[4] Porter's family moved to what was then the nearby village of Rockville (now part of Vernon, Connecticut) by the early 1850s.

In May 1870, Porter was among eight art students whose drawings, as part of a large school exhibition, were given special mention in the New York Times.

[4] Porter received widespread praise and attention for his work during his four years at the National Academy, earning the support of prominent benefactors such as Frederic Edwin Church and famous author Mark Twain, who lived in Hartford.

[4][6][1] In the fall of 1873, Porter studied art with Joseph Oriel Eaton, a prominent portrait and landscape painter, for a year.

Porter's traditional academic art education made him a standout compared to the many self-taught artists who had recently moved to Hartford.

A number of his paintings of fruit were not typical of the period, as they did not include tableware, porcelain, and glassware and unusual touches such as insects.

He was very interested in nature, which is reflected in his paintings of butterflies, dead birds, insects, and plants.

In 1879, his work gained the attention of influential landscape painter Frederic Edwin Church.

He declared at the time that he would focus his work primarily on landscapes, except for commissioned still life paintings.

[1] On March 19, 1881, the Hartford Daily Courant reported that Porter was planning to move to Europe for two years to study art.

After an art tour of London, he traveled to Paris, with letters of introduction from Hartford's most prominent citizens, including Samuel Clemens, the author known as Mark Twain.

He enrolled in the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs, where he studied until 1884, when he ran out of money and returned to Hartford.

His new work was praised by the Hartford Evening Post, but the auction did not get the attendance or make the sales that Porter had hoped for.