My Genealogy Hound

Thomas B. Morton was born in Hopkinsville, Ky., on February 22, 1843. His father, Peter F. Morton, at that time a shoemaker, was a native of Kentucky, and his mother, whose maiden name was Maria L. Allen, was a native of Christian County, in the same State. They were married in Hopkinsville on October 31, 1837. The family moved to Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, Ark., in the spring of 1850, where the father engaged in the grocery business, and conducted it with some degree of success until the fall of 1852, when he was elected sheriff of his county. He was re-elected in 1854, and died about the middle of his second term, on August 10, 1855. His widow, Maria L., was married to Mr. R. B. Steele, in Pine Bluff, on February 19, 1857. Mr. Steele died on July 12, 1861, and Mrs. Steele has since then remained a widow. She is now living in the city of Pine Bluff with her daughter, Mrs. C. A., wife of Capt. L. P. Drake, and sister of the subject of this sketch. To R. B. and M. L. Steele one child was born, a girl, and she died in childhood. To P. F. and M. L. Morton nine children were born, and the only ones now surviving are Thomas B. Morton and the daughter with whom the mother is living, all the others having died in childhood, except Samuel A., whose death is mentioned later on in this sketch. After the family settled in Pine Bluff, Thomas B. enjoyed the benefits of such schools as the village afforded until the death of his father, which occurred when the boy was twelve years of age. Since then a term of two months is the limit of his school opportunities. He entered the printing office of the Pine Bluff American in the early part of the year 1856, and remained with it and its successor, the Jefferson Enterprise, until the death of the last-named paper, in the summer of 1858. In the spring of 1859 he set in to serve an apprenticeship of three years at the carpenter’s trade with G. W. and W. T. Hawley; but in the latter part of the summer of 1861, a short time prior to the expiration of his term, he engaged to enlist in the Southern army, in what was afterward John M. Bradley’s regiment. By the consent of his employers, this terminated his apprenticeship. Before he was mustered into service his step-father died, and he cancelled the engagement that he might remain at home with his mother. His brother, Samuel, in the spring of 1861, enlisted in the State service for one year, with the Jefferson Guards. In the spring of 1862, believing that Sam would soon return, he enlisted in the Southern army, in Capt. Bead Fletcher’s company. In this belief he was mistaken, for at the expiration of his term, Sam enlisted for three years, or during the war, in the Confederate service, and was killed at the battle of Shiloh. Thomas B. remained in the service but four months, during which time he was in no engagements. Upon being discharged on account of ill health, he returned to his home in Pine Bluff, where he remained until the occupation of that place by the Federals, in 1864. To avoid taking the oath of allegiance required by the Federal authorities, he then went outside of the lines, and lived in the home of his aunt, Mrs. Jane Harding, until the summer of 1865, when he went back in the lines and engaged in the occupation of clerking until the close of the war, part of the time with a sutler in an Illinois Federal regiment. In 1866 he became joint owner with Mr. J. L. Bowers of the office of the Pine Bluff Dispatch, and for some time assisted in the publication of that paper. He then entered the law office of Mr. H. R. Withers in the spring of 1868; was admitted to the bar in the latter part of that year, and moved to Grant County, Ark., on July 29, 1869, where he has continued to reside, mostly, as now, in Sheridan, the county seat. The law not affording sufficient income, in the fall of 1871 he engaged in the mercantile business with Mr. Francis Posey, and bought the entire business in the latter part of the year 1873. In 1874 the profits of a former successful business were largely scattered among a farming people; and, in consequence of an almost unprecedented drought, they were afterward gathered together so slowly as to be available only for the support of his family. He then resumed the practice of law, but was elected, in September, 1876, to represent his county in the lower house of the General Assembly. In 1877 he again engaged in the mercantile business, this time with Daniel Johnson, and went from that business into the circuit clerk’s office, as deputy, in the winter of 1879; was elected clerk of the circuit court in September, 1880, in September, 1882, and again in September, 1884. He did not stand for re-election in 1886, but entered the mercantile firm of Bales, Morton & Wilson, and began business in November, 1886, which continued until November, 1888. In September, 1888, he was elected to the State senate from the Ninth district, which embraces the counties of Grant, Hot Spring and Saline. His term is four years. Having served at the session of 1889, he will also be a member of the senate of 1891. Mr. Morton was happily married to Miss Martha E., daughter of Francis and Lucinda Posey, on January 25, 1872, the issue of this union being nine children, the oldest of whom, a girl sixteen years of age, is now in attendance at the Millersburg Female College, at Millersburg, Ky. Mr. Morton is fond of English literature, and has some local reputation as a writer. The productions of his pen have appeared in the Arkansas Gazette, Arkansas Democrat, Pine Bluff Commercial and Pine Bluff Press-Eagle. He says that he has frequently tried to get into the charmed circle of the great magazines, but so far without success. He is hopeful that he may yet succeed in making a permanent contribution to American poetry. In the Christian religion he is a firm believer, and is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In Masonry, he has successively taken the Blue Lodge, Chapter and Council degrees, and has been secretary, Senior Warden and Worshipful Master of his lodge.