Patrick Porter (1731-1806)/Linda Parsons Notes

Personal Communicaiton from Linda Parsons, 12 September 2006.

Sometime in the early 1980s I was handed a paper with my family tree on it in bracket form. I had always loved my Granny’s family stories so this was of interest to me. It only had names and some dates. There was no further detail and it did not say who had compiled the information. I got a Family Tree making program and put it all on my computer. When the LDS site came online, I immediately went to the site to search the information I had. It was there, exactly word for word as printed on my paper. I downloaded the file and opened it in Family Tree Maker. There were an alarming number of errors reported. The Benjamin and Ann (Campbell) Porter file was full of errors. The numbers just did not add up and I questioned the information from that moment on. Recently, out of curiosity, I went back to look at those files and found that they have been changed. They are very different now. It doesn’t look as though the dates were changed due to further research. It looks more like they have been altered to fit. The new one is no less confusing than the old one in that it has 22 children listed born between the years 1714 to 1755 (impossible for Ann to be the mother of all), some named twice with different birth years. But it no longer shows any errors when you import it into FTM which no doubt would make some new researchers think it is correct. The name Patrick is among these children, twice, with two different birth dates. We are fortunate that the Last Will and Testament of Benjamin Porter (1761) of Orange County Virginia has been found. In it he names: My sons – Nicholas, Thomas, Charles, Abner, Benjamin and Joseph. My daughters – Elizabeth, Frances, Jane, Bettie, and Mary. He names a total of 11 children, only half the children on the LDS file, and there is no mention of the name Patrick. It appears to me that he took great care to individually name his children, including the daughters (not always the case in old wills) and any child accredited to him that is not in his will should be seriously questioned. The will also does not mention any child that is being cut out. He does name his son, Nicholas, as having previously been given some of his share from the estate so it is reasonable to think that if another child had previously inherited they would also have been named. Again, there is no Patrick mentioned. It is no logical reason to think that Patrick Porter, born 1731, is the son of Benjamin and Ann (Campbell) Porter. Rather than manipulating previously reported incorrect information to fit, the search must continue to find his true father. Some clues as to who this father might be are promising. I’ll let Bill Willis and others expand on that research.] [need discussion of principal leads on Patricks ancestry.]