Background
Levi Parsons Morton was born in Shoreham, Vermont, United States on May 16, 1824.
Levi Parsons Morton was born in Shoreham, Vermont, United States on May 16, 1824.
He attended local schools.
He worked in country stores, and later taught school in New Hampshire. Having neither time nor means for a college career, he went into the business world in Boston and New York. Morton organized Levi P. Morton & Co. in 1863 and helped float the federal Civil War loan. In 1869 the firm became Morton, Bliss & Co. , and began extensive international operations the same year when Sir John Rose joined it and opened a London office known as Morton, Rose & Co. The firm became an important business agent of the government, and Morton and Rose helped to achieve the Geneva agreement of 1872 which settled several minor disputes between the United States and Great Britain. Morton began to work actively in the Republican party in 1873 and in 1878 was elected to the House of Representatives from New York. He was reelected in 1880 but resigned in 1881 to become Minister to France. He returned to the United States in 1885. After failing to attain Senatorial nomination in New York Morton ran on the Republican National ticket with Benjamin Harrison in 1888 and was elected vice-president. After the Republican defeat in 1892, Morton returned to New York and was elected governor in 1894. He helped reform the New York State Civil Service and supported measures leading to the consolidation of Greater New York. In 1896 he was New York State's candidate at the Republican National Convention but was defeated by the Mark Hanna-William McKinley forces. He left public life then but was active in his banking business for several years. He retired to his estate near Rhinebeck, N. Y. , and died there on his 96th birthday.
Morton began to work actively in the Republican party in 1873 and in 1878 was elected to the House of Representatives from New York.
Morton married Lucy Young Kimball on October 15, 1856 in Flatlands, Brooklyn. Together, they had a child. Lucy died in 1871.
After Lucy’s death, Morton married Anna Livingston Reade Street in 1873. They had five daughters.
