Oliver Perry Morton

Oliver Perry Morton, the fourteenth governor of Indiana, was born August 14, 1823, in Salisbury, Indiana. At fourteen, he attended Wayne County Seminary and the following year learned the hatter’s trade from an older half-brother. He attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio from 1843 to 1845. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1847, and became circuit judge in Centerville in 1852. Because he opposed the extension of slavery, Morton became a Republican in 1854 and was the party’s unsuccessful candidate for governor two years later. Elected lieutenant governor in 1860, he became governor when Henry Lane resigned after two days to take a seat in the U. S. Senate. Governor Morton was the first to offer troops when Lincoln issued the call; in less than seven days, more than twelve thousand men (nearly three times the quota) had been tendered. When Governor Beriah Mafoffin of Kentucky, a rebel at heart, refused to issue the call for troops in his state, Morton provided the first rallying point for Kentucky Unionists and gave permission for citizens of Indiana to enlist in Kentucky regiments. He repeatedly came to the rescue of Kentucky during the war and became known as the “Governor of Indiana and Kentucky.” Oliver Morton, the “War Governor,” was also known as the “Soldier’s Friend.” He organized the General Military Agency of Indiana, and established the Soldiers’ Home, Ladies’ Home, and Orphans’ Home to take care of the needs of soldiers and their families. Morton established an arsenal at Indianapolis that not only supplied Hoosier troops, but also sold ammunition to the federal government. Because the Indiana Legislature was unsupportive of the war effort, Governor Morton carried on the entire state government for two years with funds raised by his own efforts. He was re-elected governor in 1864 and personally welcomed home every regiment and battery returning from war with a ceremony and dinner. In 1865, he suffered a stroke and Lieutenant Governor Conrad Baker temporarily took charge of his duties. Governor Morton became Senator Morton in 1867 and was elected to a second term in the Senate in 1872. He was greatly influential in the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment. Morton died November 1, 1877, at his home in Indianapolis. Flags on all public buildings in the United States were placed at half-mast by order of President Rutherford B. Hayes. Morton was buried in Indianapolis at Crown Hill Cemetery.

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