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Courtesy U.S. Senate Historical Office
MORTON, Oliver Hazard Perry Throck (1823-1877)
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Senate Years of Service: 1867-1877

MORTON, OLIVER HAZARD PERRY THROCK, A Senator from Indiana; born in Salisbury, Wayne County, Ind., August 4, 1823; attended a private school in Springfield, Ohio; apprenticed to a hatter and worked at the trade four years; attended Wayne County Seminary, Centerville, Ind., and Miami University, Oxford, Ohio; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1847 and commenced practice in Centerville; elected judge of the sixth judicial circuit of Indiana in 1852; unsuccessful Republican candidate for Governor in 1856; elected lieutenant governor in 1860 and upon the election of the Governor to the United States Senate became Governor of Indiana in 1861; elected Governor in 1864; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1867; reelected in 1873 and served from March 4, 1867, until his death; chairman, Committee on Manufactures (Forty-first Congress), Committee on Agriculture (Forty-second Congress), Committee on Privileges and Elections (Forty-second through Forty-fifth Congresses); appointed a member of the Electoral Commission of 1877, to decide the contests in various states in the presidential election of 1876; died in Indianapolis, Ind., November 1, 1877; interment in Crown Hill Cemetery.

Brown University
Providence, RI
Papers: February 14, 1865. 1 item. Letter to Col. C.W. Foster notifying him that John Johnson has been recommended for a position in U.S. colored troops and will appear for an examination.
Franklin College Library
Special Collections
Franklin, IN
Papers: 3 speeches (July 18, 1866; February 9, 1870; March 3, 1874); and biographical sketches, clippings, and miscellaneous items in various collections. Finding aid.
Rutherford B. Hayes Library
Fremont, OH
Papers: 1862-1877. 40 items. Includes copies of correspondence from the Rutherford B. Hayes papers and other collections on various subjects.
Indiana Historical Society
Indianapolis, IN
Papers: 1860-1877. 99 letters, letterbooks (1864-1867), biography, speeches, and photographs. Finding aid.
Additional Papers: Correspondence, papers, and references in Noble Chase Butler papers, 1809-1933; Calvin Fletcher papers, 1817-1917; Benjamin Harrison papers, 1853-1940; William Robeson Holloway papers, 1824-1899; Henry Smith Lane papers, 1788-1881; Elijah Bishop Martindale papers, 1878-1907; Albert Gallatin Porter papers, 1759-1942; George A. Schumacher collection, 1879-1975; Katharine Smith family papers, 1820-1912; James Clifford Vetch papers, 1843-1895; and Lew Wallace papers, 1799-1923 (bulk 1846-1906). Finding aid.
Indiana State Archives
Indianapolis, IN
Papers: 1860-1867. 4 linear feet. Gubernatorial correspondence and papers, including telegraphic correspondence volumes and telegrams totalling approximately 13,000 messages, letterbooks, and papers relating to his gubernatorial administration during the Civil War. Available on microfilm. Finding aid.
Indiana State Library
Indianapolis, IN
Papers: 1805-1870. 4 boxes. Speeches, correspondence, political papers, and photographs. Finding aid.
Additional Papers: Correspondence in John Richard Brayton collection, 1861-1907; William Wesley Bordon papers, 1715-1906; Jefferson Columbus Davis papers, 1826-1873; John H. Holliday collection, 1850-1880; George Washington Julian papers, 1789-1902; and Anna W. Wright collection, 1855-1911. Finding aid.
Pierpont Morgan Library
New York, NY
Papers: 1863-1877. 5 items.
Stanford University Libraries
Special Collections
Stanford, CA
Papers: In Harwood family papers, 1722-1962.
State Historical Society of Wisconsin
Archives Division
Madison, WI
Papers: 1876. 1 item. Telegram from G.F. Edmonds and Morton to Senators Cameron and Christiancy concerning the Senate Investigating Committee and its power to inquire into the election of electors in order to see whether state laws were fairly executed.
University of Virginia
Alderman Library
Charlottesville, VA
Papers: Copy of a letter (1863) from Abel D. Streight describing conditions in Libby Prison, Richmond, Virginia in C. Brian Kelly papers, 1863-1978 (bulk 1959-1978).
Yale University Libraries
Manuscripts and Archives
New Haven, CT
Papers: November 1, 1866. 1 item. Letter to governor of Washington Territory recommending Luther R. Martin for commissioner of deeds. Also in Carrington family papers, 1749-1929.

  • Foulke, William Dudley. Life of Oliver P. Morton, Including His Important Speeches. 2 vols. 1899. Reprint. New York: AMS Press, 1974.
  • French, William M. Life, Speeches, State Papers and Public Services of Gov. Oliver P. Morton. Cincinnati: Moore, Wilstach, & Baldwin, 1864.
  • Fuller, A. James. Oliver P. Morton and the Politics of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Kent: Kent State University Press, 2017.
  • Nugent, Helen Jean M. "Louis Riel and Oliver P. Morton: The Oddest Couple.'' Indiana Magazine of History 79 (March 1983): 61-79.
  • U.S. Congress. Memorial Addresses on the Life and Character of Oliver P. Morton (a Senator from Indiana). 45th Cong., 2d sess., 1877-1878. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1878.
  • Walker, Charles Manning. Sketch of the Life, Character, and Public Services of Oliver P. Morton. Indianapolis: Indianapolis Journal, 1878.