Gilchrist Porter | |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri's 2nd district | |
In office March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857 | |
Preceded by | Alfred W. Lamb |
Succeeded by | Thomas L. Anderson |
In office March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1853 | |
Preceded by | William Van Ness Bay |
Succeeded by | Alfred W. Lamb |
Personal details | |
Born | Windsor, Virginia, U.S. | November 1, 1817
Died | November 1, 1894 Hannibal, Missouri, U.S. | (aged 77)
Resting place | Riverside Cemetery |
Political party | Opposition |
Other political affiliations | Whig |
Profession | Politician, lawyer, jurist |
Gilchrist Porter (November 1, 1817 – November 1, 1894) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician who served two non-consecutive terms as a U.S. Representative from Missouri from 1851 to 1853, then again from 1855 to 1857.
Born in Windsor, near Fredericksburg, Virginia, Porter received a limited schooling. He studied law, was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Bowling Green, Missouri. He owned slaves.[1]
Porter was elected as a Whig to the Thirty-second Congress (March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1853). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1852 to the Thirty-third Congress.
Porter was elected as an Opposition Party candidate to the Thirty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857). He served as chairman of the Committee on Private Land Claims (Thirty-fourth Congress). From 1866 to 1880 he was a Missouri circuit judge.
He resumed the practice of law until his death, which occurred in Hannibal, Missouri on November 1, 1894. He was interred in Riverside Cemetery.