Marcus Morton
| Marcus Morton | |
|---|---|
Portrait by Robert Gordon Hardie, 1900
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| 16th & 18th Governor of Massachusetts | |
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In office January 17, 1843 – January 9, 1844 |
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| Lieutenant | Henry H. Childs |
| Preceded by | John Davis |
| Succeeded by | George N. Briggs |
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In office January 18, 1840 – January 7, 1841 |
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| Lieutenant | George Hull |
| Preceded by | Edward Everett |
| Succeeded by | John Davis |
| Acting Governor of Massachusetts | |
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In office February 6, 1825 – May 26, 1825 |
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| Lieutenant | Himself |
| Preceded by | William Eustis |
| Succeeded by | Levi Lincoln Jr. |
| 12th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts | |
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In office May 31, 1824 – May 26, 1825 |
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| Governor |
William Eustis (1824–1825) Himself (1825) |
| Preceded by | Levi Lincoln Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Thomas L. Winthrop |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 10th district |
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In office March 4, 1817 – March 4, 1821 |
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| Preceded by | Laban Wheaton |
| Succeeded by | Francis Baylies |
| Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives | |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
February 19, 1784 or December 19, 1784 East Freetown, Massachusetts |
| Died | February 6, 1864 (aged 79) Taunton, Massachusetts |
| Political party |
Democratic-Republican Democratic Free Soil |
| Spouse(s) | Charlotte Hodges |
| Children |
Marcus Morton Nathaniel Morton |
| Alma mater | Brown University |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Signature |  |
Marcus Morton (1784 – February 6, 1864) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician from Taunton, Massachusetts. He served two terms as Governor of Massachusetts and several months as Acting Governor following the death in 1825 of William Eustis. He served for 15 years as an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, all the while running unsuccessfully as a Democrat for governor. He finally won the 1839 election, acquiring exactly the number of votes required for a majority win over Edward Everett. After losing the 1840 and 1841 elections, he was elected in a narrow victory in 1842.
The Massachusetts Democratic Party was highly factionalized, which contributed to Morton's long string of defeats. His brief periods of ascendancy, however, resulted in no substantive Democratic-supported reforms, since the dominant Whigs reversed most of the changes enacted during his terms. An opponent of the extension of slavery, he split with longtime friend John C. Calhoun over that issue, and eventually left the party for the Free Soil movement. He was considered by Martin Van Buren as a potential vice presidential running mate in 1848.
Morton was born in East Freetown, Massachusetts in 1784, the only son of Nathaniel and Mary (Cary) Morton. Sources report his day of birth to be either February 19 or December 19. Morton's gravestone uses the February 19 date. His father was a farmer who was politically active, serving for a time on the Governor's Council. Morton received his early education at home, and was placed at age fourteen in the academy of Reverend Calvin Chaddock at Rochester, Massachusetts.
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