John Morton

Black-and-white portrait of a man with shoulder-length hair, wearing a high-collared shirt and a dark coat.

BORN – 1724 on the family farm in Calcon Hook (now Ridley Park), Chester, PA. Parents (Finish and Swedish ancestry) – John Morton, Sr. (b1683-d1725) and Maria Ellen Archer Morton (b1701-d1778). Nine Children – John Morton, Jr. (1724-1777), ___.

DIED – April 21, 1777 (age 52) at his home in Calcon Hook (now Ridley Park), Chester, PA, probably from tuberculosis. Religion – Anglican / Episcopalian. Buried – Old St. Paul’s Burying Ground (also known as the Old Swedish Burial Ground), Chester, PA.

APPEARANCE

FAMILY – Married – Anne Justice (b1732-d1798) in 1748. Twelve Children (Nine surviving to adulthood) – Aaron Morton (b1751-d1839), Sketchley Morton (b1753-d1795), Jacob Morton (b1753-___), Mary Morton Justice (b1754-d1789), John Morton (b1755-___), Sarah Morton Currie (b1759-___), Elizabeth Morton Wakefield (b1760-d1845), Lydia Morton Bibb (b1761-d1778), Ann Morton Davis (b1766-d1806), Rebecca Morton (___).

OCCUPATION – FARMER, SURVEYOR, LAWYER, JUDGE, LEGISLATOR. Home schooled, little formal education. Member of the Continental Congress representing Pennsylvania from 1774 to 1777.

AT SIGNING – Age 51 at signing. Congress began the debate on a resolution for independence in June 1776, and the Pennsylvania delegation was split, with Benjamin Franklin and James Wilson in favor of declaring independence, and John Dickinson and Robert Morris opposed. Morton was uncommitted until July 1, when he sided with Franklin and Wilson. When the final vote was taken on July 2, Dickinson and Morris abstained, allowing the Pennsylvania delegation to support the resolution of independence without dissent.

AFTER SIGNING – First Signer to die, eight months after signing on August 2, 1776. As a result of his vote for independence, friends, neighbors and even relatives turned against him. Became very ill early in 1777. As he lay dying, he predicted – “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 have ever rendered to my country.” His wife and family had to flee their home as the British approached after the Battle of Brandywine.

HISTORIC SITES

Gravesite - St. Paul’s Burying Ground, Chester, PA (1702). Located on 3rd Street, east of the Avenue of the States, Chester, PA 19103. The roadside historical marker reads – “OLD SWEDISH BURIAL GROUND - Site of first St. Paul's Episcopal Church, built in 1702. The grave of John Morton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, is located just south of here.”

Birthplace – Marker located at 420 East Ridley Avenue, Ridley Park, NW of Essington. The roadside historical marker reads – “JOHN MORTON (1724-1777) – Site of the birthplace of John Morton (1724-1777), signer of the Declaration of Independence. As a Delegate to the Continental Congress, his ballot, with that of Franklin, and James Wilson, committed Pennsylvania to the cause of independence by one vote.”

PA Homestead – Morton Homestead State Park, Prospect Park, PA (1698). Located at 100 Lincoln Avenue, Prospect Park, Delaware County, PA. The roadside historical marker reads – “MORTON HOMESTEAD – Begun about 1654 by Morton Mortonson, ancestor (grandfather) of John Morton, Pennsylvania signer of the Declaration in 1776.” Mortonson was an immigrant from Finland when the area was part of the New Sweden Colony.

Courthouse – Colonial Courthouse, Chester, PA (1724). Located at the Avenue of the States Street below 5th Street, Chester, PA. The roadside historical marker reads – COLONIAL COURTHOUSE - Georgian Colonial design. Built in 1724, restored in 1920. In use for Chester County till 1786, for Delaware County, 1789-1851. Later used as City Hall. Oldest public building in continuous use in U.S.”

A historic graveyard with small headstones, a white obelisk monument, and a statue of a woman in front of a red brick building with flags in the background.

Gravesite of John Morton, Old St. Paul’s Cemetery, Chester, PA (1702).

Located on 3rd Street, east of the Avenue of the States, Chester, PA 19103.

The cemetery is also known as the Old Swedish Burying Ground. John Morton is buried under the column at the top center of the picture above. The building in the background is the historic Delaware County Bank. On the north face of the column it states - "John Morton being censured by some of his friends for his boldness in giving his casting vote for the Declaration of Independence, his prophetic spirit dictated from his death bed the following message to them - ‘Tell them they will live to see the hour when they shall acknowledge it to have been the most glorious service I ever rendered to my country."