and JAMES PORTER |
| The following is an excerpt from my father's obituary, written by Marguerite Berry Jackson. "Floyd E. Porter, age 92, died April 15, 1994. He was born March 10, 1902, in Morton Township, Meekest County, Michigan to Emmett E. and Ida Ann (Lett) Porter. The seventh child in a family of eleven children,* his parental heritage comes from the earliest Black Settlers in Cass and Mecosta Counties. James Porter, (his grandfather), came from Kentucky via the Underground Railroad to Cass County and later served in the 109th Colored Infantry during the Civil War. His mother's father, Gabriel Lett, came from Mechanicsburg, Ohio to Michigan in 1882 in a covered wagon drawn by oxen. Marguerite said Gabriel's former slaveowner -- master had given him papers stating that he had been set free, as well as, two white oxen and a covered wagon for the journey north. However, because freedom papers weren't always honored, Gabriel headed straight for the Pennsylvania border. It was the quickest and safest route out of the South in those days. He and Mary stopped in Mechanicsburg, Ohio so that she could give birth, Marguerite believed, to my grandmother, Ida Ann Lett. How long they may have stayed in Mechanicsburg, before continuing on up into Michigan, she did not know. In 1923, Mr. Porter went to Lansing, Michigan and resided there for 71 years. During that tenure, 35 years were spent working under 3 presidents at Michigan State University. Upon his retirement program from M.S.U., the story of his life was recorded in the M.S.U. Voice Library." |
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