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JOHN MORTON. April 3, 1772 Signed John Morton

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:2,200.00 USD Estimated At:2,500.00 - 3,000.00 USD
JOHN MORTON. April 3, 1772 Signed John Morton
Famous Signers on Colonial Currency

“John Morton” Signer of the Declaration of Independence Signed April 3, 1772 Pennsylvania PCGS Choice New-63

JOHN MORTON (1725 - 1777). Signer of the Declaration of Independence, Chaired the committee that wrote the Articles of Confederation, Delegate to the Continental Congress during the American Revolution. Morton provided the swing vote, that allowed Pennsylvania to vote in favor of adopting the United States Declaration of Independence. The first signer of the Declaration of Independence to die.

Pennsylvania. April 3, 1772. Eighteen Pence. Plate A. Signed by “John Morton.” PCGS graded Choice New-63. Fr. PA-155. This clean, fresh and boldly printed note has perfect centering to its face and vivid, bold brown signatures. That of “John Morton” is prominently located at top. Ex: F.C.C. Boyd/John J. Ford, Jr. Collection Part XV, October 2006. One of the Very Finest Known signed by “John Morton.”

John Morton was elected to the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly in 1756. The following year he was also appointed justice of the peace, an office he held until 1764. He served as a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress in 1765. He resigned from the Assembly in 1766 to serve as sheriff of Chester County. He returned to the Assembly in 1769 and was elected Speaker in 1775. Meanwhile, his judicial career reached its pinnacle with his appointment as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 1774.

Morton was elected to the First Continental Congress in 1774 and the Second Continental Congress in 1775. He cautiously helped move Pennsylvania towards independence, though he opposed the radical Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776. When in June 1776 Congress began the debate on a resolution of independence, the Pennsylvania delegation was split, with Benjamin Franklin and James Wilson in favor of declaring independence, and John Dickinson and Robert Morris opposed. Morton was uncommitted until July 1, when he sided with Franklin and Wilson. When the final vote was taken on July 2, Dickinson and Morris abstained, allowing the Pennsylvania delegation to support the resolution of independence without dissent. Morton signed the Declaration on August 2 with most of the other delegates.

Morton was chairman of the committee that wrote the Articles of Confederation, although he died, probably from tuberculosis, before the Articles were ratified. He was the first signer of the Declaration of Independence to die. (From Wikipedia)