- James D. Porter, Jr.
James Davis Porter (
December 7 ,1828 –May 18 ,1912 ) was governor of theU.S. state ofTennessee from 1875 to 1879.A native of
Paris, Tennessee , Porter graduated from the formerUniversity of Nashville at age 18. He was elected to theTennessee General Assembly in 1859. When theAmerican Civil War loomed, Porter sided with the Confederacy. He was involved in the organization of the Provisional Army of Tennessee. After hiscivil rights were restored he re-enteredpolitics as a Democrat. He was elected a circuitjudge , and served as such until his election asgovernor . His administration was greatly hampered by the high level of statedebt relative to the size of the state's economy at the time, and the various approaches suggested for dealing with the state debt were the major issues during his administration.Porter was a strong supporter of
public education . While he was governor, the firstmedical school for emancipated blacks,Meharry Medical College , was founded in Nashville. During Porter's tenure as governor, the so-called "Four Mile Law " was adopted. An early, backdoor form ofProhibition , it forbade alcoholic beverages within four miles (6.4 km) of any school; given the small size of most of the schools of the era and their resultant presence in almost every community, even many of the smallest ones, this effectively outlawed alcohol in all but the least-populated areas of the state, which was exactly the intent of the measure's sponsors.Porter was later U.S. Minister to
Chile .External links
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succession box
title = Governor of Tennessee
before =John C. Brown
after =Albert S. Marks
years = 1875–1879succession box
title = United States Minister to Chile
before = Patrick Egan
after =Edward H. Strobel
years =4 July 1893 –14 March 1894
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