PETER BUELL PORTER was born at Salisbury, Connecticut, on 14 August 1773; graduated from Yale College in 1791; studied law at Judge Tapping Reeve�s school at Litchfield, Connecticut; moved to Canandaigua, New York, in 1795; entered into the practice of law; was clerk of Ontario County, 1797�1805; served in the New York legislature, 1801�1802; moved to Black Rock on the Niagara River; was a member of the firm of Porter, Barton & Company which controlled transportation on the Niagara Falls portage; served in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1809�1813; served on a commission on inland navigation established in 1810 to survey a Lake Erie�Hudson River canal route; was a leading figure among Congressional "war hawks" and chairman of the committee that recommended preparation for war with Great Britain; was quartermaster general of New York militia, May�October 1812; participated in and criticized General Alexander Smyth�s abortive operations against British Canada, 1812; fought a bloodless duel with Smyth; raised and commanded a brigade of New York militia that incorporated a Six Nations Indian contingent; led his command with distinction in the battles of Chippewa, Lundy�s Lane, and Fort Erie, 1814; again served in the Congress, 1814�1816; served on the U.S.-Canadian boundary commission, 1816�1822; was Secretary of State of New York, 1816�1817; was defeated by De Witt Clinton for the New York governorship; married Letitia Breckinridge, 1818; was a regent of the State University, 1824�1830; served as Secretary of War, 26 May 1828�9 March 1829; advocated removal of Eastern Indians beyond the Mississippi; retired to private life; died at Niagara Falls, New York, on 20 March 1844.

Peter Buell Porter