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He was born on December 24, 1809 in Newbury, Vermont, United States. He was the third son of Benjamin Porter (a descendant of Samuel Porter who settled in Plymouth in 1622) and Martha (Olcott) Porter. Both his father and his grandfather were gentlemen of the English type, who prided themselves on their extensive lands and horses. Young Porter grew up on his father's estate, where he indulged to the fullest his love of out-door life.
His education began at home under private tutors, but on the death of his father and the removal of the family to Hanover, New Hampshire, he attended a college preparatory school. The characteristic New England urge toward a practical life so far modified his inherited gentility that he left school, inspired in part by Franklin's example, to enter a printing office.
Porter's editorial career began in 1829 in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, where for about a year he was in charge of the Farmer's Herald. He then removed to Norwich as the associate editor of the Enquirer. In these country villages, however, the ambitious young journalist found no scope for his abilities, and "with a light heart and a lighter purse" he set out for New York. His ambition was to found a sporting journal.
After working for some time in a printing office, he established the Spirit of the Times, the first number of which appeared on December 10, 1831. Horace Greeley, then a young compositor from the country, helped Porter for several months in bringing out the paper. Although the initial circulation of the Spirit was relatively large, its existence for a time was precarious. A few months after its establishment, it merged with the Traveller - an arrangement which lasted until January 3, 1835, when Porter was able to repurchase it and make it once more an independent unit.
In the meantime, he had been connected editorially with the New-Yorker, the Constellation, and the New-York Atlas Magazine. During the next few years, the Spirit proved so successful financially that in February 1839 Porter purchased the American Turf Register and Sporting Magazine. In 1842 the proprietorship of the Spirit had passed into the hands of John Richards, although Porter retained the editor's chair until September 1856. In that year the paper became the property of George Wilkes, who renamed it Porter's Spirit of the Times and made Porter an associate editor, in which capacity he continued until his death.
He actively studied the problems of stock raising and breeding, and for this purpose made several extended tours of the South and West. The practical results of these investigations, as well as contributions from the most competent sporting authorities of America, gave to his periodicals an enviable prestige.
In 1846 he published an English sporting manual by Colonel Peter Hawker, Instructions to Young Sportsmen, to which he added much new material relative to North American hunting and shooting. This work, he states in his preface, "is the first of a purely sporting character ever published in the United States. "
He died in New York City at the age of forty-eight.
William Trotter Porter founded the Spirit of the Times, one of the earliest American newspaper devoted to sports and other recreational pursuits. He was also instrumental in the development of American literature, as the Spirit published a number of short stories by American tall tale writers, and Porter edited two collections of short stories by American writers: The Big Bear of Arkansas and A Quarter Race in Kentucky and Other Sketches.
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Of a gay and social temperament, Porter was a favorite wherever good fellowship abounded; and his extreme generosity found him many devoted friends. His appearance was striking, owing in large part to his unusual height, which gave him the sobriquet of "York's Tall Son. " He was a gentleman of high ideals, and in prosecuting it he displayed much perseverance and tact.
Quotes from others about the person
The journalist and historian Frank Luther Mott wrote that "Porter undoubtedly did much to give American sports a respectable standing. "
Porter never married, but was bound by a strong affection to his several talented brothers, whose successive deaths toward the close of his life much saddened his remaining years.
