CHARLES D. PORTER, LTJG, USN

Charles Porter '20

Date of birth: March 2, 1899

Date of death: March 17, 1924

Age: 25

Lucky Bag

From the 1920 Lucky Bag:

Charles Davant Porter

Columbia, South Carolina

"Charlie" "Frank Gotch" "Admiral"

"CHARLIE" entered this institution of learning directly from Columbian High School, S. C. His constant good nature and old-fashioned Southern courtesy early assured his popularity.

Plebe year the call of "Charlie" floating down the corridor would be followed immediately by the cyclonic appearance of the same headed towards the origin of the sound.

"Mr. Porter, what's the d-e-esert?"
"Ah don't know, Sar!"
"Get under the table and find out!"
"Ave, aye, Sar!"

He was always conscientious in his studies, but never overworked himself. It was at the hops that young Adonis first showed his rattles. For the first few weeks Dinah was a Red Mike, then suddenly there came a change, he became a snake of many coils, rattles, and spots. Every week found him dancing gaily round the gym. When interviewed about his future intentions, the modest youth blushed rosily but denied vehemently the charge of matrimony. The first witness for the State, his room-mate, gave decidedly incriminating evidence against him, damaging his case beyond repair. "Charlie, don't do it!"

Youngster year found him holding down a berth in the wrestling squad. First Class year started wrong for "Venus." A visit from the D. O. found him "raising" a classmate in our Great American Parlor Pastime. Four long, hard months on the Reina, however, taught him the error of his ways. But, as he says, "It shuah is hard to stand clear of them cards."

Finally, his troubles came to an end and he is back among us. We hope his past (minus the four months jolt) will be a mirror to his future.

Honors: Buzzard; Wrestling Squad, 3.

The Class of 1920 was graduated in June 1919 due to World War I. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.

Charles Davant Porter

Columbia, South Carolina

"Charlie" "Frank Gotch" "Admiral"

"CHARLIE" entered this institution of learning directly from Columbian High School, S. C. His constant good nature and old-fashioned Southern courtesy early assured his popularity.

Plebe year the call of "Charlie" floating down the corridor would be followed immediately by the cyclonic appearance of the same headed towards the origin of the sound.

"Mr. Porter, what's the d-e-esert?"
"Ah don't know, Sar!"
"Get under the table and find out!"
"Ave, aye, Sar!"

He was always conscientious in his studies, but never overworked himself. It was at the hops that young Adonis first showed his rattles. For the first few weeks Dinah was a Red Mike, then suddenly there came a change, he became a snake of many coils, rattles, and spots. Every week found him dancing gaily round the gym. When interviewed about his future intentions, the modest youth blushed rosily but denied vehemently the charge of matrimony. The first witness for the State, his room-mate, gave decidedly incriminating evidence against him, damaging his case beyond repair. "Charlie, don't do it!"

Youngster year found him holding down a berth in the wrestling squad. First Class year started wrong for "Venus." A visit from the D. O. found him "raising" a classmate in our Great American Parlor Pastime. Four long, hard months on the Reina, however, taught him the error of his ways. But, as he says, "It shuah is hard to stand clear of them cards."

Finally, his troubles came to an end and he is back among us. We hope his past (minus the four months jolt) will be a mirror to his future.

Honors: Buzzard; Wrestling Squad, 3.

The Class of 1920 was graduated in June 1919 due to World War I. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.

Loss

Charles was lost on March 17, 1924 when the plane he was aboard crashed near Pensacola, Florida.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Charles and Olin’s plane struck another plane at an altitude of about 1,500 feet and crashed to the ground. The other plane’s occupants, Lieut. Henry Mullinnix '16 and Lieut. T. G. Fisher (’18) were able to right their plane and suffered only minor abrasions. Several planes were flying in formation undergoing spotting practice.
From The Columbia Record, November 15, 1914, on the school page:

A Few of the Latest Conventions by Charles D. Porter, 9A II.
During this great age of progress many inventions occur, which pass by unnoticed.
One of the latest inventions, and one which will be of the greatest importance if it is perfected, is the wireless telephone. It was invited by Geiglielmo Marconi, also the inventor of wireless telegraphy. On this instrument the human voice can be heard nine miles away.
Another invention of small consequence is a tiny stove for heating muffs or pockets.
A certain doctor, Goldberger by name, claims to have discovered a cure for pellagra. He claims that this disease can be cured by eating proper foods.
The great European war has caused many scientists to turn in that direction.
A Frenchman has invented an apparatus by which steel arrows may be showered from an airship, on the enemy below. The arrows are released in batches of five hundred each, and may be scattered over a space of two hundred yards.
On account of the sickness which has been prevalent in the trenches during the present war, these are being made sanitary as well as defensible. This is done by making the trenches sloping, so the water can run off. The soldiers dig holes in the sides of the trenches and are thus protected from the weather.

Another article by Charles told of his visit to the dentist. He looked at some uninteresting magazines and half dozen pictures through an antique stereoscope. “Suddenly a noise like a muffled groan reached my ear. I sat up quickly with my ears strained to catch the noise should it occur again. It soon came again, this time louder and more clearly defined. It came from the little room where the dentist’s chair was located. It rose higher and higher until it suddenly stopped with a jerk and I knew that somebody was one tooth less. My heart sank, for I supposed I would soon be in the same fix. Just then the dentist appeared at the door and informed me that he was ready. I followed him, felling like a sheep being led to the slaughter-pen.”
Charles, who went by “Charlie,” was born in Pendleton, lived for a while in Edgefield, and at age 12, he came to live with his aunt, Mrs. Carlile Courtenay in Columbia. The State newspaper of March 18, 1924, reported that “He was unusually bright in his books and knew how to make friends readily and to keep their confidence. . . . At the high school he always stood at the head of his class in mathematics and was a brilliant English scholar. . . . He was a member of the Shandon Baptist church and during his stay here took a prominent part in the young people’s work.”
Charles’ funeral was held at the home of his mother’s sister, Mrs. Courtenay. She was married to a minister who founded the Carlile Courtenay home (now the Carolina Children’s Home.) Charles’ uncle W. B. Davant was superintendent of the home.
Charles’ father, Henry Clarence Porter, was a traveling salesman for sewing machines and later farm machinery. His mother was Evelina who died in 1908. His brothers were Henry Clarence, Jr., James, and William D., and their sister was Mary (Mrs. E. C. Owens) of Laurens.

He was survived by his father and is buried in South Carolina.

Navy Directories & Officer Registers

The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.

The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.

The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.