To Thomas Jefferson from John Ewing Porter, 2 August 1804
From John Ewing Porter
Philadelphia August 2. 1804
Sir,
Herewith you will receive a copy of an oration, which was pronounced by me on the 4th. Ultimo. In forwarding to you this my first publication, I have no Motive but the offer of a small testimony of that respect & esteem, which I have uniformly professed for your conduct as a Statesman; and your character as a man. Considering the production, as coming from a youth of twenty years of age—composed at a very short notice, under the pressure of professional business—your candour will doubtless afford some apology for its numerous defects. In reliance upon this hope I have presumed to submit it to your inspection.
I have the honour to be Sir, Your most obedient and Most humble Servant
J. E. Porter.
RC (MHi); at head of text: “To his Excellency Thomas Jefferson Esquire, President of the United States”; endorsed by TJ as received 7 Aug. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: John Ewing Porter, An Oration, in Commemoration of the American Independence. Delivered Agreeably to an Appointment of the Lysian Society, on Wednesday July the Fourth, 1804 (Philadelphia, 1804; No. 4684).
John Ewing Porter (1784-1819) studied law with his older brother Robert Porter in Philadelphia and was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1805. The following year, Porter was elected to the Republican committee of conference and correspondence for the state’s first congressional district. After a falling out with his father, Revolutionary War officer Andrew Porter, John Ewing Porter moved to North Carolina in 1809, taught English and mathematics at the Vine Hill Academy, and eventually studied medicine. Porter successfully petitioned the Pennsylvania legislature to change his last name to Parker in 1818 (Philadelphia Aurora, 21 Jan. 1805, 26 May 1806; New-York Spectator, 3 Dec. 1819; Acts of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania [Harrisburg, 1818], 240; , 4 [1880], 295; biographical information in PEL: Porter Family Papers, 1800-1918; Vol. 38:100).