Jackson Morton

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Jackson Morton

| image = JacksonMorton.jpg

| office = Deputy from Florida
to the Provisional Congress
of the Confederate States

| term_start = February 4, 1861

| term_end = February 17, 1862

| predecessor = New constituency

| successor = Constituency abolished

| jr/sr1 = United States Senator

| state1 = Florida

| term_start1 = March 4, 1849

| term_end1 = March 3, 1855

| alongside1 = {{unbulleted list| David Yulee 1849–1851 | Stephen Mallory 1851–1855}}

| predecessor1 = James Westcott

| successor1 = David Yulee

| birth_date = {{birth date|1794|08|10}}

| birth_place = Spotsylvania County, Virginia, US

| death_date = {{death date and age|1874|11|20|1794|08|10}}

| death_place = Santa Rosa County, Florida, US

| party = Whig

| relations = Jeremiah Morton (brother)

| alma_mater = {{unbulleted list| Washington College|College of William & Mary}}

| signature = Signature of Jackson Morton (1794–1874).png

}}

Jackson Morton (August 10, 1794 – November 20, 1874) was an American politician. A member of the Whig Party, he represented Florida as a U.S. Senator from 1849 to 1855. He also served as a Deputy from Florida to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1862.

Early life and education

Morton was born in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. He was the brother of Jeremiah Morton, a U.S. Representative from Virginia. Jackson Morton attended Washington College (present-day Washington and Lee University) and the College of William & Mary. He moved to Santa Rosa County, Florida, in 1820 and engaged in the lumber business.

Political career

In 1836, Morton became a member of the Florida Territorial Legislative Council and served as its president in 1837. In 1838, he was a delegate to the state constitutional convention for the first Florida Constitution. He was a United States Navy agent in Pensacola from 1841 to 1845. In 1848, he was a presidential elector on the Whig Party ticket. Morton was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1848. He served in the Senate from 1849 to 1855 when he was no longer a candidate for reelection and resumed his lumber business.

As the division over slavery grew between northern and southern states, Morton became active in the development of the Confederacy. On November 30, 1860, he was chosen to represent Santa Rosa County as a delegate of the Florida Secession Convention in Tallahassee. On January 7, 1861, he was appointed to be part of a twelve-person committee to prepare an Ordinance of Secession for Florida.[http://www.civilwarhome.com/Florida1.htm Florida In The Civil War, Chapter 1] Morton and George Taliaferro Ward attempted to have the ordinance amended so that Florida would not secede until Georgia and Alabama seceded and so that popular ratification would be required. They were overruled on January 8, 1861, and the ordinance went to a vote as planned.[http://www.coolchange.net/archives/january.htm Freedom First] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060202223803/http://www.coolchange.net/archives/january.htm |date=February 2, 2006 }} Morton voted in favor of secession and, on January 10, 1861, by a vote of 62–7, Florida became the third state to leave the United States.

On January 17, 1861, Morton was appointed to be a delegate to the Montgomery Convention for constructing a provisional Confederate government. On February 4, 1861, the delegates met and drafted the Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States which was signed by Morton and the rest of the delegates four days later. The delegates at this convention became the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States. He served for the duration of the Provisional Congress and, in the month following the Provisional Constitution, he also signed its successor, the Confederate States Constitution. Morton and Augustus Maxwell were the only people to represent Florida in both the United States Congress and the Confederate States Congress.

Later life and death

Jackson Morton returned to Santa Rosa County and died at his home, "Mortonia", on November 22, 1874. He was interred there in a private cemetery.

References

External links

[http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/morton.html#945.65.92 Jackson Morton] at The Political Graveyard
{{CongBio|M001015}}

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{{U.S. Senator box|state=Florida|class=3|alongside=David Yulee 1849–1851
Stephen Mallory 1851–1855|years=1849–1855|before=James Westcott|after=David Yulee}}

{{succession box|title=Deputy from Florida to the
Provisional Congress of the Confederate States|years=1861–1862|before=New constituency|after=Constituency abolished}}

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Category:1794 births

Category:1874 deaths

Category:College of William & Mary alumni

Category:Deputies and delegates to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States

Category:Florida Whigs

Category:Members of the Florida Territorial Legislature

Category:People from Spotsylvania County, Virginia