John Morton– Signer of the Declaration of Independence

John Morton– Signer of the Declaration of Independence. . John Morton, an only child, was the son of John Morton and Mary Archer. Born in 1725, Morton was the great grandson of Morton Mortonson, a Finn who travelled with his son, Morton Mortonson to the area with the Swedish expedition in 1654 and who established the property known as Morton Homestead. Morton was a surveyor, a farmer and a community servant. , Morton, a patriot and long-standing public servant, at the age of 31, was elected to the Provincial Assembly in 1756 and served the Provincial Assembly for 10 consecutive years thereafter. In 1757 and again in 1761, he was appointed a Justice of the Chester County Court and in 1765 a delegate to the First American Congress which presided in New York. After his election to Sheriff of the County for 2 terms, he returned to the Assembly in 1769, serving as Speaker in 1775. Governor John Penn appointed Morton as Associate Justice of the Supreme Provincial Court in 1772 and in 1774, he was delegated by the Assembly to the First Continental Congress. It was during the Second Continental Congress that the Declaration of Independence was signed in July 1776. , John Morton married Ann Justis of Kingsessing in Philadelphia at the age of nineteen and had 11 children, Aaron, Sketchley, John 3rd, Mary, Sarah, Lydia, Ann and Elizabeth survived their parents. Morton died in 1777. , He will be remembered as a religious man, kind to all and affectionate to his family, acknowledging his most illustrious act of his life was his vote in favor of American Independence.