Morton, John, 1725-1777

John Morton was born in Ridley, PA in 1724. In his youth he was noted for his quick intelligence and his habit of hard work. His stepfather, a well educated surveyor from England, gave him a sound education in practical matters and in surveying. In 1756 Morton was elected to the Provincial Assembly, and was elected president of the Assembly in 1775. He attended the Stamp Act Congress in 1765. He filled numerous civil offices in Pennsylvania, including Justice of the Peace, High Sheriff, Presiding Judge of the General Court and the Court of Common Pleas. In 1774 he was appointed Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. That year he was elected to the Continental Congress where he was a member of several committees and chairman of the committee which reported the Articles of Confederation. He died soon after that report was presented to Congress, at the age of 53.

<p>John Morton (1725 – April 1, 1777) was a farmer, surveyor, and jurist from the Province of Pennsylvania and a Founding Father of the United States. As a delegate to the Continental Congress during the American Revolution, he was a signatory to the Continental Association and the United States Declaration of Independence. Morton provided the swing vote that allowed Pennsylvania to vote in favor of the United States Declaration of Independence. Morton chaired the committee that wrote the Articles of Confederation.</p>

<p>Morton was born in Ridley Township, in Chester County, present-day Delaware County, in 1725, the exact month is unknown. His father, John Morton (Senior), was Finnish, who originated from Finland, then a part of the Realm of Sweden, with his great-grandfather, Martti Marttinen, or Måns Mårtensson (name alternated for Swedish military records, later anglicized as Morton), himself a native of Juva, Finland, who had arrived in the Swedish colony of New Sweden in 1654. His mother, Mary Archer, was also of Finnish descent.</p>

<p>Morton was the only son of his father who died in 1724 before Morton was born. When Morton was about seven years old, his mother married John Sketchley, a farmer of English ancestry, who educated Morton. About 1748, Morton married Ann Justis, the great-granddaughter of Finnish colonists to New Sweden. The couple would have eight children. Morton was an active member of the Anglican Church in Chester County.</p>

<ul><b>RACES</b>
<li>12/31/1775 PA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1774 PA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>09/01/1774 PA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>10/06/1765 Delegate to the Stamp Act Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
</ul>

MORTON, John, a Delegate from Pennsylvania; born near the old Morris Ferry (now the Darby Creek Bridge), Ridley Township, Delaware County, Pa., in 1724; attended the common school for about three months and received some tutoring in surveying; a land surveyor for many years; became justice of the peace in 1757; member of the colonial general assembly 1756-1766 and 1769-1775 and served as speaker 1771-1775; member of the Stamp Act Congress in 1765; high sheriff 1766-1770; appointed as a judge in 1770, serving as president judge of the court of general sessions and common pleas of the county, and in April 1774 was appointed an associate justice of the supreme court of appeals of Pennsylvania; member of the Continental Congress 1774-1776; was a signer of the Declaration of Independence; died in Ridley Park, Delaware County, Pa., in April 1777; interment in St. Paul's Burial Ground, Chester, Pa.