Many if not most black/afro-american families derive from slaves owned by just a few white/caucasian Portis families. Some families may have acquired misspellings of the name such as Portes, Portice, etc.
The 1850 US Slave Schedule
The 1850 US Slave Schedule shows that there were 76 slaves owned by Portis families and they were distributed as follows:
Sons of Ira Portis (1777 – 1825):
Who
Number of slaves
David Y Portis (1814 – 1883) in Austin TX
10
Benjamin P Portis (1822 – 1878) in Sumter AL
24
Darius M Portis (1824 – 1896) in Sumter AL
15
S G (Samuel Goodwin) Portis (1812 – 1856) in Monoe AL
8
John W Portis (1818 – 1902) in Clarke AL
11
Owners that cannot be found in other records:
Who
Number of slaves
Mathew Portis (possibly Porter) in Jefferson TX
5
F G Portis (possibly Portes) in Norfolk VA
2
Joseph H Portis (possibly Portes) in Norfolk VA
1
The 1860 US Slave Schedule
By the 1860 Slave Schedule the number of slaves had increased to at least 202 and they were distributed as follows:
Sons of Ira Portis (1777 – 1825):
Who
Number of slaves
D Y (David Young) Portis (1814 – 1883) in Austin TX
11
D M (Darius Marsh) Portis (1824 – 1896) in Clarke MS
18
Edmond M Portis (1820 – 1893) in Clarke AL
24
John W Portis (1818 – 1902) in Clarke AL
35
S W (Solomon Wilder) Portis (1809 – 1872) in Wilcox AL
30
B P (Benjamin Person) Portis (1822 – 1878) (mispelled Portes) in Sumter AL
37
Other relatives:
Who
Number of slaves
Thomas J Portis (1827 – 1899) (son of Ira's cousin, Thomas) in Dallas AL
17
David H Portis (1830 – 1862) (son of S W Portis) in Wilcox AL
27
Epsey Portice (unknown relationship) in Washington TX