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GEORGE M. PORTER
VOL. 3, p. 1218

The City of McAlester, Pittsburg County, claims as one of its strong
and important law firms that of Fuller & Porter, of which George M.
PORTER is the junior member, and both principals in this
representative firm have made secure their reputation as resourceful
trial lawyers and well fortified counselors, as have they also as
loyal and public spirited citizens.

Mr. Porter was born at Centerville, county-seat of Appanoose County,
Iowa, and the date of his nativity was February 19, 1878. He is a son
of George D. Porter and Hannah (RODMAN) Porter, the former of whom
was born in Indiana, though he was reared and educated in the State
of Illinois, and the later of whom was a native of Pennsylvania.
George D. Porter effectively prepared himself for the work of the
legal profession and initiated practice in the State of Missouri, but
he soon afterward removed to Centerville, Iowa, where he became one
of the early members of the bar of Appanoose County and where he
eventually rose to high rank as one of the leading members of the bar
of that section of the Hawkeye State. Both he and his wife continued
their residence at Centerville until their death, and one of their
two sons Claude R. Porter, is now engaged in the practice of law at
Centerville, where he is fully upholding the professional and civic
prestige of the family name and where he is an influential figure in
his profession and also in the domain of political activities.

To the public schools of his native place George M. Porter is
indebted for his early educational discipline and after graduation
from high school he entered the Iowa College of Law, which is now the
law department of Drake University, in the City of Des Moines, but
the death of his father prevented him from completing the full course
in this institution. He returned to Centerville, where he proved
himself eligible for and was admitted to the bar, and where, in
January, 1900, he entered upon his novitiate in the active practice
of his profession. In February of the following year, however, Mr.
Porter came to Indian Territory and established his residence at
Eufaula, the present judicial center of McIntosh County, Oklahoma,
where he continued in active general practice for seven years, within
which period he built up a substantial and remunerative law business
and established a firm reputation for versatility and strength as a
trial lawyer and as a safe conservative counselor. He served as city
attorney of Eufaula and made an admirable record for fearless and
successful work in prosecuting violators of the law. Many pleasant
memories are his in connection with the associations and incidents of
that period during which he was struggling to win his way to the
front in the exacting profession of his choice, and he retains a
lively interest in the town and county in which he won his spurs as a
barrister. When Oklahoma was admitted to the Union as a sovereign
commonwealth Mr. Porter felt prompted to seek a broader field of
professional labor, and in September, 1907, about one month before
the admission of the new state, he established his residence in
McAlester, where he has since continued a successful practice as one
of the representative members of the bar of Pittsburg County and
where he and his associate control a specially large and substantial
general law business. Though he has had no desire for public office
and has found the work of his profession insistent in its demands
upon his time and attention, Mr. Porter served one year as city
attorney for McAlester. He has been active and influential in the
councils of the democratic party in Oklahoma but has labored for the
success of the cause and for the advancement of the interests and
political fortunes of his friends rather than to further in any way
his own political prestige. In the time honored Masonic fraternity he
has received the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted
Scottish Rite, besides being affiliated with the adjunct
organization, the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic
Shrine, and also with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is an appreciative and
popular member of the McAlester Country Club, of which he is
president 1915-16. Both he and his wife are active members of the
Presbyterian Church.

Mr. Porter has identified himself fully with the interests of his
home city, county and state, and has contributed much in influence
and tangible co-operation in furtherance of the civic and material
development and progress of McAlester and Pittsburg County. His is a
stockholder and director in various banking institutions, is the
owner of a well improved ranch in Pittsburg County, and has other
capitalistic interests of importance.

In 1903 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Porter to Miss Ethel
CLARK of Centerville, Iowa, and their two children are Margaret and
Mary.

Typed for OKGenWeb by: Paul Grose, November 28, 1998.