I have several Portees from Lawrence County, ILL who married distant cousins of mine. James J. Portee married Mahalia Broady (dau of William H. Broady and Louisa Anderson) in 1892. Lee Portee married Mahalia's sister Marietta Broady. It appears Lee and Marietta settled in Carrier Mills, ILL. Mary Portee married Abraham Lincoln Payne in 1892.

I also have Mitchell relatives buried in the Portee Cemetery in Lawrence County. These Mitchells descend from free blacks in North Carolina.

Are any of these names familiar to you?

Robert