Yolo-Alameda County CA Archives Biographies.....Porter, William Alexander 1867 - 
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Author: Tom Gregory (1913)

WILLIAM ALEXANDER PORTER
    Notwithstanding business interests that have required his presence elsewhere
during recent years, Mr. Porter is still bound to Yolo county by the ties of a
long residence here and by the intimate friendships that form the silken thread
in the web of life. Patriotic devotion to the welfare of the county naturally
characterizes one who claims it as his native place and whose father belonged to
its splendid band of pioneers, men of sturdy fearlessness, bone and sinew of the
original development of California. To that pioneer, Adelbert Deloss Porter,
late of Woodland, appropriate reference is made elsewhere in this volume.
Suffice it to say in this connection that he left to his descendants the
heritage of an honorable career upon civilization's last frontier.

    While the family home was in the vicinity of Black's Station, Yolo county,
the birth of William Alexander Porter occurred December 2, 1867, but from the
age of two years until about 1905 he lived in Woodland and its schools gave to
him the rudimentary advantages that lie at the basis of all true education. From
the local schools he was sent to the high school of Oakland and with a course of
study in that institution »his school attendance was brought to a close.
Inherited ability for business pursuits as well as a natural aptitude for
financial affairs have characterized his subsequent history. Beginning to fill a
clerical position with the Bank of Yolo in 1885, he soon rose to a position of
importance in that concern, where his accuracy as an accountant paved the way to
other responsibilities and trusts. For twenty years he continued with the bank,
meanwhile winning the confidence of a large list of depositors and gaining a
reputation for tact, a conservative policy in financial enterprises and an
almost unerring judgment in loans and discounts.

    A long identification with the financial concern was terminated with the
resignation of Mr. Porter in 1905, at which time he engaged in the real estate
business in Berkeley and formed a partnership with W. R. Laugenour under the
firm title of Laugenour & Porter. The connection continued for about four years
and then Mr. Porter carried on the same business alone until January of 1911,
when the present firm of Knowles & Porter was established, the senior member of
which is George K. Knowles. The firm has its offices at No. 2184 Shattuck
avenue, Berkeley, and carries on a general real estate business, also makes
loans, places insurance and engages in the building of residences for sale. The
investments and interests of the firm associate them intimately with the
territory contiguous to the San Francisco bay, but particularly with that
portion thereof adjacent to Berkeley. In addition to these interests Mr. Porter
has invested heavily in lands in Sonora, Mexico. The location of the property
offers excellent advantages for the stock industry, and accordingly he has
placed a large herd of stock on the ranch, the whole being under the care of
resident persons. Since the death of their father he and his brother, H. D.,
have, been retained as administrators of the estate, and in addition he is a
stockholder in the Yolo County Savings Bank. The various interests of a business
nature which he retains in Yolo county make necessary occasional trips to the
old home and thus afford him an opportunity to keep in intimate touch with every
phase of local upbuilding and also to visit those to whom he is bound by the
ties of lifelong friendship.

    The marriage of Mr. Porter took place in Woodland August 15, 1892, and
united him with Miss Kathryn Stephens, daughter of J. J. Stephens, of whom
mention appears on another page of this work. The distinction belongs to Mrs.
Porter of being a native daughter of Yolo county, for her birth occurred at
Madison. To some extent she was also educated in this county, although she
enjoyed the further advantage of a complete course of study at Mills College and
is a graduate of that famous institution of learning. One daughter, Dorothy
Nell, has blessed their union. To aid movements for the advancement of the city
Mr. Porter considered it to be a privilege during the long period of his
identification with the citizenship of Woodland. Perhaps no measure enlisted his
sympathy to a greater degree than that relative to the building of a library.
With other public-spirited men, he promoted the movement from which finally
resulted the present Carnegie library building, and for ten years he had the
honor of serving as secretary of the Woodland public library. To others the
influence of his efforts to promote the library served as an incentive to aid in
this progressive project, and the fact that Woodland now boasts a building as
substantial in construction as many towns much larger in size may be attributed
to the efforts of such men as Mr. Porter, who likewise gave personal attention
to the securing of the best class of reading matter for the libary and to the
maintenance of a magazine and newspaper department free of access to all
residents and to visitors. His interest in Woodland and Yolo county had in it no
flavor of politics, for he is not a politician in any sense of that word, and
both in his former place of residence and at Berkeley he has refrained from
participation in public affairs except from the standpoint of a loyal citizen,
impartial in spirit and independent in thought.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from

HISTORY OF YOLO COUNTY CALIFORNIA
WITH
Biographical Sketches
OF
The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been Identified With Its Growth
and Development From the Early Days to the Present

HISTORY BY
TOM GREGORY
AND OTHER WELL KNOWN WRITERS
ILLUSTRATED COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME

HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA [1913]


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