Gilchrist Porter

Gilchrist Porter (Missouri Congressman)

Gilchrist Porter (November 1, 1817 – November 1, 1894) was a U.S. Representative from Missouri.

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.

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.

References

• Gilchrist Porter at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Gilchrist Porter at Find a Grave