Rob's Genealogy

Person Page 624

John Morton1,2,3,4,5,6,7

born 9 February 1730, died 1 December 1796

Family: Mary Elizabeth Anderson (born 9 November 1736, died 20 November 1822)

Facts and Notes

  • Title: Captain
  • Anecdote: Mary Elizabeth Anderson; Note that the order of children stated in Legrand's affidavit differs from the order listed in Henry Morton Woodson's "Historical Genealogy of the Woodsons and Their Connections." Although I believe Legrand might have more credibility because he was allegedly providing first-hand knowledge, Henry Woodson's dates have more specificity. As a result, I decided to use Henry Woodson's dates when they were available and "shoehorned" the remaining children as much as possible between those dates based on the birth order stated by Legrand.8
  • Birth: 9 February 1730; Farmville, Prince Edward County, Virginia, USABGO3,4,5,2,1
  • Marriage: 15 September 1750; Mary Elizabeth Anderson; Farmville, Prince Edward County, Virginia, USABGO; Mary Elizabeth Anderson was 14 years old when she married9,4,3,5
  • Military: Between 1755 and 1758; French and Indian War (see Person Note)10,11
  • Military: Between 19 February 1776 and 12 March 1777; US Revolutionary War (see Person Note)12,13,8,10,14,15
  • Death: 1 December 1796; Prince Edward County, Virginia, USABGO; Age: 664,3,2,1
  • Death: 19 December 1796; Prince Edward County, Virginia, USABGO; Age: 665
  • Note: John Morton served during the French and Indian War in his 20s and the Revolutionary War in his 40s.[1,2] He joined his uncle Obadiah Woodson’s company of Prince Edward County volunteer militia as a 1st Lieutenant, accompanying them on their ill-fated expedition against the Shawnee Indians late in the French and Indian War.[2] Following that endeavor, Governor Dinwiddie ordered him to join Major Andrew Lewis’s detachment of the 1st Virginia Regiment of Regulars, where he served for another six months. [1,2]. He remained in the militia after the war, achieving the rank of colonel by the start of the Revolutionary War. [2]

    On 19 February 1776, five months before the Declaration of Independence, John joined the Continental Army as a captain in the 4th Virginia Regulars [2,3,4]. He was with George Washington’s army when it crossed the Delaware River in late December 1776, subsequently defeating a Hessian force during the Battle of Trenton on 26 December and a British force during the Battle of Princeton on 3 January 1777.[2] Historian David McCollough credited that campaign for boosting the army’s morale and keeping it in the fight for independence. Stuart Gregg, in his book “A Crane’s Foot,” indicates Captain Morton remained with the regiment during the Battles of Brandywine (September 1777) and Germantown (October 1777) and its encampment at Valley Forge in the winter of 1777-1778. However, that is probably an error because his military records and the Historical Register of Officers in the Continental Army indicate that he resigned on 12 March 1777 and subsequently served as a Lieutenant Colonel of the Virginia Militia [3]; he also does not appear on the Valley Forge muster rolls.

    SOURCES:
    [1] Virginia Colonial Militias, 1651-1776
    [2] A Crane’s Foot
    [3] Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army
    [4] Va Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. XVII

    According to an affidavit by Josiah Legrand, who claims he knew the family well, John and Elizabeth Morton had 15 children in the following order: Charles, Elizabeth (who married Jacob Woodson), Hezekiah, James, Benjamin, Joseph, Josiah, Nathaniel, Mary (who married Obadiah Fuqua), Nancy (who married Carter Thompson), Sally (who married William Fuqua), John Archer, Richard Morton, Obadiah, and Ana Patsy. Josiah Legrand also states that Charles, Hezekiah, “Jacob” (note: there is no “Jacob” in his list of children - did he perhaps mean “Josiah”?), Nathaniel, Mary, Sally, and Richard had all passed away before his affidavit was signed on 19 August 1833. All these children, except Jacob and Richard, had their own offspring and survived into adulthood. (Revolutionary War Bounty Application)

Citations

  1. [S679] Ancestry.com, Global, Find A Grave Index for Burials at Sea and other Select Burial Locations, 1300s-Current, http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=FindAGraveGlobal&h=4898108&indiv=try, Record for Capt John Morton
  2. [S519] Ancestry.com, U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current, http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=FindAGraveUS&h=119274695&indiv=try, Record for Capt John Morton
  3. [S451] Ancestry.com, U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970, http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=sarmemberapps&h=1060690&indiv=try, SAR Membership Number: 97711; Application for Lawrence E Miller, Jr,; 14 Jan 1969, Descendant of Captains Hezekiah and John Morton
  4. [S451] Ancestry.com, U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970, http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=sarmemberapps&h=1072763&indiv=try, SAR Membership Number: 98748; Application for William Hasting Harris, II; 20 Oct 1969, Descendant of John Morton
  5. [S451] Ancestry.com, U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970, http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=sarmemberapps&h=1067227&indiv=try, SAR Membership Number: 98225; Application for William Corbin Marr; 22 Apr 1969, Descendant of Captain John Morton
  6. [S454] Woodson, Henry Morton, Historical Genealogy of the Woodsons and Their Connections, Woodson, Henry Morton. Historical Genealogy of the Woodsons and Their Connections. Memphis, Tennessee: H.M. Woodson, 1915.

    A copy of this book is available on Ancestry.com (see http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=15304), openlibrary.org (see https://openlibrary.org/books/OL1758627M/Historical_genealogy_of_the_Woodsons_and_their_connections), and Google Books (see http://books.google.com/books/about/Historical_genealogy_of_the_Woodsons_and.html?id=GuhfAAAAMAAJ)., Page 55
  7. [S609] Ancestry.com, North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000, http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=ContentPegFamilyHistories&h=1851997&indiv=try, Book Title: Lineage Book of the Charter Members of the DAR Vol 010, Record for Mary Anderson
  8. [S802] Revolutionary War Bounty Application, https://www.wikitree.com/photo/jpg/Morton-514-3, Morton, John: Petition for Bounty Land; Affidavit of Josiah Lagrand. A transcribed version of this petition was posted to Wikitree and accessed on 8 Apr 2020.
  9. [S454] Woodson, Henry Morton, Historical Genealogy of the Woodsons and Their Connections, Woodson, Henry Morton. Historical Genealogy of the Woodsons and Their Connections. Memphis, Tennessee: H.M. Woodson, 1915.

    A copy of this book is available on Ancestry.com (see http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=15304), openlibrary.org (see https://openlibrary.org/books/OL1758627M/Historical_genealogy_of_the_Woodsons_and_their_connections), and Google Books (see http://books.google.com/books/about/Historical_genealogy_of_the_Woodsons_and.html?id=GuhfAAAAMAAJ)., Page 56
  10. [S782] E. Stuart Gregg, Jr., A Crane’s Foot, https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/576361, pg. 339, 353
  11. [S833] William Armstrong Crozier, Virginia Colonial Militias, 1651-1776, pgs 18, A downloaded copy of the book is in the possession of Robert R. Reyes.
  12. [S366] Ancestry.com, U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970, http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=sarmemberapps&h=1067227&indiv=try, SAR Membership Number: 98225, Record for Captain John Morton
  13. [S781] Fold3 by Ancestry, https://www.fold3.com/image/23002474, NARA M881. Compiled service records of soldiers who served in the American Army during the Revolutionary War, 1775-1783. Record for John Morton.
  14. [S834] Francis Bernard Heitman, Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army, Pg. 404, A digital copy of this book is in the possession of Robert R. Reyes.
  15. [S849] Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. XVII, No. 3, July 1909, "Payroll of Captain John Morton's Company of Regulars, 4th Virginia, 1776," pgs. 305-308, A digital copy of this periodical is in the possession of Robert Reyes.