Hon. Thomas Fitzgerald Porter, Jr., Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana
Submitted by Mike Miller



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Hon. Thomas Fitzgerald Porter, Jr., judge of the Fourteenth
Judicial District of Louisiana, is a man of strong character who has
been liberal in the donations of his energy, ability and wise counsel
to the uplifting forces of religion and education, and has shown his
faith in his home city and state both by the enthusiasm and firmness
of his spirit and by the multitude of his works.  As an attorney he
was able and resourceful, and since he was raised to the bench he
has proved himself a worthy representative of the dignity and
greatness of his native state in the domain of the law which he has
honored since 1906.

Judge Porter was born on a plantation in Natchitoches Parish,
Louisiana, March 10, 1881, a son of Thomas F. Porter, a retired
planter, who, with the mother, formerly Henrietta Dunckelman, are
living in Natchitoches.  For a number of years the father has been
very active in civic affairs, and he is a zealous member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church.  Fraternally, his connections are with
the Knights of Pythias.  Five children were born to him and his wife.

Reared as the average Southern lad in the country districts, Judge
Porter attended the local schools and Natchitoches High School,
and later the Louisiana State Normal School, and taught school for
two years in Calcasieu Parish.  Entering Yale University, he took
the law course, and graduated therefrom in 1906, with the degree
of Bachelor of Laws.  While at Yale he made Chi Tau Kappa, and
was an editor of the Yale Law Journal.  Returning to Louisiana, he
established himself in the practice of his Profession at Lake Charles,
in partnership with B. F. Gayle, and this association was maintained
until Judge Porter enlisted for service during the World War, in
May, 1917.

Sent to the first officers' training school at Fort Logan H. Roots,
Judge Porter was there commissioned captain of field artillery, in
September, 1917, and served as an instructor of field artillery at the
second and third officers' training camps at Leon Springs, Texas. 
Later he was transferred to Camp Jackson, South Carolina, where
as commanding officer of the Tenth Battalion, and Fourth
Regiment, he trained men and officers as replacement troops for
field artillery.  In June, 1918, he was transferred to Camp
Wadsworth, South Carolina, where he trained the Fourth Corps
Artillery Park, with which organization he was sent overseas in
September, 1918, after having been promoted to the rank of major
of field artillery. After training in France he was sent to the front in
the Toul sector, and following the signing of the armistice went to
Germany with the Army of Occupation.  Returning to the United
States, he received his honorable discharge at Camp Dix, New
Jersey, July 3, 1919.  He accepted a commission as
lieutenant-colonel in the field artillery section of the Officers'
Reserve Corps, and in 1924 was promoted to the rank of colonel of
field artillery, and is now commanding officer of the Three Hundred
and Ninety-seventh Field Artillery.

Following his discharge from the army, Judge Porter returned to
Lake Charles and resumed his practice with E. F. Gayle, and
maintained this partnership until he was elevated to the bench in
December, 1920, as judge of the Fifteenth (later changed to the
Fourteenth) Judicial District of Louisiana.  He was reelected to the
same office in December, 1924, for another term of six years.  He
belongs to the Fifteenth Judicial District Bar Association, the
Louisiana State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. 
Judge Porter has made a valuable contribution to legal literature in
his book on 'Wills,' which is regarded by the profession as a
masterly exposition of the subject, he is president of the Reserve
Officers' Association of Louisiana.  His hobby is the study of
mechanics, military affairs and radio.  For some years he has taken
an active part in local campaigns and is regarded as one of the most
effective public speakers in this part of the state.  High in Masonry,
he belongs to Lake Charles Lodge No. l65, Free and Accepted
Masons; Hiram Chapter No. 45, Royal Arch Masons, at
Natchitoches, and Lake Charles Consistory.  He also belongs to
Peace Lodge No. 43, Knights of Pythias, Lake Charles, of which he
is past chancellor commander; to Anchor Lodge No. 59,
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he is past knight
commander of the Maccabees.

On June 29, 1910, Judge Porter was married, at Lake Charles, to
Miss Mary A. Gayle, sister of Edwin F. Gayle, a sketch of whom
appears elsewhere in this work.  She studied law, and has been
admitted to practice in the courts of Louisiana.  Since her marriage
she has taken a very active part in the club life of Lake Charles. 
Judge and Mrs. Porter have no children.

A History of Louisiana, (vol. 2), p. 293, by Henry E. Chambers. 
Published by The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and
New York, 1925.