Jeremiah Morton

Jeremiah Morton (September 3, 1799 – November 28, 1878) was a nineteenth-century politician and lawyer from Virginia. He was the younger brother of Florida senator Jackson Morton.

Born in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Morton attended a private school as a child and later went on to Washington College in 1814 and 1815 and graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1819. He studied law and was admitted to the bar, commencing practice in Raccoon Ford, Virginia. Morton later left law due to illness and engaged in agricultural pursuits. He was elected a Whig to the United States House of Representatives in 1848, serving from 1849 to 1851. After being unsuccessful for reelection in 1850, he returned to agricultural pursuits and was a member of the Virginia Secession Convention in 1861. He also became a trustee of the Theological Seminary of Virginia in Alexandria, Virginia. Morton died at "Lessland" in Orange County, Virginia on November 28, 1878 and was interred at his old home, "Morton Hall" in Orange County.

External links

• Jeremiah Morton at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress