My Genealogy Hound

John Morton, a prosperous farmer and miller of Barry County, Mo., was born in West Virginia in 1815. He is a son of William Morton, who was born in Chester County, Penn., on March 11, 1770. When a young man the latter removed to Preston County, W. Va., where he was afterward married to Elizabeth Harry, a native of Philadelphia, born in 1784. They became the parents of thirteen children, four of whom are now alive. William Morton was a farmer and miller by occupation. He died on December 30, 1864, and his wife died in April, 1854. John Morton is their fifth child. He was reared on his father’s farm in West Virginia, and was married in Pennsylvania, Fayette County, to Mary Harader, a native of Virginia, who was born in 1817. To their union have been born thirteen children, of whom Silas, Mary, Catharine, Amy, Caroline and Joshua are living. John Morton removed with his family from West Virginia to Indiana, and from the latter State to Iowa, where he remained about fourteen years, after which he came to Missouri, locating in Barry County. Here he erected a corn-mill and, later, a flouring mill. The mill is a water-power, and he has operated it in a very successful manner. He also owns the mills at Granby, Newton Co., Mo. After the death of his first wife he married in Newton County, Mo., Sarah G. Hines. Her parents were natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio, the father having been born in the former, and the mother in the latter State. They died in Arkansas and Wyoming Territory, respectively. Mrs. Morton was born in Linn County, Mo., in 1832, and by a former marriage is the mother of thirteen children. The family are communicants of the German Baptist Church. In politics Mr. Morton is a Republican.