SYLVANUS  MORTON: FINANCIER

 

          Sylvanus Morton was born in 1805, the son of James and Lucy (Gorham) Morton. The family before coming to Liverpool in 1760 had lived in Plymouth Mass. Their interest here at this new settlement would be shipping and lumbering. The family soon involved itself in just that. The early proprietors received grants of land and soon had the opportunities to increase the early holdings. The James Morton family acquired 12-acre lots midway between the harbor area and “The Falls”. This is the area that today one finds a B&B called the Morton House.

          It was nice that his grandfather, Silvanus Morton, Sr. in 1809, had acquired a share in an early sawmill, grandfather had purchased from Enoch Freeman a 1/24 part of the Upper Sawmill on the falls of the Mersey River. That was recorded in Book 5,page 348. The following years saw grandson SM involving himself in saw milling.

          It was 1844 when SM bought a portion of the Middle Sawmill on the same falls. This was for two shares; old-timers said two days; they had early planned to have 24 shares total, and that worked out as 24 days sawing per month. An owner of two days could be assured that two days sawing would be set aside for his own logs to be made into lumber.

          The river upstream of the mills was filled with logs of all lumbermen. It was desirable to get into the schedule; it took a long period of time between the time the tree was cut down until the log was hauled and river driven to the booms where all logs awaited their turn. Once the lumber was sawn, it was necessary for the owner to have it air-dried before it could be exported to foreign markets. There was a fair amount of expertise required for this, lumber properly piled would shed water from rains, yet would allow the wind to blow through and dry the product. Two days sawing would sometimes provide enough lumber for cargo of one sailing vessel to say the West Indies, which was a favorite destination.

          Sylvanus Morton also had his own shipyard and built several ships per year for his own cargos. He also built for others. A typical cargo would be the two days sawing, and other local items, such as dried fish like Cod, Haddock, etc. The Captain would act as agent and sell the goods for best advantage when arriving at the destination. Other goods would be bartered for, which would possibly go to another port, and after several such visits the ship would arrive back home with cargo from many ports.

          This required warehousing these products, until suitable markets again were found. Mortons built a large wharf warehouse, the location that even today is referred to as Mortons Wharf. (At the riverbank before the Morton House B&B.)

          SM realized he had a good thing going here. He encouraged families from Lunenburg County to move into the area for cash wages. His shipwrights also had to come from away, as did the blacksmiths to do iron working.

          It was in 1845 he bought another 1/24 share in the Upper Sawmill. This time he purchased from the widow of Nelson Freeman. (It was recorded in Book 13/308, Mar 11).

          It was at this time he built his first store to sell goods. It was located near today’s unused Post office; it was located on the southeast corner of Milton’s Bridge St.

          This is a quote from SM’S son John’s diary written on Apr.24, 1921. My father originally built the shop that burnt this morning. I have not forgotten Father telling me… the morning he started to build, Samuel Freeman Senior, his brother-in-law, came across the street and asked father what he intended to do, and was promptly told his intention to build a shop. Well, says he,” I hope you will keep a decent one”. Thank you for the advice, says father. Father kept the store until he built the one we now occupy, and when that started some seventy years ago there was another big row with the Freeman’s. That family seemed to have a hate against father and his family. (That store had been built about 1850). (It in later years was the store of Edward Kempton, Milton’s first federal Postmaster, and father of photographer Gilbert Kempton).

          1845 was a good year for SM. Records reveals that he purchased from the Estate of Peleg Freeman a share in the Lower Sawmill, this time 1/18^th part. (Book 13/308).

          It was again in 1845 that he acquired 19/24 ths of the Middle Sawmill. This included the interests of Thomas and Curtis Kempton, and many heirs of Samuel Freeman, Sr. (Book 13 / 314).

          His sons were attaining that age to help the father in the business. Charles was born in 1833, John G. in 1838.  Some time later the daughter Matilda marr. James Collie and he became part of this Morton Enterprise.

          They were also involved with other ventures. A newspaper” The Liverpool Transcript” was their effort to improve this growing area. Many ships were being lost in terrible storms in the North Atlantic; they formed a new insurance company to assist in cargo recoveries. Shipbuilding was a big part of their enterprises and a marine railway was developed. Their warehouse was in great use because shipping could start loading there, no bridge obstruction to open sea existed.

          SM became interested in politics, and became a member of the Nova Scotia legislature before The Dominion of Canada was formed.

          Markets were so good that it looked like there would be no end to the prosperity. A terrible Civil War existed in the USA. A huge market existed for ships and these were loaded with lumber and other cargo and sold on the spot. A war existed in Crimea, and shipping demands there were great.  The spice trade with the Far East was tremendous, fast schooners were much in demand to rush cargo for those markets. Local business people needed better banks to finance these great possibilities. The Mortons started a bank called the Bank of Liverpool. Sylvanus Morton was president. Another bank, called the Bank of Acadia was also started and these services were well received.

          The people in these local communities placed their extra money into these ventures.

          Then the Civil War came to a sliding halt. The Crimean war was ended. Steamships took over with better and faster cargo moving. The banks went bankrupt. The effect was catastrophic. Laws then in effect required shareholders in banks to be liable for the amount of their shares and this was dubbed “Double Indemnity” Anybody with small or large wealth were destitute. Foreclosures were many, most property owners lost everything;. It was such a blow that this area never did recover from its wealth of the golden years.

          There were large auctions of land and properties in the years following 1870. The record books are full of these losses by so many. The Morton losses were totaled in the dollars of those days, if calculated in the year 2000 dollars, the amount would exceed 20 Million dollars as the Mortons losses.

          Sylvanus Morton himself never recovered from the losses. His two sons John G. and Charles E. saved some of their holdings, they had the store, they continued lumbering, and slowly did recover some of their old glory. There was a great exodus of young and older persons from this area after the banks failures blame for the failures were usually placed upon the shoulders of money grabbing Sylvanus Morton. He died in 1887, a broken old man, soon after his fourteen rooms house had burned to the ground.

          Later other forest products were manufactured in this area, but the days of Sawmills on Milton Falls had ended.

 

          HHW