He died near Batesville, most probably at Oil Trough.
Jim, you mentioned that a notation on the CSR card that records his death states "See voucher of Burr & Co.," and you thought that the company may have been the place where Col. Porter's coffin was purchased. That is a good assumption. I know from the Emily Weaver (of Batesville) letters and materials that I have been working on, that Edwin T. Burr, Emily's uncle, owned the largest general merchandising store there. Oil Trough was a smaller community, nearby, but it did have several buildings large enough to serve as make-shift hospitals - the Edwin R. McGuire plantation mansion and the Oil Trough Academy. Burr and McGuire were among the wealthiest men in the county.

A McGuire family researcher, Betty Jo Wilson of Columbia, Mo. stated that Col. Porter "withdrew his troops to Batesville, Arkansas only to die from his wounds about a month later. He was buried in a shallow grave in the Edwin R. Mcguire family cemetery just across the White River from Batesville. The site now has houses built on top of it."

However, Edwin McGuire and family are buried in Oaklawn Cemetery in Batesville. Perhaps there was an early plantation cemetery in which the Kelly-Craig ancestors of Mrs. McGuire were buried since she inherited the Oil Trough land.

This, from the diary of seventeen- year-old Loutie Maxfield of Batesville, one of Emily's friends, is interesting on the burial of Colonel Joseph W. Porter.

Griffith and Britton, "The Lucretia Noland Maxfield Journal, 1863-1864." The Independence County Chronicle. Vol XXXV, Number 3 & 4, April - July, 1994, pg. 14.

Note: "Loutie" Maxfield began keeping her journal on April 6, 1863.

APRIL 1863 Wednesday 29 - Night. I have just come from preaching. Parson Mitchell preached at our school house. I was so tickled. I was sitting by Lizzie Goodwin and her petticoat came down and she told me and that set me to laughing. I believe the old scratch [devil] was right at my elbow making me think of funny things anyhow. One of the soldiers told me that Parson Mitchell had to speak over Col. Porter's grave & Col. Shelby took him aside and told him that if he spoke over fifteen minutes he would hand him as sure as he was alive, and whenever I looked at his long solemn face I couldn't help thinking of it. He kept shaking his finger at me , too, and I don't know how many other things.

IDENTIFICATIONS of Persons Mentioned in the Loutie Maxfield Diary:

page 58

MITCHELL, Parson - There is mention of Rev. J. M. Minchell, who was with Shelby's division from the beginning (Edwards, p. 278)

My note: Source noted is Edwards, John N. Shelby And His Men: Or, The War In the West. Cincinnati: Miami Printing and Publishing Co., 1867

page 338 -To three preachers the Confederates of Missouri owe much—the Reverend John R. Bennett, the Reverend J. M. Minchell, and the Reverend Robert Renniok.

page 339 -Mr. Rennick and Mr. Minchell were with Shelby's division from the beginning to the end, and preached, prayed, encouraged, exhorted, and fought. ...A cool Christian was brother Minchell, too, and went right up to the front as brave as the best of them.

page 60

PORTER, COL. James Porter [My note: An error. It is obviously Col. Jos. C. Porter that Loutie is talking about in her journal. The editors have misidentified him as another Civil War soldier by the name of James Porter who is buried in Oaklawn Cem. in Batesville. # 29 - Jas. W. Porter ,March 31, 1842/March 27, 1863, born Rappahannock County, VA. I believe this error is discovered, but possibly compounded in Making Sense of the Civil War in Batesville-Jacksonport and Northeast Arkansas 1861-1874, by Freeman K. Mobley, Batesville, AR: G. P. Publishers,2005, page 105-106. After quoting Lutie's diary entry of Feb. 29th, Mobley says, " Col. J. C. Porter was mortally wounded during a heroic charge at the battle of Hartville, Missouri. He is buried in Batesville's Oaklawn Cemetery." [My note- He has the right person that Loutie was talking about, but the only Porter that is listed in that cemetery's burials is James Porter.... unless the colonel's grave is unmarked today, the painted pine board having never been replaced with a more permanent marker.]

This adds a little to the picture, too,

Making Sense of the Civil War in Batesville-Jacksonport and Northeast Arkansas 1861-1874, by Freeman K. Mobley, Batesville, AR: G. P. Publishers,2005, page 94.
Chap. 11, JANUARY - APRIL, 1863
"Marmaduke... to preserve his soldiers from a surprise enemy attack, he needed to put the White River between them and the Union Cavalry. As soon as possible he moved further south, across the river. Shelby's Brigade found a campsite just a few miles from Batesville on the farm of Shelby's cousin, F. W. Desha.
Marmaduke took the balance of the troops and set up a camp on the McGuire Plantation near Oil Trough. The camp was within striking distance of Jacksonport....The main difference was that Marmaduke's camps were on the south side of White River, whereas Curtis' had been largely on the north side of the river."

Finally, one more source for the Batesville area being the place.

SHELBY COUNTY, MISSOURI 1884, Written by Shelby Countians , Shelby County Historical Society.
page 766 - At Hartville, in Wright county, on January 11, 1863, a considerable Federal force was encountered and defeated, although at severe loss to the Confederates, who had many valuable officers killed and mortally wounded. Among the latter was Col. Porter. While leading a charge he was badly shot, but managed to accompany the army into Arkansas, and died from his wounds near Batesville, February 18, 1863.

Sue B. Moore