LEAVES FROM OUR TREE:

Who Were His Grandparents?
Where Did They Come From?

Written by Diane Carrington Bradford
4^th great granddaughter of David Porterfield, Sr.
of Madison County, Georgia, and
Webmaster of Leaves From Our Tree

This article was researched and documented in accordance
with the elements of the "Genealogical Proof Standard" [GPS]
developed by the Board for Certification of Genealogists.

Some Georgia Porterfield researchers searched for 40-plus years without discovering that James and Catherine (Maxwell) Porterfield were the parents of David Porterfield, Sr. The next logical step would be to consider the parentage of James Porterfield and of Catherine Maxwell. Unfortunately, at this writing, nothing had been found in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania documenting Catherine Maxwell's maiden name. Until that vital piece of information might be found, further research into her antecedants would be impossible. So long as her maiden name remains unknown, David Porterfield, Sr.'s maternal grandparents must perforce remain a mystery.

Therefore, one must turn to contemplation of the parentage of James Porterfield in an attempt to answer question #3 by identifying David's paternal grandparents. So very few goverment or church documents still exist from the early 1700s in Lancaster County that researchers might never be able to prove conclusively the parentage of the James Porterfield who married Catherine Maxwell in Drumore Township circa 1754 or 1755. As mentioned elsewhere on this Web site, previously published research demonstrated that David Porterfield, Sr. could not have descended from the Cumberland County, North Carolina line of Porterfields. It followed, then, that neither did his father descend from that line. That realization circled us back to the second half of our original question #1—Did David Porterfield, Sr., descend from another line?

Not surprisingly, the answer to question #1 (b) is a resounding YES! David Porterfield, Sr., and his father, James Porterfield, were descendants of John Porterfield (1675-1739) immigrant from Donegal County, Ireland through another one of John’s seven sons. The question then became, which son?

From which of these seven sons did David Porterfield, Sr., and his father, James Porterfield of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, descend? Examination of the very few existing records produced only a working theory regarding their line of descent. Let me re-emphasize that all the information presented on this page from this point forward has not been substantiated by thorough documentation. The theory presented below leans heavily on the genealogical convention of considering time, place, naming patterns, and the very small number of available records.

As mentioned previously in the section "Who Were His Parents," the Lancaster County Tax List of 1763 enumerated James Porterfield among the married men, and a David Porterfield as a "freeman." Some researchers might believe them to have been father and son.

This writer believed they were brothers and here’s why. Georgia census data from 1830 demonstrated that David Porterfield, Sr., was born between 1750 and 1760. Therefore, the oldest he could possibly have been in 1763 would have been 13—too young to be included on the 1763 Tax List.

There was a David Porterfield, son of Robert Porterfield (1716-1785) of Hanover Township in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. (source: The Porterfields by Frank B. Porterfield, page 163). That David Porterfield lived his entire life in Lancaster County and died in 1768 unmarried, childless, but owning some small amount of personal property but no land. (source: An Index to the Intestate Records of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania 1729-1850, page 94) This writer had a gentleman in Lancaster County do a courthouse look-up, and he learned that David Porterfield died intestate in 1768 with no heirs and virtually nothing. Therefore, James and David (d 1768) both being listed in the 1763 tax list strongly indicated that they were contemporaries, were related (since all known Lancaster County Porterfields in the 1700s were children or grandchildren of the original immigrant, John Porterfield (1675 1739), and most probably were brothers.

Additional supporting evidence that James and David Porterfield (d 1768) were brothers was the fact that James named his son David, along with the previously mentioned importance of naming patterns and the repetition of names in succeeding generations in identifying lineage. As was common in that era, in the Maxwell line the names James, Samuel, Robert, Thomas, and Francis were repeatedly given to generation after generation of sons. In the Porterfield line the names Charles, James, John, Patrick, Samuel and William occurred repeatedly among male descendants.

However, a review of the Porterfield lineage back to the 1200s would not find the name David used in the Porterfield line until Robert Porterfield the elder (1716-1785) of Hanover Township named one of his sons David. That name was repeated only among the few known descendants of Robert Porterfield the elder that were included in the book, The Porterfields. This writer theorized that the name David came from Robert the elder’s wife’s side of the family. Regrettably, all efforts to determine his wife’s name or lineage failed.

David Porterfield, Sr., himself, continued the naming patterns by naming his second known son James Thomas after his brothers James and Thomas Maxwell and his father James Porterfield. David also named his third known son David, Jr., after himself. As was the case with his own given name, the name Christopher had never appeared anywhere in the Porterfield lineage until David bestowed it on his first-born son. The name still appears frequently among direct descendants of Christopher Porterfield, but seldom among any descendants of James Thomas or David, Jr. One can only wonder if Christopher was a family name in Sarah Nunn’s family, or perhaps in the family of David, Sr.’s mother, Catherine (Maxwell) Porterfield.

Unfortunately, the Porterfield book devoted only three pages (162-164) to Robert Porterfield and his descendants. One son, Robert Porterfield, Jr., and his wife, Elsie, were mentioned along with six other people who were buried in the same plot with Robert and Elsie. Going by the dates, those others were some of the grandchildren and great grandchildren of Robert the elder (1716-1785). However, the book clearly stated that Robert the elder "had a large family, some of whom went to Augusta Co., VA." Yet, only three of his children were listed in that book—Robert, Jr., David (d 1768), and an unnamed, deceased daughter who married David Work of Lancaster County.

To support the assumption that Robert the elder (1716-1785) was the father of James Porterfield, one must look closely at the time frame. Robert the elder would have been old enough to marry and start a family at age 15-20, or about 1731-1736, and he and his wife theoretically could have produced children for the next 20-25 years.

Tombstone information indicated that Robert, Jr. was born cir 1757, a date that fell at the end of Robert the elder and his wife’s child producing years. Here, again, naming patterns typical to the era showed that not until the third son or after did parents name a boy [given name] [surname], Jr. That fact supported this writer’s theory that the James Porterfield who married Catherine Maxwell could have been one of Robert the elder’s first-born children and would have been born no earlier than 1731 and no later than 1735. That time frame meshed well with the estimated marriage date for Catherine and James of about 1755 and the estimated birth date for David Porterfield, Sr., of 1755 or 1756.

The only other possible legitimate fathers for James Porterfield would be William Porterfield (1712-1789) or Charles Porterfield (1714-1778). William had a son named James, but he and his descendants were accounted for in the book The Porterfields. Charles Porterfield (1714-1778) had four children but none were named James. Ms. Willis effectively and efficiently ruled out the descendants of James Porterfield (1718-1777) of Cumberland County, North Carolina and Butler County, Alabama. That left only Patrick Porterfield (1720-1789) of Augusta County, VA, John Porterfield (1724-1786) of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, and Samuel Porterfield (1726-1789) of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, but all three men were born too late to be the father of James Porterfield who married Catherine Maxwell circa 1755.

Of course, our James Porterfield might have been the illegitimate son of one of the Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Porterfields—perhaps of a Porterfield daughter. However, the existing evidence more strongly points to his being a son of Robert Porterfield the elder.

So little is known about the Robert Porterfield (1716-1785) line, even by his few known descendants who migrated to Ohio, that family researchers may never be able to find documentation proving that James Porterfield was one of his sons. However, the timing fits, the naming patterns fit, and the possibility exists that they were father and son. For now that’s a reasonable theory for family researchers to attempt to prove or disprove.

Was David Porterfield, Sr., just a Pioneer, or was he also a Patriot? Recently discovered and verified documents found by a 5^th great grandson were missed by earlier researchers. Read on...

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