Augustus Seymour Porter

Augustus Seymour Porter (January 18, 1798September 18, 1872) was a U.S. statesman from the state of Michigan. Early life He was born in Canandaigua, New York, the son of Augustus Porter (1769–1849) and his first wife, Lavinia Steele. His brothers were Albert Howell Porter (1801-1888) and Peter Buell Porter, Jr. (1806–1871), and his uncle was Peter Buell Porter (1773–1844), the United States Secretary of War under John Quincy Adams. He attended Canandaigua Academy, and graduated from Union College, in Schenectady, New York, in 1818, studied law and was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Detroit, Michigan. Career Porter became the recorder of Detroit in 1830 and was the treasurer of the Michigan Pioneer Society in 1837. He was elected mayor of Detroit in 1838, resigning in 1839 to run for the United States Senate, and was succeeded as mayor by Asher B. Bates on March 14, 1839.