Josiah Porter

Josiah Porter (28 June 1830 – 14 December 1894) was an American attorney and National Guard officer from New York. A Union Army veteran of the American Civil War, he went on to practice law in New York City and serve in the state's National Guard. In 1886, he was appointed Adjutant General of New York with the rank of major general and he served until his death.

Early life

Josiah Porter was born in Boston on 28 June 1830, a son of hotelier Zachariah B. Porter and Mary (Kingsbury) Porter. He was raised in North Cambridge, Massachusetts and educated at Chauncy Hall School. Porter next enrolled at Harvard Law School, from which he received his LL.B. degree in 1854. A Democrat in politics, in the late 1850s, Porter served on the Cambridge board of aldermen.

The American Civil War began in April 1861 and in May Porter joined the Union Army, receiving his commission as a first lieutenant in the 1st Massachusetts Battery, a light artillery unit organized to serve for three months. Porter resumed the practice of law in Boston, where he remained until 1865, when he moved to Manhattan. Beginning in 1869, he served for several years as judge of New York City's 9th District Civil Court.

In January 1869, he was elected the 22nd Regiment's second-in-command with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He did not recover, and died at his West 56th Street in Manhattan on 14 December 1894. He was buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

A bronze statue of Porter created by William Clark Noble was commissioned by the National Guard Association of New York State. It was dedicated in 1902 and is displayed on the grounds of Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. The Porter statue is located behind the Van Cortlandt House at Broadway and 245th Street.

In 1857, Porter married Caroline Hamilton Rice of Southborough, Massachusetts. They were married until his death and were the parents of four children, two sons who died in 1863 at ages one and two, and two daughters who lived to adulthood.