Background
He was born probably in 1595 in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom, the second son of Thomas and Dorothy (Dawson) Pormort, who were married November 4, 1591.
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Philemon Pormort
Edit ProfileEducation
There is no information about his education.
Career
In 1634 he emigrated to Boston in New England and was admitted to membership in the First Church on August 28; that same year he took the oath of a freeman of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
At a Generall meeting of the inhabitants of Boston, it was then generally agreed upon, that Philemon Pormont, shall be intreated to become scholemaster for the teaching. This action established the first public school in Boston, the beginning of the Public Latin School, destined through its many distinguished graduates and its high standards, as well as its long history, to become the most famous in North America. If Pormort accepted the invitation of April 13, 1635, he may have remained until 1638.
With the Rev. John Wheelwright and other adherents of Ann Hutchinson, he withdrew from the First Church, January 6, 1638, and, a few months later, left Boston, to assist in founding the town of Exeter. He seems to have remained there about two years, but was probably in Boston again in 1640, for the birth of his son Pedajah, June 3, 1640. About 1643 he accompanied Wheelwright to Wells, Maine, and his name is signed as witness to an Indian deed of 1649. Because of theological differences, he was excluded from the communion there. Town and church records of 1645-1656 indicate that he made Boston his headquarters until the end of his life.
Achievements
Connections
On October 11, 1627 he married Susanna, daughter of William Bellingham. According to the parish records, three children of this marriage were baptized at Alford: Elizabeth, Maria, Martha. After the death of Susanna, December 29, 1642, he married one Elizabeth. His wife died on December 29, 1642.
