Lt Samuel Porter

  General Notes:

GED COM of R. Kerr (sent June 2006)
Lived in Ipswich, Boxford, Bradford and Chester, NH. His
house in Chester is no longer standing, and the grounds that
surround it now form a part of the old graveyard, where he
and his wife are buried. He is described by one who
remembered him, as a person of very decided opinions and not
easily influenced by others. He was a revolutionary soldier,
marching on the Lexinigton Alarm, 19 Apr 1775 (Mass. Archives
Lexington Alarm, Vol. XI, page 259) He was in Capt. John
Cushing's company, Col. Samuel Johnson's regiment. He was
chosen by field officers as second lieutenant of Capt. Robert
Dodge's company, and commissioned by council, 7 May 1776, at
Ipswich. His son Nehemiah used to amuse his grandchildren by
telling stories of the Revolution, one of which was as follows:
One night when Samuel weas on guard duty, it was evident that
the British were about to make some move, and the Americans
wished to know on which of two roads they were likely to make
their march. It occurred to Samuel that on one of the roads
there was a bridge, and he lay down and put his ear to the
ground, and was able to tell by the hollow sound that they
had passed over the bridge, and this information enabled the
Americans to defeat the British in a skirmish the next day.

Just when he moved to Chester is not known, but he was living in
Boxford in 1775. At first he hired a farm in Chester of Mr.
Matthew Templeton, but later bought a place of his own, where he
lived until his death. He was called by the indians "Port Pig's
Ear", though the origin of the curious is now unknown.
(A Porter Pedigree,Juliet Porter,1907)

Samuel married Martha Perley on 27 Nov 1770. (Martha Perley was born on 25 Jan 1752 and died on 19 Jan 1837 in Chester, Rockingham County, New Hampshire.)