Private, Company E, 5th United States Colored Cavalry By Robert
Morton, Great-Great-Great-Great Grandson Thomas Morton was born
in 1837, most likely as a slave on the plantation of Jonathan
Morton of Clark County KY. We know that on the 1850 census,
Jonathan Morton of Clark County, KY; reported on his slave
schedule that he owned a twelve year old male black slave at the
time, and no other slaves around that age (on the slave
schedules, slaves were only mentioned by age, gender, black or
mulatto). We believe that this twelve year old boy was Thomas
Morton. John Morton of Clark County, KY; was the brother of
Jonathan Morton and he also owned slaves at the time, but none
of his male slaves were around twelve years of age in 1850. The
reason that all of this information matters is because In 1865
John Morton, the brother of Jonathan Morton, signed the bed card
of his slave to receive a one-hundred dollar bounty for his
service in the Union Army and that slave's name was Thomas
Morton. Thomas Morton was twenty-se