Henry Kirke Porter (November 24, 1840 – April 10, 1921) was an American businessman and Representative of the United States Congress for

Pennsylvania's 31st congressional district Pennsylvania's 31st congressional district was one of Pennsylvania's districts of the United States House of Representatives. It existed from 1903 to 1953. Geography Created in 1903, the district served portions of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsyl ...

Biography

Porter was born in

Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2020 census the population was 43,976, making it the third largest city in New Hampshire behind Manchester and Nashua. The village of ...

. In 1860, he graduated from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

in Providence, Rhode Island. He also helped found the YMCA that year. He attended the

Newton Theological Seminary Newton Theological Seminary or Newton Theological School may refer to: * Newton Theological Institution (1825–1965) * Andover Newton Theological School (1965–2017) * Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School Andover Newton Seminary at Y ...

Newton Center, Massachusetts Newton Centre is one of the thirteen villages within the city of Newton in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The main commercial center of Newton Centre is a triangular area surrounding the intersections of Beacon Street, Centre Str ...

. In 1862, he enlisted in the 45th Regiment,

Massachusetts Volunteer Militia The Massachusetts State Defense Force (MSDF) is the currently inactive state defense force of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It was inactivated in 2016 by Governor Charlie Baker. The purpose of the Massachusetts State Defense Force, when acti ...

, and was mustered out in July 1863. He continued his theological training at the

Rochester Theological Seminary Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School is a Baptist seminary in Rochester, New York It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. History 1820s-1960: Early history Four Baptist institutions merged over the course of the 19th and 20t ...

in Rochester, New York, but in 1866 he was given a gift of $20,000 by his father, which changed the course of his life. He invested that money with a partner, John Y. Smith, and formed the Smith & Porter Machine works. They opened a small shop in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which grew to become

H.K. Porter, Inc. H.K. Porter, Inc. (Porter) manufactured light-duty railroad locomotives in the US, starting in 1866. The company became the largest producer of industrial locomotives, and built almost eight thousand of them. The last locomotive was built in ...

Porter served as president of the company. He was President of the Pittsburgh YMCA from 1868 to 1887, and was President of the

Western Pennsylvania Institute for the Blind Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

in 1904. He served in the United States House of Representatives in the

58th United States Congress The 58th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC, from March 4, 1903, to ...

from 1903 to 1905 as an Independent Republican. He was a member of the Jekyll Island Club (aka The millionaires Club) on Jekyll Island, Georgia. He continued as President of H.K. Porter, Inc. until his death at age 80 in Washington, D.C., and was buried in the Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh.

References

The Political Graveyard
Retrieved on 2008-02-14

External links

* 1840 births 1921 deaths Members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania American manufacturing businesspeople Union Army soldiers Politicians from Pittsburgh Brown University alumni American people in rail transportation Politicians from Concord, New Hampshire Independent Republican members of the United States House of Representatives Pennsylvania Republicans Pennsylvania Independents Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School alumni Burials at Allegheny Cemetery {{AmericanCivilWar-bio-stub