Paul Morton
36thUnited States Secretary of the Navy
In office July 1, 1904 – June 30, 1905
President	Theodore Roosevelt
Preceded by	William Moody
Succeeded by	Charles Bonaparte
Personal details
Born	(1857-05-22)May 22, 1857 Detroit,Michigan,U.S.
Died	January 19, 1911(1911-01-19) (aged 53) New York City,New York, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Charlotte Goodrich ​ ​ (m. 1880; died 1911)​
Children	Caroline Williams Pauline Davis
Parent	Julius Sterling Morton (father)
Signature

Paul Morton (May 22, 1857 – January 19, 1911) was aU.S. businessman, and served as the 36thSecretary of the Navy underTheodore Roosevelt.

Morton was born inDetroit,Michigan on May 22, 1857 and grew up inNebraska City,Nebraska. A son ofJ. Sterling Morton, former Acting Governor of Nebraska, founder of Arbor Day, andSecretary of Agriculture underPresidentGrover Cleveland. Among his siblings wereMark Morton,^[1] andJoy Morton, founder ofMorton Salt.^[2]

Though his father was a "Bourbon" (i.e. conservative) Democrat, Paul Morton was a Progressive Republican. This shift of party by father/son cabinet secretaries is paralleled by that ofHenry Cantwell Wallace, who served as a Progressive Republican Secretary of Agriculture underHarding andCoolidge, and his sonHenry A. Wallace who served in the same office as a Democrat underFranklin D. Roosevelt.^[3]

He served as theU.S. Secretary of the Navy between 1904 and 1905. Previous to this, he had beenvice president of theSanta Fe Railroad. When it came to light that the Santa Fe had given illegal rebates under Morton, he was forced out of the cabinet to avoid scandal, though Roosevelt maintained that Morton himself was unaware of the improprieties.^[4] After leaving government service, Morton was President ofEquitable Life Assurance Society.^[5]

George Burroughs Torrey painted a portrait of him.

In 1880, Morton was married to Charlotte "Lottie" Goodrich (1858–1938), a daughter of Charles Lowell Goodridge and Charlotte Helen Amelia (née Wheeler) Goodridge. Together, they were the parents of:

• Caroline Morton (1882–1952), who married industrialist and bankerWilliam Chapman Potter in 1902. They divorced in October 1922,^[6] and she marriedHarry F. Guggenheim in 1923.^[7] They divorced in July 1939, and she married John H. A. Williams.^[8]
• Pauline Joy Morton (1887–1955),^[9] who became an influential figure in the Republican party, and played an important role in theRepeal of Prohibition in the United States; she marriedJames H. Smith Jr. in 1907. They divorced in 1914, and she marriedCharles H. Sabin in 1916.^[10] After his death in 1933, she marriedDwight F. Davis in 1936,^[11] and remained married until his death in 1945.^[12]

Morton died in New York City on January 19, 1911.^[13] His widow died at her residence,One Sutton Place South in New York City, in 1938.^[14]

• Media related toPaul Morton at Wikimedia Commons
• Paul Morton atFind a Grave

This biographical article related to the United States Navy is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it.

• v
• t
• e

• 1857 births
• 1911 deaths
• United States secretaries of the navy
• American businesspeople
• Theodore Roosevelt administration cabinet members
• 20th-century American politicians
• New York (state) Republicans
• People from Nebraska City, Nebraska
• Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)
• Nebraska politicians
• United States Navy personnel stubs

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from December 2020
• Commons category link from Wikidata
• All stub articles