The papers of Wade Thompson Porter document his life and experiences, beginning with his childhood on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in the late 1800s until his eventual retirement in the 1940s. In addition to newspaper clippings and photographs, the collection includes several decades worth of personal correspondence which address contemporary social and political issues and recount Porter’s childhood memories of late-19th century rural America. Also, there are personal documents related to Porter’s service in the Spanish-American War, as well as his Masonic membership. A considerable amount of material focuses on genealogical research of the Porter family and their descendants, including comprehensive Porter and Twilley family trees dating back to the mid-1700s.

Wade Thompson Porter was born in Whitehaven, Maryland on April 10, 1877. He was the son of Levin Andrew Porter, a ferryman on the Wicomico River, and his first wife Elizabeth Thompson Porter. His mother died in 1887. After his father remarried, the growing family—including sisters, Mae and Edith, and half-siblings Estey, Lillian, Nellie, and George— eventually settled at the Poplar Hill Farm in Quantico, Maryland in 1891. Wade spent the remainder of his adolescence at Poplar Hill and attended the one-room Royal Oak schoolhouse until he was 14, when he moved away from the farm to enroll at Salisbury High School. After graduating, he worked several odd jobs in the Salisbury area before enlisting in the military during the Spanish-American War in 1898. Wade never experienced actual combat, as active fighting against Spain ended with an armistice just a few days before his unit was scheduled to depart. He was discharged from the army in January 1899 and returned home to Maryland, where he was hired as an accountant at the Standard Oil Company. For the next three decades, Wade travelled throughout the United States and held a variety of different positions, earning considerable praise for his talent and work ethic. He married Rose Zeigler in January of 1914, and their only child, Wade Jr., was born two years later. Wade accepted a position with the Public Utilities Commission in Washington, DC in 1927, and he remained employed there until his retirement in 1945. He and Rose relocated to Denver to be closer to their son in Wyoming. Following his wife’s death in 1949, Wade moved into a retirement community.

Wade was a proud member of the Masons for most of his life, and was recognized by the Grand Lodge of Maryland for achieving 60 years of membership in 1963. He was also passionate about sharing the story of the Spanish-American War, and semi-anonymously contributed a series of installments detailing his experiences to the Salisbury Advertiser. He wrote continually to many friends and relatives, but maintained an especially close relationship with his sister Mae. In later years, Wade developed an interest in genealogical research, originally inspired by his efforts to track down the necessary documents to acquire a copy of his birth certificate. Beginning in the 1950s, he carried out an extensive correspondence with multiple distant relatives and anyone with a potential familial connection. Wade quickly gained a reputation for being the preeminent family historian, producing dozens of copies of the Porter family tree. He travelled out of state to attend a reunion for the descendants of George and Ann Twilley Porter in 1956, despite being in his eighties at the time. He also frequently donated materials to historical or genealogical societies across the country. This hobby continued for the remainder of his life, and appeared to be a source of great enjoyment for him.

Wade Porter died on May 25, 1969, aged 92, at a veteran’s hospital in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

This collection documents the life and experiences of Wade Thompson Porter and his family, originally of Whitehaven, Wicomico County, Maryland, as well as his considerable efforts to compile a complete family history. Series I contains the earliest material, with some items from the late 1800s relating to Porter’s childhood and early adulthood. The majority of correspondence and genealogical research material was produced much later, and primarily dates from the 1950s-60s. Some of the genealogical research itself is relevant to members of the Porter family as far back as the mid-1700s.

Series I: Personal and Family History, contains documents that pertain to Wade Porter’s own life and those of his immediate family members. This includes family photographs, obituaries, employment records, and information relating to his military service in the Spanish-American War.

Series II: Personal Correspondence, contains any written correspondence of a personal or casual nature between Wade Porter and his various friends and relatives. Frequent topics of conversation include memories of daily life in late-19th century America, notable historical events and people associated with Maryland’s Eastern Shore, and social and political commentary relating to mid-20th-century events.

Series III: Family History Correspondence, contains written correspondence primarily relating to Wade Porter’s genealogical and family history research, especially in reference to the Porter and Twilley families of Maryland. This material includes extended conversations relating to specific research questions, requests for information from distant or potential relatives, and records of contributions to various historical societies.

Series IV: Genealogical Research, contains drafts and completed editions of family trees compiled by Wade Porter, collections of unfinished research notes, and copies of several primary sources used during the research process.

The Porter family papers have been arranged into four series: PERSONAL AND FAMILY RECORDS, PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE, FAMILY HISTORY CORRESPONDENCE, and GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH. When the original order was determined, records were maintained in that manner. However, correspondence pertaining to genealogical research has been separated from that of a more personal nature, in order to better serve the needs of researchers with different focuses. Correspondence with a single individual may, therefore, be spread between multiple folders.

Completed family tree drafts and other large sections of genealogical research materials have each been maintained as a distinct unit reflecting their original order; smaller sections and uncompiled notes are combined based on their primary research focus. Folders are listed by their location in each box; any given subject may be dispersed throughout the entirety of the collection.