Roots of John Morton in Finland

The Signers of the United States Declaration of Independence
represented several nationalities. The leading politician John
Morton (1725–1777) from Pennsylvania stood out from many
others because his roots were in Northern Europe. His great
grandfather, Mårten Mårtensson, Senior (1607–1706), had moved
to the New Sweden colony along the Delaware River in 1654.
Morton's ethnic origin has been disputed for decades. A key factor
is the background of his great grandfather. At the time, Finland
was part of the Kingdom of Sweden. Mårtensson was one of the
several thousand people who emigrated from Finland to Central
Sweden in the 1500s and 1600s, known as the Forest Finns. In
America, Mårtensson established his home in Ammansland
(Prospect Park), in what is now Pennsylvania.
Our research brings together information about John Morton's roots
in Europe and colonial New Sweden. Thereafter, we will focus
on the methods of genetic genealogy and the male Y-DNA study.
Genealogical paternal tests show that John Morton represented
the male haplogroup N typical of many Finns. We can conclude
that his ethnic roots are in the South-East of Finland.

Auvo Kostiainen retired Professor at the University of Turku in Finland.

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