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

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by William Van Ness Bay	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri's 2nd congressional district 1851–1853	Succeeded by Alfred William Lamb
Preceded by Alfred William Lamb	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri's 2nd congressional district 1855–1857	Succeeded by Thomas Lilbourne Anderson