[2] His mother died in 1825, which meant the family was broken up and Porter worked at a number of small newspapers before arriving in New York City in the early 1830s.

In December 1831, Porter published the first issue of a new newspaper devoted to covering sports and other recreational activities, which he called The Spirit of the Times.

Porter focused on selling his paper in the south and west of the United States, and emphasized subjects of use to his readers, such as cattle breeding, farm methods, books of interest, as well as sports.

[5] Porter was interested in reforming the sport of horse racing, and expended much effort in the newspaper trying to bring together horsemen in the various parts of the country.

He also edited two collections of short stories from the frontier, The Big Bear of Arkansas in 1846 and A Quarter Race in Kentucky and Other Sketches in 1847.

[1] Besides the sporting interests, the Spirit was involved in the emergence of American literature, especially the "tall tale" form of humor.

[4] The Panic of 1837 hurt the Spirit's circulation, but Porter responded by buying out his main competition, the American Turf Register and Sporting Magazine[1] and moved it to New York City.

[1] In 1845, Porter served as secretary for the New York Jockey Club, during the famous match race between the fillies Fashion and Peytona at the Union Course on May 15, 1845.

[9] Although the Spirit and the American Turf Register were known for their coverage of horse racing, Porter's main sporting interest for himself was fishing.

[8] The journalist and historian Frank Luther Mott wrote that "Porter undoubtedly did much to give American sports a respectable standing.