Alexander PORTER, Congress, LA (1785-1844)

PORTER, Alexander, a Senator from Louisiana; born in County Donegal, Ireland, June 24, 1785; immigrated to the United States in 1801 with an uncle, who settled in Nashville, Tenn.; received a limited schooling; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1807 and commenced practice in the Attakapas region of the Territory of Orleans; delegate to the convention which framed the first State constitution in 1812; member, lower branch of the Louisiana State legislature 1816-1818; judge of the State supreme court 1821-1833; elected as a Whig to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Josiah S. Johnson and served from December 19, 1833, until January 5, 1837, when he resigned due to ill health; continued the practice of law in Attakapas; planter; again elected to the United States Senate for the term beginning March 4, 1843, but did not take his seat due to ill health; died in Attakapas, La., January 13, 1844; interment on Oakland plantation in Franklin, La.

Bibliography

American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Stephenson, Wendell. Alexander Porter, Whig Planter of Old Louisiana. 1934. Reprint. New York: Da Capo Press, 1969.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present