Henry Kirke PORTER, Congress, PA (1840-1921)

PORTER Henry Kirke , a Representative from Pennsylvania; born in Concord, N.H., November 24, 1840; attended public and private schools and was prepared for college at the New London Academy, New London, N.H.; was graduated from Brown University, Providence, R.I., in 1860; one of the founders of the Young Men's Christian Association in 1860; pursued professional studies in Newton Theological Seminary, Newton Center, Mass., and in Rochester Theological Seminary, Rochester, N.Y., 1861-1866; during the Civil War enlisted in the Forty-fifth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, in 1862 and was mustered out of service in July 1863; served on the United States Christian Commission in 1863; engaged with his father in the manufacture of light locomotives at Pittsburgh, Pa., in May 1866 and became president of the company; president of the Pittsburgh Y.M.C.A. 1868-1887; vice president of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce 1892-1906; elected as an Independent Republican to the Fifty-eighth Congress (March 4, 1903-March 3, 1905); unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Fifty-ninth Congress in 1904; member of the board of trustees and president of the board of directors of the Western Pennsylvania Institute for the Blind in 1904; resumed the manufacture of locomotives; member of the International Committee of the Y.M.C.A. 1875-1921; trustee of the Carnegie Institute 1890-1921; trustee of the Crozier Theological Seminary 1871-1921; member of the Board of Fellows of Brown University from 1899 until his death in Washington, D.C., April 10, 1921; interment in Allegheny Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present