This article came from the New Castle News: New Castle News - Jun 1 2000 By Louise Carroll Piecing together the past: Family of Civil War prisoner in search of missing diaries Civil War veteran Samuel Walker Porter has been brought to life by his diaries. Porter documented the days of his life in 48 pocket-sized diaries that he began in 1864 while a prisoner at Andersonville, Ga. Samuel's great-grandson C. Melvin "Mel" Porter of Beaver Falls and great-great grandson, Bob Porter of Westminster, Md., have 41 of the diaries and are searching for the seven missing volumes. "This search has become a passion," Bob noted. "We have been to Andersonville many times. As I walked along those places I had a very eerie feeling. It was a strange experience to be at those exact spots where Samuel was a prisoner and his brother, David, died." Mel added, "We would particularly like to have the first diary done at Andersonville. It was where Samuel's brother died. If someone has the diaries and treasures them, we would be happy to have copies. They are small and look like little books. Someone could have them not realize what they are." Samuel, a member of the 101st Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteers, was one of four brothers who fought in the Civil War. His two older brothers received "surgeons' certificates" or medical discharges, and his younger brother, David, who joined in early 1864, was also a prisoner at Andersonville. A neighbor documented his concern for David's health when he wrote to his family: "I saw David Porter today. He looks ill. I doubt he will live out the year." The 18-year-old died a short time later on June 26, 1864. While doing their genealogical research, the Porters found many connections to the Lawrence County area. They said they hope that some of those may lead to the missing diaries. Although they would like to have the diaries back, the two stressed they would be satisfied to see them and copy them. The missing copies begin with the 1864 diary that Samuel began while in Andersonville. They know Samuel wrote the diary because they found a reference to it in an 1869 Beaver County newspaper clipping that he kept in a scrapbook. The article, headlined "Living Witnesses," stated that two Beaver Falls men knew the story about a wonderful stream of water that had burst from the ground inside the stockade of Andersonville was true. The two veterans, Ebenezer Springer and S.W. Porter, the story stated, were taken prisoner when their entire regiment fell into the hands of the Confederates on April 20, 1864, at Plymouth, N.C. The prisoners suffered terribly for water, their only supply coming from the little stream that came through the enclosure carrying the filthy drainage from the Rebel Camp. The two veterans explained how after a storm a stream burst forth and there was great rejoicing as "the poor fellows came and had the first drink of pure water they had tasted for months." Samuel recounted that he kept a diary throughout his days in Andersonville. "Although the book is now almost 32 years old, the events as narrated above were all chronicled therein and can be relied upon as being correct," the article stated. Knowing that Samuel kept the diary, the Porters continues their search, which has taken them deep into their genealogy and led them to visit Civil War battlefields, museums and Andersonville. The whereabouts or clues about the diaries could be in the Lawrence County area. The trail is cold because the names and references they have are from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. They hope that someone will recognize the names or families and give them one more piece to the puzzle. Some family connections the Porters have uncovered include a Friday family living in Wurtemburg listed in the 1865 diary. Robert M. Porter, one of Samuel's brothers, lived in the Wurtemburg area, and an uncle John Porter lived in New Castle. Samuel's first wife, Mary Elizabeth English, an orphan, was taken in by the Joseph H. Cunningham family when she was 7 years old. The Cunninghams lived in North Sewickley Township and they regularly visited the Slem Cunningham family. After his wife died in 1905, Samuel married a widow, Mary Wilson of New Castle, in 1907. She died in 1909 in New Castle at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Frank Kirker. Samuel's niece was married to William Thomas Hoover, also a New Castle resident. With so many different family connections, the Porters are hoping someone will make a connection. The leather-bound diaries, which were called pocket journals, are approximately 2 1/2 inches by 5 inches and contain about 100 pages. The pages were separated into about three days each and there are pages in the back for notes or addresses. The missing years are 1864, '66, '67, '68, '69, '70 and '71. Samuel was born in 1843 in what is now the Boardman, Ohio, area and died 1912. The family moved to North Sewickley Township after 1850. He served in the Union army from October 1861 until December 1864. In their search for information, the Porters have learned a lot about Samuel's life. He worked as a carpenter building houses in Wampum and walked there from where he lived in Chewton. He also worked on a "little railroad" in Wampum. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic Lodge in Wampum and one Christmas the lodge sent a basket of food to help him and his family. "If it wasn't for bad luck, he wouldn't have had any at all," Mel said. "After his internment at Andersonville, he wasn't able to work steady because of back problems and so he was often short of money. "He borrowed a wagon to move his things when they had to move. He bought a horse and the horse died and then he bought another and it died. These were critical events in those days. He never had much. He relied on family and friends to help him out." The entries in his diaries always begin with a report of the weather that day. For rainy days he wrote it was "weet" and continued to misspell the word for 48 years. He wrote few personal items but instead wrote about the flood in Johnstown or a local fire, a horse dying, the first telephone call he received and his first bicycle, which he called a wheel. In line with his continued bad luck, he fell off the bicycle and broke his arm. A few personal remarks include mourning the death of his first wife and noting how a Christmas during the mid-1880s was "a sad day. We have nothing to make it special." He did not write about his war experiences. All references to the Civil War are about going to reunions, including the one in New Castle in 1893 and seeing old friends. He helped found the Ex-prisoners of War organization and served as its quartermaster. In 1905 the government dedicated a monument to honor the dead at Andersonville. They paid the way of ex-prisoners of war who wanted to attend the dedication and Samuel traveled there on train. His diaries detail only the train ride. About 10 years ago, an aunt asked Mel to look over some items she had to be auctioned because she did not want to sell anything considered a family heirloom. Mel found an old print of Andersonville and hung it at his house. Six years ago he gave the print to his son, Bob. Bob decided to take it apart and clean it before hanging it at his home. When he took it apart he noticed two small X's on the print - one in the trees and one at a hut. Bob and Mel have visited Andersonville many times. And after finding the X's on the print, Bob located the spots at Andersonville. The X in the trees denotes the cemetery area, where the Porters assume Samuel marked where his brother, David, is buried. The other X marked the hut where Samuel lived during his imprisonment. FYI ... If you have information about Samuel Walker Porter or his family, call C. Melvin "Mel" Porter at 846-5393.