Rev. Charles Morton 1627 - 1698
Charles Morton was a puritan divine, born at Pendavy, Egloshayle, in Cornwall, and baptised at Egloshayle on 15 Feb. 1627, he was the eldest son of Nicholas Morton, who married, on 11 May 1616, Frances, only daughter of Thomas Kestell of Pendavy. On 7 Sept. 1649 he was elected a scholar of Wadham College, Oxford, and he graduated B.A. 6 Nov. 1649, M.A. 24 June 1652, being also incorporated at Cambridge in 1653.
At Oxford he was conspicuous for knowledge of mathematics. His sympathies were at first with the royalist views of his grandfather, but when he found that the laxest members of the university were attracted to that side he examined the question more seriously, and became a puritan. In 1655 Morton was appointed to the rectory of Blisland in his native county of Cornwall, but he was ejected by the Act of Uniformity in 1662, whereupon he retired to a small tenement, his own property, in St. Ive, Cornwall. He lost much property through the fire of London, and was driven to London to support himself.
A few years later he carried on at Stoke Newington, near London, the chief school of the dissenters. His object was to give an education not inferior to that afforded by the universities, and his labours proved very successful. Defoe was a pupil, and spoke well of the school, and many of the principal dissenting ministers—John Shower, Samuel Lawrence, Thomas Reynolds, and William Hocker—were educated by him.
Morton was so harried by processes from the bishop's court that he determined upon leaving the country. He arrived at New England in July 1686 with his wife, his pupil, Samuel Penhallow, and his nephew, Charles Morton, M.D. Another nephew had preceded them in 1685. It had been proposed that Morton should become the principal of Harvard College, but through fear of displeasing the authorities another was appointed before his arrival. He was, however, made a member of the corporation of the college and its first vice-president, and he drew up a system of logic and a compendium of physics, which were for many years two of its text-books.
Morton was solemnly inducted as minister of the first church in Charlestown, New England, on 5 Nov. 1686, and was the first clergyman of the town who solemnised marriages. He was prosecuted for ‘several seditious expressions’ in a sermon preached on 2 Sept. 1687, but was acquitted. His name is the second of the petitioners to the council on 2 Oct. 1693 for some encouragement to a system of propagating Christianity among the Indians.
About 1694 Morton's health began to fail, but no assistant could be found for him. He died at Charlestown on 11 April 1698, and was buried on 14 April, his funeral being attended by the officers of Harvard College and its students. By his will, dated November 1697, he left 50l. for the benefit of the college, and gave his executors power to dispose of ‘his philo- sophical writings, sermon notes, pamphlets, mathematical instruments, and other rarities.’ His houses and lands at Charlestown and in Cornwall with the rest of his property passed to his two nephews, Charles and John Morton, and his niece in equal shares.
At Oxford he was conspicuous for knowledge of mathematics. His sympathies were at first with the royalist views of his grandfather, but when he found that the laxest members of the university were attracted to that side he examined the question more seriously, and became a puritan. In 1655 Morton was appointed to the rectory of Blisland in his native county of Cornwall, but he was ejected by the Act of Uniformity in 1662, whereupon he retired to a small tenement, his own property, in St. Ive, Cornwall. He lost much property through the fire of London, and was driven to London to support himself.
A few years later he carried on at Stoke Newington, near London, the chief school of the dissenters. His object was to give an education not inferior to that afforded by the universities, and his labours proved very successful. Defoe was a pupil, and spoke well of the school, and many of the principal dissenting ministers—John Shower, Samuel Lawrence, Thomas Reynolds, and William Hocker—were educated by him.
Morton was so harried by processes from the bishop's court that he determined upon leaving the country. He arrived at New England in July 1686 with his wife, his pupil, Samuel Penhallow, and his nephew, Charles Morton, M.D. Another nephew had preceded them in 1685. It had been proposed that Morton should become the principal of Harvard College, but through fear of displeasing the authorities another was appointed before his arrival. He was, however, made a member of the corporation of the college and its first vice-president, and he drew up a system of logic and a compendium of physics, which were for many years two of its text-books.
Morton was solemnly inducted as minister of the first church in Charlestown, New England, on 5 Nov. 1686, and was the first clergyman of the town who solemnised marriages. He was prosecuted for ‘several seditious expressions’ in a sermon preached on 2 Sept. 1687, but was acquitted. His name is the second of the petitioners to the council on 2 Oct. 1693 for some encouragement to a system of propagating Christianity among the Indians.
About 1694 Morton's health began to fail, but no assistant could be found for him. He died at Charlestown on 11 April 1698, and was buried on 14 April, his funeral being attended by the officers of Harvard College and its students. By his will, dated November 1697, he left 50l. for the benefit of the college, and gave his executors power to dispose of ‘his philo- sophical writings, sermon notes, pamphlets, mathematical instruments, and other rarities.’ His houses and lands at Charlestown and in Cornwall with the rest of his property passed to his two nephews, Charles and John Morton, and his niece in equal shares.