when she married at Purchase Meeting, Thomas Rogers, of Philadelphia (son of
Thomas Rogers and Elizabeth Craig, and grandson of Nicholas Rogers), whose
first wife was Anne Dawson, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Sugar) Dawson.
Jane Morton Rogers died in Philadelphia, December 5, 1816.
Issue of George and Jane (Ctininiinijs) Morton:
Thomas Morton, b., Phila., Feb. 14, 1786; d. July 16, 1786;
Margaret Morton, b., Phila., Aug. 5, 1787; cl. .^ug. 28, 1787:
Jamc! Morton, b., Phila., March 7, 1/89; d. Oct. 23, 1803;
Anna Morton, b., Phila., April 26, 1790: d. Sept. 26, 1857;
George Morton, b., Phila., July 7, 1791: d. July 19, I79i;
George Morton, b., Phila., March 3, 1793; d. Nov. 10, 1796;
Margaret Morton, b., Phila., June 14. 1794; d. June 27, 1794:
Thomas Morton, b., Phila., Oct. 2, 1797; d. Feb. I, 1798;
Samuel George Morton, b., Phila., Jan. 26, 1799; d. May 15, 1851.
Of this large family only two were living in 1804, .\nna, who never married, and
Samuel George Morton, the only one in this country to carry on the name.
S.^MUFX George Morton, only surviving son of George and Jane (Cummings)
Morton, was born in Philadelphia, January 26, 1799. He spent most of his early
childhood at Westchester, New York ; after his mother's return to Philadelphia he
was placed at Westtown Boarding School, Chester county, and he finished his ele-
mentary education at Gummere's Classical Academy at Burlington ; after which
he began the study of medicine with Dr. Joseph Parrish, of Philadelphia, and
entered the- Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania and graduated
I7i6 MORTON
in March, 1820. He then went to Ireland on an extended visit, and later took a
course at the University of Edinburgh, from which institution he received his
diploma in August, 1823.
After studying for some months in Paris and attending "the clinical lectures of
the celebrated Laennec," he visited Italy and returned to Philadelphia by way of
Ireland in 1824 and there began the practice of medicine.
"That he possessed in some manner the contidence of the public, as a practi-
tioner, IS shown by his appointment, in the year 1829, as one of the physicians to
the Philadelphia Almshouse Hospital."
In January, 1830, "The Philadelphia Association for Medical Instruction" was
started. The first lecturers being Dr. Joseph Parrish, Dr. Franklin Bache, Dr.
John Rhea Barton, Dr. George B. Wood and Dr. Samuel George Morton ; and in
1839, he was elected Professor of Anatomy in The Pennsylvania Medical College.
While Dr. Morton became a successful and prominent physician and surgeon, it
was in the less restricted paths of science that he achievetl special distinction. He
tecame a member of the Academy of Natural Sciences in 1824, was its recording
secretary in 1825, and its president in 1849, which position he held until his death
in 1851.
He also became one of the most active members of the American Philosophical
Society and was a prolific writer on scientific subjects. His first scientific essay,
entitled "Observations on Cornine, a New Alkaloid," was published in the Medical
and Physical Journal for 1825-26. In 1827 he communicated to the Academy of
Natural Sciences an "Analysis of Tabular Spar from Bucks County. Pennsylvania,
with a Notice of Various Minerals found in the same Locality." During the same
year he contributed to the Journal of the .Icadciiiy of Natural Sciences, Philadel-
phia, a "Description of the New Species of Ostrea with some remarks on the
Ostrea Convexa of Say." These papers were followed in rapid succession by
many other scientific communications, and the Journal of the Academy continued
to be enriched by his labors until within a short period of his death. There were
not less than forty of these communications, besides others published in the
Transactions of the American Philosophical Society and the American Journal of
Science and Arts, edited by Professor Silliman. These articles, by their varied
range, exhibited great versatility of talent, treating as they did upon subjects of
anatomy, ethnology, archaeology, geology, paleontology, zoolog>', and mineralogy.
His celebrated monograph on the "Cretaceous Group of the United States" was
received, at the time of its publication, with great favor by the most eminent
geologists of Europe. In 1834 he contributed to medical literature an important
work on "Illustrations of Pulmonary Consumption; its Anatomical Qiaracters,
Causes, Symptoms and Treatment." He early began to make his celebrated col-
lection of crania, and up to 1840 had, with great labor and cost, succeeded in col-
lecting no less than fourteen hundred and sixty-eight crania. In 1839 he gave to
America his "Crania Americana," and in 1844 his "Crania Egyptiaca." both of
•which were very favorably received. In 1849 he published a "System of Human
Anatomy."
He was referred to as the "Humboldt of America." In the annals of science his
name will always be associated with that of Blumenbach, the founder of human
craniolog)'. To this study he gave a powerful impetus by demonstrating the pre-
cise method in accordance with which it should be pursued, and by indicating its
MORTON 1717
capability of throwing light upon the origin and affiliations of the various races of
men.
Dr. Morton's correspondence with scientists at home and abroad was believed
to be larger than that of any other man in this country. He was in communication
with Baron George Cuvier, Alexander Humboldt, Bunson. Lepsius. and a host of
other distinguished men of science and letters.
The following translation of a letter, acknowledging the receipt of a copy of
"Crania Americana," shows the kindly feeling which existed between Dr. Morton
and the author of "Cosmos :"
■Sir:—
The close bonds of interest and affection that have for the past half-century connected
me with the hemisphere in which you reside, and of which I flatter myself that I am a citi-
zen, have added to the impressions made upon me by the receipt, almost at the same moment,
of your great work upon Philosophical Physiology, and the admirable History of the Con-
quest of Me.xico by Mr. Wm. Prescott. Works of this class, which extend by very different
means the sphere of our knowledge, serve to add to the glory of one's country. I cannot
sufficiently express my deep gratitude to you.
At my advanced age, I am peculiarly gratified by the interest still preserved for me be-
yond the great .\tlantic valley over which a bridge has, as it were, been thrown by the power
of steam.
The craniological treasures which you have been so fortunate as to unite in your collec-
tion, have in you found a worthy interpreter. Your work is equally remarkable for the
profundity of its anatomical views, the numerical detail of the relations of organic conforma-
tion, the absence of those poetical reveries which are as the myths of modern physiology,
and the generalizations with which your Introductory Essay abounds.
Being at present occupied in the preparation of the most important of my works, which
will be published under the imprudent title of "Cosmos," I shall know how to profit by so
many excellent views upon the distribution of the races of mankind that are scattered
throughout your beautiful volume. One cannot, indeed, be surprised to see in it such evi-
dences of artistic perfection, and that you could produce a work that is a fitting rival of
whatever most beautiful has been produced either in France or in England. I pray you to
accept the renewed expression of the high consideration with which I have the honor to be,
sir, your obedient, humble servant, .•\LEXANDER HUMBOLDT."
Berlin, 17th January, 1844.
Dr. Morton was elected an honorary member of many scientific societies in
various parts of the United States, in Europe, and in the East, among which are
the following : The Academy of Natural Sciences, of Philadelphia ; Philadelphia
Medical Society ; College of Physicians, Philadelphia ; American Philosophical
Society ; American Medical Association ; Massachusetts Medical Society ; Western
Academy of Natural Sciences, at St. Louis ; Georgia Historical Society ; American
Oriental Society, at Boston ; American Ethnological Society, at New York ; Medical
Society of Sweden ; Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries at Copenhagen : .Acad-
emy of Science. Letters and Arts de Zelanti di Arcireale ; Imperial Society of
Naturalists of Moscow ; Medical Society of Edinburgh ; and Senckenburg N'atura!
History Society of Frankfort-on-Mayne. He died May 15. 1851.
The late Dr. Charles D. Meigs, in a biographical sketch written for the Academy
of Natural Sciences, says :
"Dr. Morton was a man above the ordinary stature; his face was oval, and always pale;
his eyes a clear bluish-gray; his hair light. As a man, he was modest in his demeanor, of
no arrogant pretensions, and of forgiving temper; charitable and respectful to others, yet
never forgetful of self-respect. That he was a religious man I know from many opportunities
had with him. and from his life and conversation. He was always in earnest, and always to
be depended upon. Few men are to be found more free from faults, and few of greater
probity, or of more liberal sentiments, or purer designs and aspirations. Doubtless he had
faults but they were not obvious, and 1 never discovered them in an acquaintance of near
thirty years with him."
17 1 8 MORTON
An interesting and important feature in the social life of Dr. Morton was the
Sunday evening reception held for many years at' his home, for the purpose of
bringing together his scientific friends. Among those generally seen upon these
delightful and instructive occasions were the Audubons, father and son ; Silliman
the elder; George Combe, of Edinburgh: Sir Charles Lyell. William Maclure,
Prince Charles Bonaparte, the ornithologist ; Louis Agassiz, Prince de Wied,
Maldeman, Joseph Leidy, and others too numerous to mention.
Dr. Samuel George Morton married, October 23. 1827, Rebecca Grellet, born
June 18, 1805, died January 20, 1864, daughter of Robert Pearsall. of New York,
(a native of Flushing, Long Island), later a resident of Philadelphia, and his wife,
Elizabeth, daughter of Isaac Collins, the distinguished printer of New Jersey and
later of New York City. She was a lineal descendant of Henry Pearsall, who set-
tled at Hempstead, Long Island, as early as 1643-44; of Captain John Seaman, as
well as of the L'nderhills, Bownes, Moores, Pryors. Lathams, and other prominent
families of Long Island. Through her grandmother, Rachel Budd, the wife of
Isaac Collins, she descended from the Rev. Thomas Budd. who died in Ilchester
jail, Somersetshire, in 1670, "Firm in the Faith" of George Fox, to which he had
become an early convert. She was also a descendant of Mahlon Stacy, of New
Jersey, and Thomas Atkinson, of Bucks county ; Lieutenant Robert Feake and the
Winthrops of Groton.
Issiir of Saniucl George and Rebecca Grellet (Pearsall) Morton:
James St. Clair Morton, Brigadier General of the Engineer Corps of the U. S. A., b. iiT
Phila., Sept. 24, 1829; d. June 17, 1864; appointed a cadet to the West Point Military
.â– \cademy, by Hon. Joseph R. Ingersoll, member of Congress from Phila. ; and gradu-
ated with high honors, in 1851: assistant engineer in charge of erection of harbor forti-
fications at Charleston, S. C., 1851-52; was selected by Navy Department to explore
the Chiriqui country. South America, to test the practicability of an interoceanic rail-
road route across the isthmus, and on his return to Washington was placed in charge
of the entire work of the Washington aqueduct; was made First Lieutenant, July i,
1856, and promoted Captain, Aug. 6, 1861. and sent to the Gulf of Mexico to put the
fortifications of Dry Tortugas in a state of defence; reported for duty to Gen. Hal-
leck, May, 1862, and was assigned as Chief Engineer of the Army of the Ohio, under
Gen. Buell; when Buell's troops marched to Ky. he was ordered to remain at Nash-
ville, Tenn., and with Generals Negley and Palmer, superintended the defences of
that city. He vi'as appointed Brigadier General of Volunteers, to date from Nov. 29,
1862, and was Chief Engineer to Gen. Rosencrans until Oct. 10, 1863. When the Army
of the Cumberland was given in command of Rosencrans, Gen, Morton was placed in
command of the pioneer brigade, and at the battle of Stone River proved that he was
as brave as he was skillful. He was killed in an assult at Petersburg, Va., June 17,
1864, at which time he was Major General in the Regular Army;
Robert Pearsall Morton, b. in Phila., May 22. 1831 ; d. Dec. i, 1906; m., Oct. i, 1868,
Julia Van der Burgh, dau. of Ambrose White and Maria (Van der Burgh) Wiltbank;
they had issue :
Julia Carleton Morton, b. in Gcrmantown, Jan. 30. 1870; d. March 25, 1872;
Robert Pearsall Morton, Jr., b. in Germantown, .^ug. i. 1871; m., Nov. 25, 1896,
at Boston, Mass., Gertrude Eliza, dau. of Joseph Howe and Abbey Little
(Hitchcock) Tyler; she d. in Florence, Italy, Nov. 28, 1903.
George Morton, b. in Phila., Dec. 21, 1832; d. May 14, 1850;
Thomas George Morton, M. D., b. in Phila., Aug. 8, 1835; d. May 20. 1903; m. Ann
Jenks Kirkbride; of whom presently;
Anna Morton, b. in Phila., Nov. 4, 1838; m., Oct. 31, i860. Thomas Harrison Mont-
gomery, son of Rev. James Montgomery, and his wife, Mary Harrison White;
William Henry Harrison Morton, b. in Phila., April 28, 1841 ; d. Nov. 26, 1841 ;
Mary Elizabeth Morton, b. in Phila., Oct. 16, 1842; d. Sept. I, 1882;
Rev. Algernon Morton, b. in Phila., April 18, 1845; d. March 25, 1878; a graduate of the
Divinity School. West Phila., 1870, who after traveling abroad for over a year, visiting
his relatives in Ireland and spending the winter in Rome, was appointed assistant at
St. Luke's Church. Phila., and later filled the same position at old St. Peter's. At the
d^li^yvy^a.^'e^^^x.^cy^C^f^^^-
MORTON 17, y
time of his death, he was in charge of the Church of the Holy Comforter, Phila. ; he
m., Dec 14, 1876, Mary Grier, dau. of John Edmund and Helen Vaughn (Merrick)
Cope ; they had issue :
John Edmund Cope Morton, b. in Phila., Sept. 19, 1877; m., June 5, 1907, Eliza
Mellon, dau. of Thomas Mellon and Boydanna (Adler) Rogers.
Charles Mortimer Morton, b. in Phila., Feb. 11, 1848; m., Oct. 10, 1883, Sarah Glenn
Douglas, dau. of Caleb North and Sarah (Bland) Emory: she d. March 21. 1885; they
had issue :
Charles Mortimer Morton, Jr., b. and d. March 21, 1885.
Dk. Thomas George Mouton, son of Samuel George and Rebecca Clrellct
(Pearsall) Morton, was born in his father's Arch street house, Philadelphia,
.August 8, 1835. The usual preliminary schooling preceded his entrance to the
University of Pennsylvania in 1850; but his father's sudden death in May, 1851,
forced him to leave college at the end of his freshman year, when he was cm])loycd
in the book publishing establishment of J. B. Lippincott & Company.
Nothing in the line of business proving congenial, he borrowed from iiis brother,
James St. Clair Morton, sufificient funds for a course of medical studies at the
University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated in 1856. Many of the University
professors sent him complimentary tickets to their lectures out of respect for his
celebrated father and admiration for the efforts of the plucky boy. So great was
his reputation for hard work and ability that one of his professors at the final
examination did not even ask him to sit down but merely shaking his hand said
that he had passed a very good examination. His preceptor was Dr. John McClel-
lan. In 1856 Dr. Morton was Resident Physician at St. Joseph's Hospital and in
1857 at the Wills Eye Hospital ; in 1857-58 he was Resident Physician to the
Pcnn.sylvania Hospital and at the close of that service spent six months in Europe.
During the Civil War, Dr. Morton served as Acting Assistant Surgeon of the
United States Army in Washington, Virginia and Pennsylvania. He was Sur-
geon-in-Chief of the Mower Hospital at Chestnut Hill, the largest army hospital
of its day, where he divided with Dr. D. Hayes Agiiew the responsibilities of the
care of several thousand surgical beds. He also organized the Army Hospital at
Twelfth and Buttonwood streets, Philadelphia, and acted as its Surgeon-in-Chicf
until it was closed after the War.
Dr. IVforton served as Surgeon at the Wills Eye Hospital from 1S59 to 1875, 3"^'
in that time incidentally performed, with almost uniform success, upward of one
thousand operations for cataract. Upon his retirement from the more active work
of the Institution, he was elected Surgeon Emeritus.
The Orthopaedic Hospital and Infirmary for Nervous Diseases was founded In-
Dr. Morton in 1867, and he was senior surgeon there until shortly before his death,
when he was appointed Consulting Surgeon. He always took special interest in
the work at this hospital and some of his most brilliant contributions to surgery
were there evolved. Other important surgical posts held by Dr. Morton were :
Consulting Surgeon to the Philadelphia Institution for the Blind ; Surgeon to tlie
Jewish Hospital (1870 until his death) ; Consulting Surgeon Pennsylvania Insti-
tution for the Deaf and Dumb; Consulting Surgeon to the Woirian's Hospital of
Philadelphia (1870 until his death) ; Surgeon at the Howard Hospital {1865-75) '>
Professor of Surgery in the Philadelphia Polyclinic and College for Graduates in
Medicine (of which he was likewise a founder) from 1883 to 1894, and subse-
quently Emeritus Professor of .Surgery. But the Pennsylvania Hospital, where
I720 MORTON
he was Surgeon from 1864 until his death, was the institution that above all other
absorbed his time, interest and activity. He served it; subsequent to living there a
year as Resident Physician, as Pathological Curator from i860 to 1864, and in
1862 founded its large Pathological Museum. His active professional connection
with this hospital as Attending Surgeon during the thirty-nine years from 1864
to 1903, was longer than that of any other surgeon in its history, with the exception
of Dr. Parke, whose term of service lasted from 1777 to 1823. It was entirely
through Dr. Morton's efforts that the Ayer Clinical Laboratory was established
and built. It was in the Pennsylvania Hospital that he invented the hospital bed-
elevator and carriage and the ward dressing carriage which in some form made
their v.'ay into nearly every hospital in the world and are now in almost universal
use. The widely used apparatus for measuring inequalities of the lower limbs was
also developed at that hospital, and the well known writings and lectures upon
Asymmetry were founded upon hundreds of observations made in its wards. The
ward dressing carriage was thought worthy of a diploma and medal by the com-
missioners of the Centennial Exhibition in 1876. Dr. Morton's many unusual and
new operations together with his inventions of instruments and surgical appliances
gave him a world-wide reputation. He was the first surgeon deliberately to oper-
ate for appendicitis by removing the vermiform appendix (April 23, 1887) and
this first care recovered, as did nearly all of the great number upon which he sub-
sequently operated.
The History of the Pennsylvania Hospital, the first edition of which was pub-
lished in 1895, is a lasting monument to the energ}', perseverance and thoroughness
which were such characteristic traits in Dr. Morton. In addition to the "History,"
he wrote by appointment of the President, biographical sketches of his life-
long friends and fellow members of the College of Physicians, Dr. William Hunt
and Dr. Albert PVicke. He also wrote extensively on many medical and surgical
subjects and frequently colaborated with Dr. Hunt; with the latter he wrote:
"Surgery in the Pennsylvania Hospital," a volume published in 1880. He also
took a keen interest in genealogical matters, and his researches in that field place
upon his descendants, as well as many others, a large debt of gratitude.
Outside of his professional work. Dr. Morton was much interested in the edu-
cational projects of the city in which he Hved. He was a member of the Board
of Education from 1890 until his death, and was chairman of several important
committees, among them that of the Girls' High School at Seventeenth and Spring
Garden streets. At one time he took an active interest in local politics, and was
a member of the memorable "Committee of One Hundred" of Philadelphia.
The poor insane of the state early aroused his sympathies and to alleviate their
condition he worked for many years with great energy. Eventually he had the
satisfaction of seeing the great results which came directly and indirectly from
his efforts. From 1883 to 1895 he was a member of the Commission of Public
Charities of Pennsylvania by appointment of Gov. Pattison, and the successive
Governors of the state, and for eight years was the chairman of its Committee on
Lunacy, a position of great labor and responsiblity. In 1874 he was appointed by
Gov. Hartranft a member of the commission to locate and build what has since
come to be known as the Norristown Insane Asylum. He was consulting surgeon
to the Asylum for Chronic Insane at Wemersville and the Pennsylvania Epileptic
Hospital and Colony Farm. He served for two years (1885-86) as president of
MORTON -1721
the American Society for the Restriction of Vivisection ; also as vice-president and
always an active member of the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruel-
ty to Children. In 1895 he became president of the Philadelphia Academy of
Surgery.
Dr. Morton was a fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia ; a mem-
ber of the Academy of Natural Sciences (from 1856), American Medical Asso-
ciation, and in 1864 of the American Ophthalmological Association ; a founder and
member of the American Surgical Association ; a member of the American Ortho-
paedic Association, and a corresponding member of the British Orthopaedic Asso-
ciation. He was also a corresponding member of several other foreign societies
and medical bodies ; likewise a member of the Philosophical Society of Pennsyl-
vania ; Pennsylvania Historical Society: Loyal Legion; Society of the Colonial
Wars ; Colonial Society ; Founders and Patriots ; Foreign Wars ; Sons of the
Revolution ; Netherland Society ; Underbill Society of America and the College
Fraternity of Delta Psi. He was a member of the Union League of Philadelphia;
also of the Skating Club (1856), serving on the Board of Surgeons, 1859-62, and
( 1854) of the Philadelphia Cricket Club. He was a founder and member — with
Dr. S. D. Gross and Dr. D. Hayes Agnew and other distinguished surgeons — of
the Surgical Club, a social organization which during many winters held month-
ly meetings at the homes of its members.
Of Dr. Morton's social side much could be said. His genial character, his love
of a good story and his ability to tell one, his power of inspiring his children with
the best and highest ideals, his love of music and nature, with other admirable
traits too numerous to mention, combined to make him beloved — almost wor-
shipped — by family, friends and patients. When a youth he played upon the vio-
lin, but later took up the violincello, which became his favorite musical instrument,
and almost to the end, in playing upon it he found relaxation and much enjo>Tnent.
He had a good ear and played well considering the small amount of time he could
devote to it.
His fondness for animals was very marked. A favorite black Siberian squirrel,
Alexander the Great, for years made a habit of sitting on his shoulder when he
was writing. In his earlier days a fishing trip for brook trout in the spring and a
hunting vacation in the fall gave regular and much needed outing. He was a
great walker and horseback riding was always a favorite exercise. At various
times, accompanied by some of his elder children, he took long trips in the saddle
through Pennsylvania and the New England States, even so far as to Maine and
back. The somewhat lengthened holidays of his later years were spent in keen
enjoyment as sailor and fisherman upon the ocean and sounds about Cape May,
New Jersey.
Besides the European tour already mentioned. Dr. Morton, always fond of
travel, again in 1879 visited the old country with his two eldest children and re-
newed acquaintance with his relations in Ireland and Scotland. He also traveled
extensively in this country and Mexico. In the city of Mexico he had a special
audience with President Diaz, who was exceedingly courteous in his attentions.
Both men were intensely interested in the discussion of schools, hospitals and