From James Madison to Rufus King, 6 July 1825
To Rufus King
Montpellier July 6. 1825
Dear Sir
Mr. Morton1 of my neighbourhood will pass through London on a trip to Scotland with an object which he will explain to you. The esteem in which he is held by those best acquainted with him, induces me to introduce him to an opportunity of paying his respects to you, and of asking whatever friendly suggestions may be useful to him. He is accompanied by Capt: Glassel of the army of the U. States, whose personal worth is in full accordance with his professional reputation. Be pleased to accept Sir the assurance of my great consideration and cordial respects.
James Madison
RC (NHi: Rufus King Papers); draft (DLC). RC addressed by JM to King in London, with his direction: “Mr. Morton.” Docketed by King. Also on the cover, in an unidentified hand: “Mr. Morton Odell’s Lodging Carburton Street Portland Place.” Minor differences between the copies have not been noted.
1. Jeremiah Morton (1799–1878), an 1819 graduate of the College of William and Mary, practiced law briefly in Madison, Virginia, until poor health forced him to retire early in his career. In 1823 he married Mary Eleanor Jane Smith, a niece of James M. Glassell, with whom he took this voyage. On 6 July 1825 Morton had been given power of attorney by the Hume family of Kentucky to recover estates in Scotland that they believed they had inherited. On his return to Virginia, Morton turned to agricultural pursuits, accumulating a number of plantations in Orange and Culpeper counties. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Whig, 1849–51. He was a strong advocate for secession and was a member of the Virginia convention that voted to leave the Union in 1861. He sold much of his property, though not his slaves, invested heavily in Confederate bonds and lost it all at the end of the Civil War. He died at his daughter’s home, Lessland, in Orange County (Hayden, Virginia Genealogies [1973 reprint], 7–8, 19–20; John Robert Hume, History of the Hume Family [St. Louis, 1903], 81–85; Miller, Antebellum Orange, 139, 140–41).