Old Chester, PA: Schools: Morton

Morton School, May Day 1946
Photo courtesy of Jane Ayars (McGRATH), janemcgrath@prodigy.net, 6th girl from the left!

"4th girl on the left (behind another girl) is my mother, Lillian Ritzel (Lovenick)"
- Tammy Rodewonuk (Ritzel)

"The one right in the front, a little to the left is my sister....Linda Wells... She has on the dark shoes, and her hair is shoulder length. Linda is now Linda Faughn and lives in Danville, VA"
- Ella Moyes

Principals:

	Sarah J. Parker (c. 1928, 1929)
	Mary Cummings (? - 1950 - ?) - 2

Faculty:

Some Teachers:

"I have some names of teachers I had when I went to Morton School." - 1

1942 First Grade Miss Brown
1943 Second Grade Miss Cummings*
1944 Third Grade Mary Lawton
1945 Fourth Grade Elizabeth A Scott
1946 Fifth Grade A.E. Lawton
1947 Sixth Grade Miss Cummings*

*The 2 Miss Cummings were sisters.

Staff:

Sports:

Some Coaches/Athletic Directors:

Classes:

An early class picture

School History:

The following sketch on the naming of the school is from the Manual of the Public Schools of the City of Chester, PA, compiled from "standard authorities" and with the assistance of Henry Graham Ashmead, Esq.:

"John Morton, whose name the Morton School bears, was born in Ridley Township, Delaware County, Pa., in 1724. He was a surveyor and farmer. In 1757 he was commissioned justice of the peace. In 1765 he was appointed a member of the Pennsylvania delegation to the First Continental Congress at New York. In 1767-8 he was Sheriff of Chester County. From 1765 to 1776 he was a member of the General Assembly, and in 1775-6 served as Speaker of that body. In 1774 he was appointed an Associate Judge of the Supreme Provincial Court of Pennsylvania. In 1776 he advocated, voted for and signed the Declaration of Independence. He died early in 1777, while dark clouds still hung over the patriot cause, and those who had championed it in the middle colonies were objects of deep hatred and fierce hostility. His prediction that time would vindicate him, and that his signing of the Declaration would be considered the greatest deed of his life, has been abundantly fulfilled. In the history of Delaware County there is today no greater name than his."