John Porterfield
Born: August 21, 1819
Birthplace: Fayetteville, Tennessee
Father: Francis Porterfield - 1785 - 1833
(Buried: Nashville City Cemetery, Nashville, Tennessee)
Mother: Malinda Morgan - 1795 - 1867
(Buried: Nashville City Cemetery, Nashville, Tennessee)
Wife: Mary Eliza Shapard - 1826- 1898
(Buried: Mount Olivet Cemetery, Nashville, Tennessee)
Children:
Marjorie Porterfield Taylor 1847 - 1927
(Buried: Evergreen Cemetery, Southgate, Kentucky)
Susie Porterfield Spurr 1849 - 1932
(Buried: Mount Oliver Cemetery, Nashville, Tennessee)
Jonnie Porterfield 1858 - 1940
(Buried: Blandford Cemetery, Petersburg, Virginia)
William S. Porterfield 1861 - 1929
(Buried: Graham Cemetery, Orange, Virginia)
Ellen Porterfield 1862 - 1945
(Buried: Blandford Cemetery, Petersburg, Virginia)
Political Party: Democratic Party
Occupation before War:
1836 - 1857: Worked in several businesses in Nashville, Tennessee, primarily in banking and insurance
1858: Purchased the Traders' Bank, served as its president until the outbreak of the War
Civil War Career:
1862 - 1865: Relocated to Canada to assist the Confederacy with banking operations. Assisted the CSA government in its financial dealings with foreign nations. Provided support to Confederate Secret Service operations.
Occupation after War:
1866 - 1874: Banker in Nashville, Tennessee
Died: December 28, 1874
Age at Death: 55 years
Place of Death: His home in Nashville, Tennessee
Burial Place: Mount Olivet Cemetery, Nashville, Tennessee
Interesting Facts:
Porterfield's most interesting known activity during the War was an attempt in 1864 to undermine the value of the US dollar through manipulation of the gold markets. Using $100,00 from the Confederate treasury, conveyed to him by Judah Benjamin, Porterfield travelled incognito to New York City where, aided by Confederate agents and sympathizers, he began to buy gold. When a member of the plot was discovered and arrested by General Butler, Porterfield abandoned the plan and returned to Canada. Though records show some fluctuation in the price of gold during this period, the project was a failure.
How deeply Porterfield was involved with other Confederate Secret Service activities is unknown. He was definitely tied in to all operations happening in Montreal during his time there. Following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln Porterfield sheltered John Surratt in his home in Montreal, before helping him hide in Canada.
Porterfield had taken his entire family with him to Montreal and they were a fixture in the local social scene. Two of Porterfield's daughters married Confederate soldiers who had escaped from Federal prison camps and travelled to Canada. One son-in-law, Marcus Spurr, was a member of the group which raided the banks in St. Albans, Vermont. After the collapse of the Confederacy Porterfield and his family relocated to Niagara on the Lake, where they lived in a community of exiled Confederates that included Jubal Early, John C. Breckenridge, and James Mason.
General George Thomas had threatened to arrest Porterfield should he return to Nashville. In May of 1866, Porterfield did return and was arrested and placed in the military prison, charged, among other things, with complicity in the Lincoln assassination. Porterfield's arrest prompted an outcry among his friends, many of whom petitioned President Johnson for his release. Johnson released Porterfield who, with the permission of Governor Brownlow, was allowed to return to Nashville. Johnson, however, refused to pardon Porterfield. Porterfield returned to his home (which had been occupied by General Thomas and then turned over to the Freedman's Bureau) and resumed his banking career.
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