John Morton (politician)

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For other persons of the same name, see John Morton.

John Morton

John Morton (1724-1777) from Ridley Township, in Delaware County, Pennsylvania was the delegate who cast the deciding vote in favor of the United States Declaration of Independence. According to legend, he was late to the meeting, and everyone else had already voted. Despite not having attended the meeting, he was allowed his vote; and he cast it for independence.

John Morton is not depicted in John Trumbull's famous painting The Declaration of Independence. The work is usually incorrectly identified as a depiction of the signing of the Declaration. What the painting actually depicts is the five-man drafting committee presenting their work to the Congress. Trumbull's painting can also be found on the back of the U.S. $2 bill.^[1]

Morton was elected to the Provincial Assembly where he served from 1756-1775. He was a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress in 1765 and filled several offices successively in Pennsylvania, including Justice of the Peace, High Sheriff, Presiding Judge of the General Court and the Court of Common Pleas. He became Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 1774, and was elected to the Continental Congress, where he was chairman of the committee which reported the Articles of Confederation. He became President of the Provincial Assembly in 1775.

Swedish colonial news (1997) has published a study according to which Morton's great grandparent Martti Marttinen was from Finland. This is also mentioned by Aarno Karimo in his published series in four parts Kumpujen yöstä (1929-1932).