“M” is for Morton, Joseph, Sr. (ca.1630-1688)

“M” is for Morton, Joseph, Sr. (ca.1630-1688). Governor. Born in Wells, Somerset, England, Morton was a prominent Dissenter. He traveled to South Carolina as part of the migration of a relatively substantial number of English Dissenters to the colony. He was made governor and landgrave in 1682. As governor, Morton tried unsuccessfully to get the South Carolina parliament to accept a revised version of the Fundamental Constitutions. The Goose Creek Men who opposed the proprietors’ policies were able to block the ratification of the revised Fundamental Constitutions. This upset the proprietors as well as Morton's failure to stamp out the Indian slave trade or to chill the warm welcome that pirates had come to find in Carolina. Joseph Morton, Sr., was removed from office in 1684 but on the death of his successor continued as interim governor until 1686.