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James Porter was an important member of the Methodist Episcopal
ministry
in New England. After hearing a thunderous sermon given by a
travelling
Methodist clergyman in 1827, Porter immediately joined the church.
In
1830, after preaching informally around central Massachusetts, he
became
a member of the New England Conference, a formal organization of
clergymen
who spread the Methodist doctrine around the region. Porter spent
his
early years in southern New England; he traveled constantly,
preaching
at revival meetings, in town halls, and in newly constructed
Methodist
churches. A colleague recalled, 'In the pulpit his commanding
personal
appearance - tall, well-proportioned, erect - with a good voice,
gentlemanly
bearing, and easy manner gave him at once the eye and ear of the
audience.
. . . On the platform and on special occasions he had few equals.
Calm,
self-poised, and quick to see and feel, he was ever ready to take
up a
parable.'(1)
Porter continued to live the life of the itinerant minister,
briefly holding
posts in Worcester, Boston, and Lynn, Massachusetts. He helped
organize
annual conferences and rallies, spoke often at special events, and
promoted
the temperance platform. He was also an author and began
publishing his
tracts and sermons in the 1840s. In 1849 he wrote The True
Evangelist,
or an Itinerant Ministry in which he defended the Methodist
practice of
travelling from town to town to spread the gospel. He eventually
authored
over sixteen books, including Revivals of Religion: Their Theory,
Means,
Obstructions, Uses and Importance (1849), his major historical
work A
Compendium of Methodism (1851), and the popular tract Spirit
Rapping,
Mesmerism, Clairvoyance, etc. Calmly Considered and Exposed
(1853). Many
of Porter's publications are preserved in the American Antiquarian
Society's
book collection.
In 1856 Porter became an assistant book agent in the New York
publishing
office of the Methodist organization, an office known as the
Methodist
Book Concern. He soon rose through the ranks, becoming an editor
and publisher
of the numerous tracts, temperance novels, and sermons that were
printed
and offered for sale by the Methodist clergy. With his love of
straightforward
language and strong narrative, Porter soon turned the Book Concern
into
a viable business. 'In the selection of works for publication, he
was
usually fortunate. Though appreciative of high literary merit,
which commends
itself to the few, he believed as a publisher, in practical,
pious, salable
books, which would appeal to the tastes of the majority and
chronicle
their virtues on the ledger.'(2)
This miniature depicts the blue-eyed Porter in his youth and may
have
been painted around the time of his 1833 marriage to Jane Tinkham
Howard
(d. 1886), whom he met during a revival meeting.(3) The artist is
unidentified
and the miniature could have been painted almost anywhere in
coastal New
England, where Porter spent most of his early career travelling
and preaching.
Possibly intended as a remembrance for the sitter's wife to admire
while
he was away spreading the gospel, the miniature descended through
the
family until it was donated to the Society in 1936.
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1) D. Sherman, 'James Porter,' Minutes of the New England
Methodist Episcopal
Conference (1889), 7.
2) Ibid., 10. Some time after 1860, Porter joined forces
with the bookseller
and publisher George Washington Carleton and formed the firm
Carleton
& Porter, which continued to publish religious material.
3) Ibid., 5-6.
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