Marcus Morton

Marcus Morton
16th & 18th Governor of Massachusetts
In office January 17, 1843 – January 9, 1844
Lieutenant	Henry H. Childs
Preceded by	John Davis
Succeeded by	George N. Briggs
In office January 18, 1840 – January 7, 1841
Lieutenant	George Hull
Preceded by	Edward Everett
Succeeded by	John Davis
In office Acting: February 6, 1825 – May 26, 1825
Preceded by	William Eustis
Succeeded by	Levi Lincoln Jr.
12th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts
In office May 31, 1824 – May 26, 1825
Governor	William Eustis (1824–1825) Himself (1825)
Preceded by	Levi Lincoln Jr.
Succeeded by	Thomas L. Winthrop
Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
In office 1825–1840
Appointed by	Levi Lincoln Jr.
Preceded by	Levi Lincoln Jr.
Succeeded by	Theron Metcalf (1848)
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 10th district
In office March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1821
Preceded by	Laban Wheaton
Succeeded by	Francis Baylies
Personal details
Born	(1784-02-19)February 19, 1784 or (1784-12-19)December 19, 1784 East Freetown, Massachusetts
Died	February 6, 1864(1864-02-06) (aged 79) Taunton, Massachusetts
Political party	Democratic-Republican Democratic Free Soil
Spouse	Charlotte Hodges
Children	Marcus Morton Nathaniel Morton
Alma mater	Brown University
Profession	Lawyer
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Marcus Morton (1784 – February 6, 1864) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician from Taunton, Massachusetts. He served two terms as the governor of Massachusetts and several months as Acting Governor following the death in 1825 of William Eustis. He served for 15 years as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, all the while running unsuccessfully as a Democrat for governor. He finally won the 1839 election, acquiring exactly the number of votes required for a majority win over Edward Everett. After losing the 1840 and 1841 elections, he was elected in a narrow victory in 1842.

The Massachusetts Democratic Party was highly factionalized, which contributed to Morton's long string of defeats. His brief periods of ascendancy, however, resulted in no substantive Democratic-supported reforms, since the dominant Whigs reversed most of the changes enacted during his terms. An opponent of the extension of slavery, he split with longtime friend John C. Calhoun over that issue, and eventually left the party for the Free Soil movement. He was considered by Martin Van Buren as a potential vice presidential running mate in 1848.