When Catharine Morton was born about 1705, in Ridley Township, Delaware, Pennsylvania, United States, her father, Matthias Morton, was 37 and her mother, Annika Johannesdotter Justis, was 40.
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Thomas Jefferson's American Declaration of Independence endorsed by Congress. Colonies declare independence.
"""At the end of the Second Continental Congress the 13 colonies came together to petition independence from King George III. With no opposing votes, the Declaration of Independence was drafted and ready for all delegates to sign on the Fourth of July 1776. While many think the Declaration was to tell the King that they were becoming independent, its true purpose was to be a formal explanation of why the Congress voted together to declare their independence from Britain. The Declaration also is home to one of the best-known sentences in the English language, stating, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."""""""
Historical Boundaries 1789: Delaware, Pennsylvania, United States
English and Scottish: habitational name from any of the many places called Mor(e)ton, named with Old English mōr ‘moor’ + tūn ‘farmstead, estate’. There has probably been some confusion with Morten , and perhaps also with Murton . This English name has also been established in Ireland since the 13th century.
American shortened and altered form of Swedish Mårtensson or Mortensson (see Martenson and Mortenson ), which could also be substituted for the Finnish cognate Marttinen.
French: shortened form of Moreton 3.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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