William Porter Hutchison
WILLIAM PORTER HUTCHISON, of Rayburn township, Armstrong county, now living retired, is a well known resident of his section, having served his fellow citizens for twenty-seven years in the office of assessor and as overseer of the poor. He was born Feb. 16, 1839, in Butler county, Pa., son of David and Mary (Porter) Hutchison, and grandson of William Hutchison, a native of Ireland.
David Hutchison was born in Butler county, Pa., where he followed farming, also working at his trade, that of brickmason. He died in Perry township, Armstrong county. His first wife, Mary (Porter), also a native of Pennsylvania, was a daughter of Rev. Samuel Porter, who was born in Ireland and was twice married, having three children by the first marriage and five by the second. To David and Mary (Porter) Hutchison were born ten children: Rebecca, deceased; Margaret Jane, deceased; William P.; Samuel and John, twins, both of whom died while in the Union service during the Civil war, in Company H, 78th Regiment, Captain Sirwell; David Reed, deceased (he was a mute); Abigail A., deceased; Eveline B.; J. W. and Sarah E. After the mother of these died David Hutchison married (second) Mary Ann Powell, by whom he had two children, Edward Miller (deceased) and Calvin.
William Porter Hutchison had somewhat meager educational advantages in his native county, and was quite young when he began to help on the farm, though being slight for his age he could not do as much as some boys. His father worked at the mason's trade, and after his marriage he lived upon his father's farm for a few years, and then removed to Valley township, now Rayburn, in Armstrong county, locating on a tract of sixty-three acres which had never been well cleared, and had grown up to underbrush. The old farmhouse on the place faced the cold northwest winds, and but for the hills which sheltered it would have been in danger of being blown over. Thus he began life here under rather adverse conditions, but he set bravely about the task of getting his land into good shape, and in time, as he prospered, built a convenient house and other buildings, and saw that his family had the advantages which had been denied him in his youth. Recently Mr. Hutchison has given up active farm labor, leasing his land, but he continues to live at his old home. He is highly esteemed in his neighborhood, and has the confidence of all those who know him. Though he has always been a Democrat he has received the support of Republicans when a candidate for office, and his long service as assessor shows how satisfactory his work in that capacity has been to all concerned. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church.
On May 18, 1875, Mr. Hutchison was married in Armstrong county to Margaret Patton, who was born June 27, 1850, in Kittanning township, this county, daughter of John M. Patton, a farmer. To this union were born the following children: William Merrit, a minister of the Presbyterian Church, now in Oklahoma; Mary Elaina, who is engaged as a teacher in the Troy Hill school; Dora Wallace, a teacher at Speces Corners; and Amy F., who prepared for teaching, but is engaged in commercial work. The mother of this family died April 7, 1895.
Source: Pages 458-459, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present, J. H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed September 1998 by James R. Hindman for the Armstrong County Beers Project
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