James Anderson Porter

He came to occupy great wealth and a position of much control in the new town. He was born in a small home, near the present site of Broughton, Oct. 31, 1842. By the time of the Civil War, young Porter was old enough to join the Army and he did--leaving his mother on the 13 acre farm, on the hill, a half mile east of what would become Broughton in 1872.

Anderson Porter was determined to forge ahead in life and he started during the war. It is said he was not well liked by those who served with him. The dislike stemmed in part from his "business" relationships with those in his company. When there were periods of rest and recreation for the troops, Porter would "hire out" to those men who would take advantage of their break and while the troops "forgot the cares of battle" he would do their washing and general cleaning. Tobacco, alcohol, button and other "necessary" items could generally be had from Anderson Porter, a soldier-businessman.

By the time Broughton was founded, Anderson Porter had become a successful businessman. and a 'giant' landowner. He operated a general store in early Broughton and was also the owner of a sawmill. He was a buyer of tobacco and he built the "old red barn" which still stands opposite the Harper grain company. Almost all of the land owned by Porter was east and north of Broughton and estimates of his holdings ranged from 1,500 to 2,200 acres.

In the years following the Civil War, he met and married Martha Ann Gross and to their marriage eleven children were born: Eliza, Mary Agnes, Nella, Ella (twins), Orlena, Letha, Logan, Sherman, Hardin, Louis and Phillip Sheridan.

In late May, 1896, Porter and his young son Phillip planned a trip to East St. Louis in order to deliver several head of livestock to the market located there. The boy was anxious to go, even though he was only nine years old, since he had a large number of "his goats" that were ready for market and were being shipped with the other stock. By May 27, 1896 the livestock had been delivered and sold and Porter and his son were ready to leave the Tremont Hotel in East St. Louis.

The weather had been hot but no doubt, Phillip Sheridan Porter had not objected. The trip had been an adventure grand, a long train ride, the excitement of the market place and the stay in a big hotel with his father. With $7,000 in his pocket, and a small amout of luggage, Anderson Porter and his son were entering the lobby of the Tremont to leave for the return trip home when the tornado of May 27, 1896 roared up the Mississippi River valley and swept across East St. Louis, crushing, like egg-shells, the Tremont and other buildings in its path.

When the rescue teams converged upon the Tremont, they found, among others, the body of an older man tightly holding that of a small boy. The body of the man appeared to be shielding the boy from what must have been a shrieking and horrifying few seconds in the last experience of the little boy who had traveled so far and who had looked forward to going home "today" to tell of his adventure with dad.

In a large and small coffin the bodies of Anderson and Phillip Sheridan Porter were shipped back to Broughton. Mr.Moody, of the livestock comission company in East St. Louis, had taken care of the arrangements in the city and had also seen to it that the large sum of money was also returned. It is said that the roads around Broughton were jammed with wagons and buggies on the day of the funerals for Porter and his little boy. The orations were delivered outside in the woods which until recently stood to the west of Anderson Porter's grand home near Broughton. The interments were made at Big Hill cemetery about four miles northeast of the little town and Porter's home.

(From Times Leader Sept/Oct. 1972 article by Ron Gholson "Rectorville Was Early Broughton Ancestor")