6.4) Samuel Morton (1800 — 1854/59) was the second son of Samuel Morton and Rebecca Broome.  Never very prosperous, he moved from Maryland to Kentucky and then Arkansas where his brothers had also moved. The next generation of his descendants lived mostly in Arkansas.

Samuel’s date of birth in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, is calculated only from the 1850 census in which he reports his age as 50.  In his young adulthood, he had already received a partial inheritance from his father, who in his will of 1832 wrote that to Samuel “I have given money and other property but it does not amount to a full child’s part” and then proposed that the other sons compensate him.

Later census reports suggest that two of his daughters were born in the 1830s in either Illinois or Missouri, but by 1840, he, his brother George and his sister Arabella were living in Daviess County, Kentucky.  There the federal census records Samuel with a wife, and a son and two daughters (all the children 10 years of age or younger), and no slaves.  He was living two houses away from Thomas Field, whom his sister Arabella would marry later that year.

In the 1850 Daviess County census, his family includes:

• Morton Saml 50 Farmer, born in MD
• Morton Mary A. 41, born in MD
• Morton Mary A. 16, born in MO      (attending school during the year)
• Morton Saml. 9, born in KY
• Morton Jane 6, born in KY
• Morton Arabella 1, born in KY
• Morton Saml. Ag. H. E. Morton  1,872

Although described as a farmer, no real estate value is listed with Samuel as head of household. Instead there is the unusual listing of him as agent for his brother Henry Edwin Morton, with the real estate value of $1872. What Samuel had done with his inheritance is unclear, but the land in Henry Edwin Morton’s name is possibly the land which George H. Morton and wife sold to H.E. Morton in 1846. If it is correct that Samuel’s daughter Mary Ann was born in “Mo.” in 1834 (but possibly a mistake for “Md.”), then we would want to explain how he got there before moving to Kentucky. It is possible that Missouri is correct since the 1880 census reports Mary Ann’s younger sister Betty (curiously missing from this census) was born in Missouri around 1840, although the 1860 census reports Betty as born in Illinois in 1838.

Samuel was still on the tax list in Kentucky for 1852 and for 1853 and then in 1854 his wife appears instead (and the 1853 marriage of their daughter Mary was recorded “at Mrs. Morton’s” which suggest he had already died). It has been suggested that he is the Samuel Morton referred to in the diary of Joseph Thomas of Owensboro, KY (“1851….Nov. 8, Samuel Morton died of apoplexy”), which would require us to assume the tax lists were not updated for a couple of years.  In any case, Samuel died in the early 1850s.

His wife and children remained in Kentucky until about 1856/7 and then they moved to Izard County, Arkansas, where the families of Samuel’s brothers George H. Morton and John H.B. Morton lived. In the 1860 census, they are recorded in Norfork Township, living with Ann Fourniquet Morton, the widow of John H.B. Morton.

• Ann Morton 60   Domestic, born in NY     Real estate  $6000  Personal property $13,750
• Betty   22   Schoolteacher IL
• Samuel   19   Farmer KY
• Emily   50   Domestic  MD     Real estate $155   Personal property $100
• Jane   16   Serving   KY
• John   14   Serving   KY
• Irabella   11   KY
• Mary E.   5 AR

The very limited assets of “Emily”, Samuel’s widow, would explain why they had moved to Arkansas to live with relatives. Curiously, none of the children are listed as attending school, perhaps because of the schoolteacher in the house. The Izard County courthouse burned in 1889, destroying all the early records and complicating research in that county.  N.B. the child in the household, Mary E. Morton, born after Samuel’s death, was his granddaughter (the daughter of Thomas Morton).

According to the Joseph Morton Adams blue diary p.56:   The Morton Family of 1865 had —Boys: Tom, Sam, John; Girls: one never come back to AR, died in KY. It was Marel, I think. Girls: Jane, Bettie, Belle.

In the 1870 census of Izard Co., Norfork Township, the new head of the household is Samuel’s son Samuel A. Morton, 29, with real estate of $1500 and personal property of $950. Also in the household are Emaline, 60 (reported as born in Indiana!!), John H. 22 working on the farm, Arabela 20, Mary E. 15.

The 1880 census records this family in Buckhorn township, Baxter County, Arkansas, distributed into three adjacent households, but possibly all on one property:

HOUSEHOLD 16:

• Saml MORTON Farmer Single 38 KY MD MD
• Mary A. MORTON Mother  Boarding Widowed 72 MD MD MD

HOUSEHOLD 17

• Jane YOUNG Sister Keeping House Widowed 34 KY MD MD
• Louella YOUNG Dau 10 AR TN KY   (Attending school)
• Emma YOUNG Dau 7 AR TN KY

HOUSEHOLD 18:

• Anabell MORTON Self  Widowed [sic] 29 KY Keeping House MD MD
• Mary E. MORTON Sister Single 24 MD Boarding MD MD
• Sim HEWLIT Boarder 18 IN Laborer IN IN
• James TRAVICE Boarder 24 KY Laborer KY KY
• Henry BECK Boarder W 52 NC Carpenter NC NC

There are several curiosities. First, Jane (Morton) Young (widow of Thomas Young) is listed as “sister”, not “self” as would be the case for the real head of an independent household.  Also, Arabella is listed with her maiden name, but also as “W” (widowed). And Mary E. is recorded as born in Maryland, rather than Arkansas (as on previous censuses). Also Mary E. was the niece not sister of Anabell.  In general, the local 1880 census taker seems not to have been very precise.

Marriage to Mary Amily/Emaline —

The identity of Samuel’s wife. From 1850 on, his wife is variously recorded as “Mary A.” (1850, 1880 census), “Anna” (daughter’s death record), Emily (1860 census), Amily (family notes), Emaline (1870 census).  Another combination is “Mary Amily”, which was the name of one of her grandchildren. The most likely summary of all these variations is “Mary Emaline”, a name not common but not rare in the19^th-century. The census reports indicate she was born in Maryland in 1808/09, so it is likely that Samuel had married his wife before he left Southern Maryland . The fact that Mary Emaline Dent (1808-1827, daughter of Hatch Dent, one of the acquaintances of the Mortons in Maryland), had this same name also suggests that any search for Samuel’s wife might begin in Southern Maryland. The middle name of one child (Adophert/Adalbert) may be a clue to his mother’s family, but nothing has been found. A family source said that “Aunt Amily” died at 93 at Coneley Ferry, Baxter Co., AR. If this refers to Mary Emaline (?) Morton, then she died around 1901.

Note: Based on the name and the approximate date of birth, it has been suggested that Samuel’s wife was Mary Ann Smith, daughter of George Smith and Rebecca Getzendanner of Frederick, Maryland, who married John S. Motter.  But Motter is a real Frederick County name (not a mistake for Morten) and this Mary Ann Smith Motter died in Maryland in 1851, with known offspring.  See the Smith and Motter genealogies.

Children of Samuel Morton and Mary Emaline (?) —

6.4.1) Thomas Morton (1830 — 1889) marr. (1) Sarah Beck, (2) Nancy Wolf

Later census records and his civil war enrolment document tell us that Thomas was born in Maryland in 1830.

In the 1850 Arkansas census, he is listed with the George H. Morton family in 1850, although the rest of his family was still in Kentucky. He served in the CSA as a Captain—enlisted in Izard county, Arkansas, June 14, 1862; age 32, born in Maryland; paroled at Jacksonport, Arkansas, June 5, 1865; age 35, eyes blue, hair dark, complexion light, height 5’9”; formerly served in 14th (Powers) Arkansas Infantry.

Thomas Morton married before 1855 (1) Sarah J. Beck, daughter of John A. Beck and Harriett Ann McCollum. She was born in 1833 in MO and died about 1864. The 1860 Census records the family in Table Rock, Izard County.  Children:  Angelina (Alexander), Sara Jane (?), George Hiram, Naoma (Matheny?), Eliza J., Samuel Adelbert, Georgiann (Martin).

He married 1866/67 (2) Nancy Wolf, daughter of Michael Wolf and Elizabeth Adams. She was born on 11 Sep 1836 or 1834 and died on 02 Jun 1895.  Children:  Robert Coulter Morton, John A. (H?) B. Morton.

The 1870 census recorded him as a farmer in Norfork, Izard Co. with real estate of $2600 and personal property of $683, but the 1880 Census recorded him as a physician in Hixson, Stone County, AR with his wife and minor children Samuel A, Annie, and Robert C. Morton.  Baxter County records reflect that Thomas Morton left an estate valued at $1,800.00 when he died intestate on 25 Apr 1889. His son, S.A. Morton, Jr., was appointed administrator and R.H. Blount and J.D. Houser were his securities. The application for administration states that the heirs were: Samuel A. Morton, G.A. Martin, Mary Ellen Sale, R.C. Morton, Arabell Matheny — all living in Baxter Co, AR, except for Arabell Matheny in Johnson Co., TX. Presumably the other 5 or 6 siblings has died by then.

There is a bit of a mystery about Mary Ellen Morton, who grew up in the family of Thomas’ mother instead of with her siblings. There is a handwritten note from Maggie Swearingen Morton stating that Mary E. Morton was a half-sister (presumably to Maggie’s husband Samuel A. Morton?) — was she born to an earlier wife? Her year of birth is apparently the same as her sister Angelina’s — was she born out of wedlock?

6.4.2) Mary Ann Morton (1834-1856) marr. Barna May

She was born in 1834 in MO (? MD) according to the 1850 census. According to the Daviess County KY marriage records, “on the 30th day of June 1853 the rites of marriage were legally solemnized by one between Barna May and Miss Mary Morton at Mrs. Morton’s in the County of Daviess in the presence of witnesses Mrs. Robert Sharp and Mrs. Fields. W. S. Cooms C.P.” Barney May (1824-after 1880) was the son of John May and Martha Polly Davidson. Daviess County death records:  “May, Mary A. – aged 22; d. Nov 29, 1856 of typhoid fever; married; b. in Illinois; d. in Owensboro, KY; Parents: Anna and Samuel Morton”.

They had two children: John Quincy “Quint” May and Mary H. May (Thompson) b. 18 Nov. 1856 Daviess Co, KY. In the 1880s, Mary H. May sued her father Barny May over property that her father was wanting to sell and Mary H. was claiming the property as it was her mother’s. In the deposition taken in the suit from Barny May’s mother, Martha May, she states that Mary May’s mother died when she was but eleven days old and her other Grandmother, Mrs. Morton, said she would take her and raise her, claiming of her as her own grandchild, and she took her and kept her three weeks, Then she sent for Barney May to come and take her, as her health would not admit of her keeping her any longer. Martha May: “I think she ( Mary May ) was about 3 weeks old when I took her.”

6.4.3) Elizabeth Rebecca Morton “Betty” (1838 — 1912) marr. Joseph Adams

She was born in 1838 in MO [or Illinois, according to the 1860 census] and died on 30 Mar 1912. On 12 Sep 1866, she married Joseph Davis Adams (1817-1872). Children:  Anna Belle Adams, Joseph Morton Adams.

6.4.4) Samuel A. Morton (1842 — 1922) marr. Annie Lee Wolf

His middle name is sometimes recorded as Adolphert, but probably Adelbert like his nephews. He was born on 24 Jan 1842 in KY and died on 10 Oct 1922 in Baxter Co., AR (gravestone).

Samuel A. Morton served in the Confederate Army, 27th Arkansas Infantry, volunteering on the same day to the same unit as his brother Thomas Morton. He was detailed as hospital steward, August 1, 1862; paroled at Shreveport, Louisiana, June 8, 1865.

On 9 Aug 1888, he married Annie Lee Wolf (1863-1904), daughter of Jesse H. Wolf and Nancy Jane Hargrave. He was 46 and she 25 when they married. The story is that when she was born, Samuel stopped to see her and had told her father Jesse if he raised her right he would marry her. Annie also remembered sitting on the rail fence at her house and watching Sam when he would come by coming to their house or going somewhere else. She had quick consumption and died 6 or 7 weeks after her last child was born. Children:  Mary Amily, Samuel Lee, Ruth Elizabeth (Walker), Nancy Madera “Dole” (Flippin), Jane Agnes (Head), John Henry.

B.J. Tucker recalled “My Mother remembers Uncle Sam Morton very well. He had a beard which extended down to his waist. When my Mother was a child, the Adams Family would load up the wagon and go visit with Uncle Sam and Aunt Belle. She remembers stories which Amily told, not so much the stories as the method of telling.”

6.4.5) Jane Morton (1844 — after 1914) marr. Thomas F. Young

She was born in 1844 in KY. She died after 1914 in Johnson Co., AR. She married Thomas F. Young about 1866, son of Archibald Young and Mary Barrett. He was born in 1840 in Cannon, Co., TN and died on 12 Apr 1873 in Izard Co., AR.  Children: Edwin, Louella (Cable), Emma.

6.4.6) John H. Morton (1846 — after 1870)

He was born in 1846 in KY. He died after 1870.  Curiously, he was omitted on the 1850 census, but he appears as aged 14 in the 1860 census and 22 in the 1870 census (which is the one source for his middle initial).

6.4.7) Arabella Ann Morton “Belle” (1849 — 1929)

Named after her aunt, her unusual name was spelled several ways -Arabella, Arbelle, Anabell, but in family notes she is mostly referred to as Belle.  She was born on 27 Feb 1849, probably in KY. She died on 6 Jan 1929 in AR at age 72. She is said to have helped raise the children of her brother Samuel Morton after his wife died when her youngest child was 6 weeks old.

6.4.8) Mary Ellen Morton (1855/56 — 1900/10) marr. James Sale

Several censuses report her as born in 1855/56 in AR.  She married James Connie Sale in 1881 in Arkansas, son of Johnny Sale and Margaret Grey. He was born in 1852 in NC and died in 1931 in Argenta, TX. In 1910, the Sales were living in Matney, Baxter Co, AR but in the 1910 census, James C. Sale is listed as a widower, living with his father in Buckhorn, Baxter Co. Children: Margaret (Rouse), John Adelbert, Iva Viola (Rouse).

 

Note: Much of the research for this page was compiled by Dorothy Boynton and Betty Brunson, who also have researched the later generations of this family.