HENRY J. PORTER, a citizen and business man of Freeport, is the Deputy Collector of the Fourth Division of the Second Internal Revenue District of Illinois, to which office he was appointed in February, 1886. He is a member of the firm of Smith & Porter, extensive dealers in grain and coal. The business which this firm conducts was established by Mr. Smith in 1857. The existing partnership was formed in October, 1875. Mr. Porter hails from the State of Vermont, having been born in Rutland, June 29, 1844. His parents were Henry W. Porter and Marion B. Hale, who was the daughter of Dr. J. Hale, of Brandon, Vt. His father was a merchant the most of his life. The grandfather was Dr. James Porter, a successful physician of Rutland, Vt., who married Miss H. Wheelock. Both sides of the house descended from English parentage.

Henry J. Porter passed his boyhood in Rutland, and was educated in that city and Middlebury. After leaving school, he taught at St. Johnsbury, Vt., and afterward at Ogdensburg, N. Y. In the summer of 1869 he came West and located in Freeport. During the first two years of his residence there, he was engaged in the grain business in connection with his brother, Benjamin L. Porter. At the end of that time, realizing that Freeport was a good business point, he concluded to engage in business on his own account. He continued in the grain business until 1875, when he became associated with John F. Smith, the firm style being Smith & Porter. Mr. Porter was married, in 1872, to Miss Emma E. Clark, daughter of Warren C. Clark, of Freeport. They have two children, named Catherine M. and Jeanette E.

Mr. Porter has been largely identified with the prosperity of Freeport, and as a member of the Legislative branch of the city government, has voted and worked for every measure that was calculated to benefit the city. The citizens of the Third Ward elected him to the office of Alderman, in which position he had served them prior to the time of the writing of this sketch, for eighteen months. He was a member of the Board of Education one term, and the practical knowledge of school affairs obtained while a teacher in early life, made him one of the most competent members of the Board. Mr. Porter takes a lively interest in political affairs, and his appointment as Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue, is but a just reward for his efforts toward the success of the party which made it possible for a Democrat to hold that office. The reports of the officers of the department show that his office is admirably conducted, and that the revenue affairs of his bailiwick are faithfully looked after. Mr. Porter and his family are regular attendants of the Episcopal Church.

Contributed by Carole Parrish - Portrait and Biographical Album of Stephenson County, Ill. 1888