Vignetted post-mortem portrait albumen CDV. Columbiana, Ohio: G.G. Webb, 1872. Photographer’s description printed to mount verso which reads “Minnie & Adaline Porter/ The Murdered Children.” Photographer’s imprint printed to mount verso. Publisher’s copyright printed to mount recto. 

A chilling CDV view capturing the murdered bodies of Minnie & Adaline Porter, infamously slain by their father in 1872. Their bodies, resting beside each other,  look only as if they are tucked into bed, resting beside each other. This rare CDV captures the victims of a heinous crime, and the public spectacle which shocked Ohioans for decades.

In December of 1872, Ervin G. Porter, a Union Veteran residing in Columbiana County Ohio, disappeared into a room of his house with his two daughters, aged 1 and 3, with a hatchet in hand. The family residing in the house would hear “a pitiful cry” before rushing to the room, finding the bodies of the murdered children. Porter would flee the scene of the crime and be at large before being brought to trial nearly a year later. 

Ervin G. Porter joined Company C of the 24th Ohio Regiment in 1861, serving with distinction until the war’s end. After the war, he remarried for the second time, entering into business with his brother. While the surface details of Porter’s life indicate he was beginning a new life and family after the war, erratic behaviour would begin to concern Porter’s family. He began to fight with his brother, neighbors, clients, and family, resulting in a family member filing a complaint against Porter for assault. Unseen as a premonition for what was to come, on 12 December 1872, Porter would snap, committing an unfathomable crime against his children.

As his family and community members took the stand, testifying against Porter, much came to light about the character of the accused. Many, who had known him since he was a child, reported that he had always been odd, which they attributed to a first-cousin relationship between his parents as the cause. The accusations spread to Porter’s entire family, with many recounting the eventual dips into insanity that were experienced by his relatives; his own mother was accused of attempting to drown her own children while they were young.  

Porter was ultimately prosecuted for his actions and sentenced to life imprisonment. He received this sentencing with a reported disturbing coolness, marking his insanity to those witnessing the trial. Porter would pass away while serving his sentence in 1875. Nearing the end of his life, Porter would descend into complete maniacy, calling incessantly for his slain children, claiming they had been stolen away from him. 

Information regarding this chilling tale and CDV have been published in The Ohio Genealogical Society, Timeline: A Publication of the Ohio Historical Society, and Military Images. Copies of these periodicals are included with this item. 

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