn the business of making iron. He spent a year as a clerk at Dorsey's Iron Works on Spruce Creek and then was made manager.
Later, in partnership with Edward Patton, he purchased in 1814 the Sligo Iron Works in the same county and operated them until the firm failed in 1819. He then resumed the study of law with Edward Shippen at Huntingdon, but was never admitted to the bar. At this time he also owned several farms and introduced a fine breed of horses and cattle into this section.
He was sent from Huntingdon County as a member of the House of Representatives of Pennsylvania and was reelected in 1820 and 1822. On December 23, 1823, he was appointed prothonotary and clerk of the several courts of Huntingdon County, and on February 16, 1827, was also appointed to the offices of recorder of deeds and register of wills. On January 2, 1836, he was elected to the Senate of Pennsylvania where he made sufficient reputation as a leader to become the Democratic candidate for the governorship against Joseph Ritner in 1838. He was elected for the term extending from January 1839 to January 1842 and was reelected in 1841 over John Banks, his Whig competitor, for the term extending from January 1842 to January 1845.
He retired from office in 1845, largely estranged from his party, chiefly because his manufacturing interests were in conflict with the party's views on the protective tariff question. Recognizing the possibilities of using anthracite coal in manufacturing iron, he erected at Harrisburg an anthracite iron furnace. He was associated with Gen. Sam Houston of Texas in an unsuccessful attempt to finance the construction of a railroad through Texas to the Pacific Coast just prior to the outbreak of the Civil War.
He died at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in his seventy-ninth year.
David Rittenhouse Porter was the ninth Governor of Pennsylvania, the outstanding accomplishments of his administrations were the upholding of the state credit through extraordinary means when a large faction advocated debt repudiation; the forcing of the state banks to resume specie payments in 1840; the suppression of the anti-Catholic riots in Philadelphia in 1844; the attempts to restrict the spread of corporations, and the abolition of imprisonment for debt. His administrations were characterized by constant conflicts with the legislature as he resisted the encroachments of that branch of the government on his own prerogatives. Besides, he built the first anthracite coal furnace for iron in south central Pennsylvania at Harrisburg. Porter Street in Philadelphia is named in his honor.
(Excerpt from Communication From the Governor of Pennsylva...)
He married Josephine McDermett in 1820.
