Among the enterprising and progressive citizens of Marion county,
Illinois, is the gentleman whose name forms the caption of this ketch, who
has engaged in various lines of business activity in this county and is
known as one of the leading liverymen of the locality, at present managing
an extensive livery stable in Kinmundy, while he maintains a fine home
there, and the years of his residence has but served to strengthen the
feeling of confidence of his fellow citizens. Although yet a young man,
scarcely one-third of the years usually allotted to human life having passed
over him, our subject has shown what a rightly directed principle, coupled
with honesty and integrity, can do toward winning definite success.
Albert G. Porter was born in this county October 14, 1880, the son of Emmett
D. and Rachael (Henry) Porter, the- father a native of Ohio, and the mother
of Illinois. There were seven children in this family, all of whom lived to
maturity. The father of the subject was a soldier in an Ohio regiment during
the Civil war and after being mustered out returned to Ohio and soon
thereafter came to Fayette county, Illinois, and after remaining there for a
time came to Marion county. He engaged in the hardware business while living
in Fayette county and when he came to Marion county, he went into the livery
business and after managing the same for about two years he sold out and
became agent for a marble works establishment. Later he handled fire
insurance and became adjuster of claims, holding his position, official and
otherwise, until his death, having faithfully served the company to the
entire satisfaction of all its members for a period of thirty years, which
is a sure criterion of his ability and integrity. He was fifty-six years old
at the time of his death. The mother of the subject, a woman of many
beautiful traits of character, is still living in 1908, at the age of
fifty-nine years. There were four children in this family, all of them
reaching maturity and all but one are married and have families. They are
Harry E., who is at the time of this writing thirty-six years old, and a
traveling salesman; he is married and has one child. Charles H., the second
child of the parents of the subject, was in business in the city of Chicago.
He is now in the fruit and poultry business at Los Angeles, California,
having made a pronounced success of this business from the first. One
sister, Nellie, is now the wife of Gus Elbow, of Oklahoma City, and the
mother of one child. Her husband is an attorney. Our subject was the fourth
child in order of birth. He attended the common schools in Kinmundy, until
he was nineteen years of age, and received a fairly good education, which
has since been greatly strengthened by home study and by coming in contact
with the world. He also attended a business college in Centralia, Illinois,
after leaving the public schools and thereby received a good business
education. He also read medicine for one year, and then attended to various
matters until 1908, when he opened up a livery business in Kinmundy, which
he is at present conducting, having built up an extensive business.
Our subject was united in marriage on March 3, 1907, to Maud L. West, a
native of this county, and the daughter of Charles H. and Rosa (Dillon)
West. Mr. West is a native of Indiana. He was a farmer and stock raiser,
having made the raising of Hereford cattle a specialty for a number of
years, but is now living in honorable retirement, making his home in
Kinmundy, having sold his principal farm, but he still owns several orchard
farms, consisting of hundreds of acres.
Mr. and Mrs. Porter have one
infant son. They own their nicely furnished home. The mother of the subject
also owns her home and is living by herself. Mr. Porter is a young man to
whom the future holds out much of promise, being industrious, quick to grasp
an opportunity, and it would be hard to find among the younger generation of
business men in Marion county, a worthier subject than he.
Extracted 27 May 2019 by Norma Hass from 1909 Biographical and Reminiscent History of Richland, Clay and Marion Counties, Illinois, pages 530-532.