U.S. Vice Presidents: Levi Morton

Vice President Morton...

• ...had to leave school early due to being born into a modest household. 
• ...faced the brunt of President Harrison's failed administration in securing the passage of Lodge Bill sponsored by Henry Cabot.
• ...served as Governor of New York in 1895 and 1986 after his Vice-Presidential term.

Levi Parsons Morton (May 16, 1824 – May 16, 1920) was the 22nd vice president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He also served as United States ambassador to France, as a US representative from New York, and as the 31st governor of New York. Morton was born in Shoreham, Vermont, one of six children born to the Reverend Daniel Oliver Morton (1788–1852), a Congregational minister and Lucretia Parsons (1789–1862). Morton was named for his mother's brother Reverend Levi Parsons (1792–1822), a clergyman who was also the first U.S. missionary to work in Palestine. His older brother, Daniel Oliver Morton (1815–59), served as the Mayor of Toledo, Ohio from 1849 to 1850. His younger sister, Mary Morton, was married to William F. Grinnell, and was the mother of William Morton Grinnell, who served as the Third Assistant Secretary of State while Morton was Vice President. Morton decided on a business career, and in 1838 he began work as a general store clerk in Enfield, Massachusetts. He taught school in Boscawen, New Hampshire and engaged in mercantile pursuits in Hanover, New Hampshire, then moved to Boston to work in the Beebe & Co. importing business. He eventually settled in New York City, where he entered the dry goods business in partnership with George Blake Grinnell and became a successful cotton broker. He then established himself as one of the country's top investment bankers in a firm he founded, Morton, Bliss & Co., which was later reorganized as the Morton Trust Company.

Currently, we do not have any books on Vice President Levi Morton. Please check out our E-book collection.