Manuscripts Collection
Antoinette Louise Porter was born in New York City on December 12, 1835, the third of Selah and Cornelia Porter's six children. In 1838 Antoinette's family moved to the Wisconsin Territory and settled on a farm in Walworth County. Antoinette married William Vipen King (1831-1914) on March 27, 1856. The couple lived with his parents until 1861 when they moved to a farm near Whitewater in Crawford County, Wisconsin. In 1864 William enlisted in the army and Antoinette and their children moved in with her parents until William's return in July 1865. In the fall of that year they moved to Austin, Minnesota. In October 1866, together with several other family members, they moved to a homestead in Jackson, Minnesota. Antoinette was involved in founding many of Jackson's civic and secular organizations and remained an active civic leader all her life.
Antoinette and William had four children: Willie Porter (1857-1944), Ellen Greenwood (1859-1913), Selah Samuel (1864-1920), and John Lebbeus (1870-1964). Antoinette, known to family and friends as "Nettie" or "Nett" died in Jackson, Minnesota on March 26, 1896. William Vipen King died in Jackson, Minnesota on June 13, 1914.
Biographical data was taken from the summaries in the collection, compiled by Ruth King Freymann.
Biographical summaries (1995-1999); copies of photographs (1990-1997); genealogies (1992, 1999); transcriptions of letters and journals (1990-2002); original letters (1829-1918) and journals (1866-1894); and copies of legal documents (circa 1990-1999) by members of the extended Porter and King families.
The bulk of the collection is composed of correspondence, both originals and typed transcripts, between members of Antoinette Porter King's family starting prior to her birth and continuing through 1918. The letters are grouped by correspondent and each group is accompanied by an introduction written by Ruth King Freymann. The introductions contain biographical data, related background information, and a list of "dramatis personae." Freyman compiled, as an appendix in the bound volume of transcripts, a chronological index to the entire set of correspondence. She also annotated the correspondence with information on locale, events, and individuals mentioned.
Correspondents include Antoinette and William King; their son, Selah Samuel King; her parents, Selah and Cornelia Porter; her husband's parents, John and Hannah King; her brother, Lebbeus Effingham Porter; her sister-in-law, Elizabeth Barney; her aunt, Mary Dan; her uncle, Samuel Lyman Porter; and her cousin, Louise Wilson.
Topics include Selah and Cornelia Porter's courtship; the migration of
the Porter and King families from New York to Wisconsin and on to Minnesota;
news from relatives in England and New York; her children; accounts of the
family's health, finances, and farming; William Vipen King's service
(1864-1865) in the Wisconsin 43rd Infantry Regiment during the Civil War;
Selah's experiences in Jasper, Minnesota, where he founded the local newspaper,
Antoinette's diary (1866-1894), also transcribed and annotated by Freymann, complements the correspondence and frequent references are made between the two. Antoinette moved to Jackson, Minnesota with a group of family members including her husband and children; her brother Lebbeus, his wife Ellen, and their daughter Zella; William's sister Elizabeth, her husband Mitchell Barney, and their daughters Juna and Alice; Antoinette's brother Irving; and William's brothers Robert and George. Also included were family friends Charles and Elisa Heath. The entries describe the move to Jackson (October 4-12, 1866) and daily life over the following years. Topics include births, illnesses, deaths, social activities, the weather, planting, harvesting, William's legal work and his election as chairman of the board of supervisors (April 12, 1867), a total solar eclipse (August 8, 1866), a trip back to Whitewater, Wisconsin (October 3-18, 1870), organization of the Jackson Grange (November 21, 1872), and the Rocky Mountain locust infestation, which overran much of southwestern Minnesota (June 15 - July 17, 1873).
The bulk of the collection consists of transcriptions by Ruth King
Freymann and John Gordon Freymann of the original letters. The primary access
materials are four bound volumes of annoted transcriptions of the letters,
journal, diaries, and genealogy of Antoinette Porter King and other family
members. Within the bound volume of letters, the items are grouped by family
relationship, though each letter was assigned a number in chronological order.
Also available are loose copies of the transcript of each letter, accompanied
by a photocopy of the original letter and envelope. These transcripts are in
the same order as the the first edition of the
The set of original correspondence, which is closed to general use, is nearly complete and is foldered in numerical order as assigned by Ruth King Freymann in her first edition of the transcripts. Volume 2 of Antoinette Porter King's journal and a single volume of Anna Viola "Vie" King Lyon's journal are also closed to general use.
The two editions of the transcribed letters (boxes 1 and 7) provide the most complete information on the origination and organization of the correspondence. The volumes include a chronological list of correspondence and an index by correspondent.
The original correspondence and journals are closed to general use.
Accession numbers: 14353; 15128; 15323; 15455; 15553; 15621; 15709; 15972; 15974; 16274
Processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with a Basic Project grant
awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission
Catalog ID number: 001733040
These summaries were compiled by Ruth King Freymann between 1990 and 1999.
These images are copies gathered by Ruth King Freymann for inclusion in her bound volumes of Porter King family letters and genealogy. They are grouped by generation, beginning with Cornelia and Selah Porter. The images are identified by an accompanying index.
This volume contains transcripts of an additional 115 letters not included in the first edition.
A portion of these notes and compilation are recorded as having been begun by Antoinette King Porter (circa 1892). Further additions are most likely by Ruth King Freymann. The genealogy includes the families of William and Antoinette King, John and Hannah King, and Selah and Cornelia Porter.
Photocopy of original diary pages, transcription, and accompanying background notes by Ruth King Freymann.
Transcription by Ruth King Freymann.
Transcription by Ruth King Freymann. Willie Porter King is Antoinette's eldest son and is referred to frequently in her diary and the family correspondence. His diary (November 6, 1918 - July 1, 1944) contains just over thirty brief entries with two gaps, each covering several years. Topics include family activities, the weather, gardening, and reflections on current affairs, particularly the first and second world wars.
These files are in chronological order. Most items are copies or transcripts.
Copies of originals held by the National Archives.
Loose copies of the same transcripts which are bound in the
The affidavit is a humorous biographical account of Antoinette and William King, signed by John Olson. A photocopy is available, filed with the bound transcript of Antoinette's journal.