Need Help with Research of Archives

The memory of John Morton has faded even more than his signature on the original Declaration of Indepedence. He was the first of the signers to die, and since then his name has been largely been forgotten.

I'll be visiting the National Archives in Washington, DC in April and would like any recommendations on how to best research pre-1776 documents kept there. John Morton is my relative and I'm trying to do research on why he changed his mind at the last minute and decided to vote in favor of independence; even though he was sent by his Tory constituents to vote no. He was from Chester Pennsylvania and likely corresponded with Benjamin Franklin and the Pennsylvania delegation about his intensions. His last minute change of mind is said to have been the deciding vote.

My aunt visited Independence Hall in Philadelphia, and she asked the Park Ranger if knew any thing about John Morton. The ranger said he never heard of him. I visited Prospect Park in Pennsylania and John Morton's home had been demolished. The Morton Homestead which was built by Morton's ancestor prior to 1690 is now closed I understand. Not a very fitting tribute to someone who gave up so much for his country. On his death bed he said. "Tell them that they will live to see the hour when they shall acknowledge it [the signing] to have been the most glorious service that I rendered to my country." But the memory of his sacrifice is largely forgotten, and there are few Mortons left to help do research. So I'd like to learn as much about him as possible before his memory fades completely.

I've read articles about him in the following places: Biography on US History.org ; Biography on ColonialHall.com ; Biographic sketch at U.S, Congress website ; Ruth L.Springer, John Morton in Contemporary Records, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1967 ; Virtual Finland About Morton and other emigrant Finns ; Library of congress: The American Finns ; Mårten Mårtensson and his Morton Family by Dr. Peter Stebbins Craig

However I've not read any discussion or congecture on why he changed his mind at such high cost, to himself and his family. I'm looking for any letters to/from John Morton or the Archer family. Any letters/documents to/from Ben Franklin or members of the Pennsylvannia delegation mentioning John Morton.

Interestingly enough during my travels in Finland I found that John Morton is much better known there, than in America. I know it's a long very long shot, but I feel I need to keep looking for information about him. And any help would be greatly appreciated.

Interesting fella! Thanks for inspiring me to do a little looking into his life.

I thought the article below was a fairly concise summary about Morton and his wife that might provide other FReepers with some basic info.

Good luck on the research!

Anne Justice Morton
1729-1818
Wife of John Morton

When Anne Justis married John Morton in 1745, or 1746, she probably had little idea of the honors the future held in store for her youthful husband, even though he was already looked upon in their little community as a young man with a promising future.

They were of neighboring farmer folk in Chester County, now Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Both were of Swedish extraction, their forebears having been of that tide of immigration which poured into the "lower counties" about the opening of the eighteenth century. John Morton cultivated his own patrimonial acres, but was able to alternate his farm labors with surveying new lands, having been taught that branch of mathematics along with "accompting" by his step-father, John Sketchley, an English gentleman who married the Widow Morton while John was yet an infant in arms. We find nothing more of Anne Justis for .many years. Her husband, grown wealthy, seems to have won the respect and confidence of his neighbours, for he wax commissioned as Justice of the Peace in 1764, and within a few months elected to the Provincial Legislature, of which body he was Speaker for a number of years. Later he was High Sheriff of the county for three years, afterward presiding judge of the Provincial Court, and then one of the judges of the Supreme Court.

During all these years Anne Justis was looking after their estate and rearing their family of children, of whom there were eight, three sons and five daughters. In 1774, Mr. Morton was sent as delegate to the Congress of Colonies in Philadelphia, and was re-elected in 1775 and again in 1776. It was the vote of John Morton, when the delegates of Pennsylvania were equally divided, that broke the tie and threw the voice of the delegation for independence. The labors and responsibilities of his career through this trying period broke down his health, and in April 1777, he died in the fifty-fourth year of his age.

The surviving children of John Morton were as follows: Aaron, the eldest, married Frances, daughter of Richard and Elizabeth Paschall Annitt. They lived in Delaware County for several years and afterward emigrated to Ohio. Sketchley, the second child, became a major in the Pennsylvania line of the Continental Army; he married Rebecca, daughter of John and Mary Neidermar Taylor and died in 1795. Dr. John became a surgeon in the Continental Army and died while a prisoner of war on the British prison ship Falmouth in New York harbor. The late John S. Morton of Springfield had in his possession a letter written by Dr. Morton to his father while he was a prisoner, in which he said they were "almost starved and could eat brickbats if they could get them." He died unmarried. Concerning Sarah and Lydia, nothing definite can be learned. Elizabeth died of consumption, unmarried. Mary married Charles Justis of Kingessing, and Ann, the youngest, married, in 1784, Captain John Davis of Chester County, who had fought through the Revolutionary War as an officer of the Pennsylvania line.

When the British Army passed through the neighborhood of his late residence, after the Battle of Brandywine, they despoiled his widow and children of property to the value of over one thousand dollars. Mr. and Mrs. Morton were members of St. James Church in the town of Chester, and their remains are said to be interred in the old churchyard.

Source: Wives of the Signers: The Women Behind the Declaration of Independence, by Harry Clinton Green and Mary Wolcott Green, A.B. (Aledo, TX: Wallbuilder Press, 1997). Orignaly Published in 1912 as volume 3 of The Pioneer Mothers of America: A Record of the More Notable Women of the Early Days of the Country, and Particularly of the Colonial and Revolutionary Periods (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons). Pages 192-195. (Some minor spelling changes may have been made.)

You might want to also plan to spend a couple days at local libraries. He resided in Chester which is now Delaware County but was at that time Chester County with the county seat being Media. Check out the courthouse records. A good starting point would be to plan a couple days visiting the local libraries before heading to D.C. These libraries can be a wonderland of genealogical info.

Before you go, make sure you've got all your records in order and have exhausted all internet leads. Remember, don't take anything from the internet or from any other source for fact without actually checking it out yourself - that's the reason for going to the local sources which have the original records.

Just because your aunt didn't have any luck with the park rangers doesn't mean you won't. You have to find just the right one and hope he/she is having a good day. We lucked on to one in Jamestown who let us back into their private archives to research our Dodson line.

Check out the on-line genealogical sites (there are free ones) and correspond with some posters who seem to have a handle on Morton. They might already have the answers your seeking or can give you leads where to locate the original documents.

Another avenue would be to contact the Archives and ask if they would recommend someone who would do some research (for a fee) to try to locate any papers for you before April. This would help save you time and if they did find something you would know exactly where to place your hand on it quickly once you do get there.

Thank you for the information! I'm sure she never guessed she would have to suffer so when she married John Morton.

I was aware of some reports that their son died as a prisoner of war. But I wasn't able to verify it historically. I did find this in Martin's "History of Chester": Dr. John Morton, the third son of John Morton, the signer of the Declaration, was a surgeon in the Continental service, was taken prisoner, and while so detained he died on the British prison-ship "Falmouth," in New York harbor. "The late John S. Morton, of Springfield, had for some time a letter in his possession, written by Dr. Morton to his father while he was a prisoner, in which he said they were almost starved, and could eat brick-bats if they could get them."

In sure with John Morton's death, dealing with the War, the death of her son, and confiscation of some of their property, Anne Justice Morton suffered a great deal. I wonder if she wrote about this in her letters. I wonder if any of them have been found...

Here's a reply I received from the National Archives...

Thank you for your recent inquiry concerning John Morton, which has
been referred to ALIC: Archives Library Information Center. Morton did
not leave much in the way of personal papers, at least as far as I can
locate. The entry for him in the Dictionary of American Biography only
provides the following information for sources:

"[Sources include: Minutes of the Provincial Council of Pa., vols. IX
and X (1852); Pa. Archives, 2 ser. IX (1880); M. A. Leach, "John
Morton," Am. Scandinavian Rev., July-Aug. 1915; J. H. Martin, Chester (and Its
Vicinity), Delaware County, in Pa. (1877); Geo. Smith, Hist. of
Delaware County, Pa. (1862); H. D. Paxson, Sketch and Map of a Trip from
Phila. to Tinicum Island, Delaware County, Pa. (1926). There are brief
biographies of Morton in the various works on the Signers, though they are
for the most part mere eulogies of character. Since there were several
contemporaries by the same name, no portrait of Morton, the Signer, is
considered authentic. His tombstone in St. Paul's churchyard at Chester,
Pa. and the tablet to his memory in the Independence Chamber of the
State House in Philadelphia give 1724 as the year of birth, but it may
have taken place early in 1725, N.S.]"

The Journals of the Continental Congress are available in full-text,
and searchable, on the Library of Congress' Century of Lawmaking web site
at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwjc.html . A search on the name
Morton does retrieve a number of citations that may be of use to you.

I hope that this information is of use to you. Once again, thank you
for
your interest in the National Archives and Records Administration.

Sincerely,
National Archives and Records Administration

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