William "Brooks" Porter

It has been too long since I have shared any information regarding the family of my biologic grandmother Dora Louise Porter Galloway. Today will be the brief story of her eldest brother William B. Porter who the family referred to as Brooks. Most of what I know about Brooks came from my interview with his sister Harriet. She indicated that Brooks was very intelligent, mouthy, a smart alec and jokester who she felt was slightly bipolar. It seems when you look at my biological family that is something that often comes up. Intelligence and mental illness. It has long been my position that genius and insanity are closely related. Perhaps the intelligence is driven crazy by all the idiots encountered in every day life. That is a subject for another day. Back to Brooks. He was born March 8, 1911 in Fulton County the first child and eldest son of Nicholas Albert Porter and Grace Mae Freeman Porter. As you have been advised in prior posts the family broke up in the mid 1930's due to Nicholas' alcoholism and Grace's unfaithfulness. Brooks escaped some of the effects of this family breakup due to his age. By the time that occurred hewas an adult. The closest record we have to that breakup is the 1930 United States Census which shows Brooks living with his parents in Putnam Township, Fulton County, Illinois. The children listed are William 19, Hilda 14, Harry 12, Margret 9, Geraldine 7, Harriet 5, David 3, and Kermit 9 months.

Brooks was a veteran of World War 2 serving in the Atlantic Theater. Military records indicate he enlisted on September 29, 1943 and was released from military service on May 12, 1944. Brooks returned to Fulton County and gained employment at Internation Harvester Plow Works in Canton. Where he worked until he retired in 1972. He married Genevieve Webster on July 17, 1945 in Macomb, Illinois. Harriet indicated that Brooks had contracted the mumps as a teenager and as a result was rendered sterile. He and Genevieve did not allow that to stop them from having children in their home. Over the course of their marriage they were foster parents to over 50 children. The announcement of their 50th wedding anniversary in 1995 indicates they had children which must have been through adoption. It is interesting given what happened with his parents that he chose to be a foster parent to children in need. Perhaps it was a result of seeing the devastating effects of family breakup on his younger siblings.