Morton High School - Top Hat Yearbook (Hammond, IN)

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Page 3 But although Gov. Morton lived many years ago, his name lives on today . . . One of eight signs erected by the MHS Association to direct visitors to Morton

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This was Morton the man . . . We must then cling to the idea that we are a nation, one and indivisible, and that, although sub- divided by state lines for local and domestic purposes, we are one people . . These words of Oliver Perry Morton, Indiana ' s Civil War governor and the man for whom Morton High School is named, may be found on an engraved plaque between the trophy cases at the front entrance to the school and on the masthead of the Mortonite, MHS newspaper. Gov. Morton was a Hoosier by birth; he was born in Wayne County (Richmond) in 1823, ten years after the famous victory over the British on Lake Erie by Oliver Hazard Perry, after whom he was named. This means that indirectly MHS is the namesake of two men, each of whom played a big role in the Midwest during a time in which the United States govern- ment was in grave peril. Morton became a noted attor- ney in Centerville. As Bruce Carton pointed out, In that time and place the law courts had the limelight, and a gifted thunderer was known by the people and could hardly avoid a political career. Morton would not have avoided it.” An un- successful candidate for governor in 1856, he was elected lieutenant governor in I860. Then, with the resignation of Gov. Henry Lane to enter the national Senate in 1861, Lt.-Gov. Morton became Gov. Morton. In the words of Catton, As far as the Midwest was concerned, Morton was the union cause incarnate . . .” The war years were a time of mental conflict for many Indianians who lived in the southern part of the state and sympathized with the South. If it had not been for the guidance of Gov. Morton, Indiana might not have supported Lincoln and the northern cause as much as it did. Although many persons thought that Morton had become a dictator,” a majority of voters in Indiana’s 1864 gubernatorial election wanted him to continue filling the governor’s chair. However, he resigned from that position two years later to become a United States Senator. In 1907 a statue of Morton was unveiled in front of the Indiana Capitol in Indianapolis. It faces the Indiana Civil War Soldiers and Sailors’ Monument in the heart of the city. What more fitting place for a memorial to the man ever to be known in history as the Great War Governor”? Oliver Perry Morton Page 2 Statue of Gov. Morton in front of Indiana Capitol, Indianapolis

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Page 4 This is Morton the high school . . .