Geneva Thompson Porter

Courtesy Historical Society
of the Tonawandas

Geneva was born to the prominent Thompson family of North Tonawanda, known for their success in the banking and lumber industries. An only child, Thompson inherited her family's wealth, and in 1907, she married Peter A. Porter, Jr. Peter served as secretary of the Thompson estate after the untimely death of Geneva's father in 1916. The Porters held many elegant residences, including a home at 378 Goundry, North Tonawanda; an apartment in the Campanile on Delaware Avenue; and a seaside home called Stone Lea in Narragansett, Rhode Island.

Geneva and Peter spent much of the 1920s on ocean liners, traveling throughout Europe, North Africa, and the Far East. The Rare Book Room holds 3 of Geneva's diaries, describing her 1922, 1927, and 1929 European and North African excursions, covering some 81 cities in 15 countries. Often traveling with other local notables such as Mr. and Mrs. Paul A. Schoellkopf and John L. Clawson (H. Phelps’ father), her 1929 diary is distinguished by her description of her fortuitous meeting with F. Scott Fitzgerald on the ocean liner Conte Biancamano. Fitzgerald later wrote about this particular ocean trip in his short story "The Rough Crossing."

Geneva's travel diary, April 3-4, 1927

Peter died in 1951, and unfortunately, much of the Thompson estate would become depleted. Geneva would spend her last years in Carleton Nursing Home in Buffalo. She died May 31, 1971.