General Notes

Church records indicate that Thomas and Nancy Green Porter came from Greenvile, South Carolina, as were the Greens and Dillards.

There are no Porter who are listed in North or South Carolina Cemeteries who appear to be of an appropriate age to be Thomas Porter's parents [http://rfci.net/wdfloyd/, which has a list of all the cemeteries in North and South Carolina].

Thomas and Nancy Green Porter are shown in the Census of 1860 and 1870 in Mississippi and in the 1850 Census in the Spartanburg District, (probably on the North Fork of the Picolet River), in South Carolina. Living with them are Catherine (age 18), Smith (age 15), Mary (age 13), Runyan (age 9), Matilda (age 7), and Elizabeth (age 3). Since Thomas is only 21 and Nancy is only 16, and there being no other Porters in the area, it seems likely that these others are Thomas's siblings. In 1840, in Spartanburg, there is a Robert S. Porter on the Census in a household of 8 people.

On either side of young Thomas and Nancy are William Green, who appears to be widowed or divorced. and B. Green. In addition, there are Dillards, possibly cousins or aunt and uncles on her mother's side, in near proximity. It appears that all left South Carolina and came to Mississippi together.

According to Nita Porter, shortly after the birth of his last child, which would have been on or about 09 November 1870, while his wife was still confined to the bed, Tom rode off on an errand and never returned. The consensus among family members is that he must have been murdered and then dumped somewhere for he was content at home and had little reason to abandon his family. His son Nathan always felt that his father had been murdered by his uncle King Dillard (husband to his mother's sister Mary). Why he felt this way is not known. The times were dangerous. Rustlers were known to be active in those parts as well as any number of other lawless sorts. In the Oak Hill Cemetery there is a monument where he would have been buried. On it it says,

"Thomas Porter
          in
     Memory
       1 Regt
     Miss Inf
       CSA
      1831
   Escaped
Ft. Donelson
  Also 3rd
Miss Cav
    Fate
Unknown"

Nearby is the grave of his wife Nancy and the grave of Infant, who died in the same year that Tom disappeared.

Civil War Record Physical Description: 5'9", eyes black, hair black, complexion dark, occupation Farming. He is shown to have enlisted in the Confederate Mississippi Company C, 1st Miss Volunteers, in Isaka (?), Miss. He is shown as sick in the hospital in Clinton, Miss Aug. 1, 1862.

On or about February 5, 1863 (notation at bottom of company Muster Roll says "+Roll Reed A.&I. So. Feb, 1863): Shown "Absent" and "Escaped, Donelson." This date of February 5 is prior to the taking of Fort Donelson so the notes must have been taken after Donelson fell. About 100-1500 men escaped from Fort Donelson with Nathan Bedford Forrest and his cavalry and Generals Pillow and Floyd. The escape was daring and took the escapees to Nashville. When Forts Henry and Donelson fell to the Union Army, the Ohio and Cumberland Rivers were in the hands of the North. Nashville, Shiloh and Vicksburg were to follow, though Vicksburg did not fall until July 1863. Though Thomas Porter was obviously in the middle of one losing battle after another in Tennessee and the Mississippi, Ohio and Cumberland River Valleys, he continued to reenlist until the end of the war. There are also Civil War Confederate records showing him in the 1st Mississippi Cavalry rather than the 3rd.


Names of 7 children (all except Nathaniel Berry) taken from 1870 Mississippi Census, Pontotoc County.

Jane was the only child born in South Carolina. Thomas and Nancy, therefore, must have moved to Mississippi between 1851 and 1856. The date of 1851-2 is confirmed by church records, copies of which are in the hands of Edna Earl McLain Dolland in Galion, Ohio.

There are several Porter wills in Union County, South Carolina but the connection, if any, is not certain.