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Below is a family biography included in The History of Bedford County, Tennessee published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1887.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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Q. E. MORTON was born September 25, 1835, in Bedford County, Tenn., and is the son of Jacob and Annie (Fisher) Morton. The father was born February 17, 1787, in North Carolina, immigrated to Tennessee about 1814, and engaged in the blacksmith trade. He was the first alderman of Shelbyville. The mother was also a native of North Carolina, and her marriage to Jacob Morton, September 12, 1815, resulted in the birth of fourteen children. Our subject grew to manhood on the farm, and at the age of twenty began farming for himself, and this he continued very successfully up to the time of the late war. In the spring of 1861 he enlisted in the Confederate Army, in the Twenty-third Tennessee Infantry, remaining but thirteen months in the regular service, when he was appointed sutler of his regiment. He was soon captured, and upon being released returned home and engaged in agricultural pursuits, which he has continued up to the present time. Previous to the war, in 1855, he wedded Nancy M. Jackson, of this county. To them were born seven children: John J.; Martha E., wife of E. C. Barnes; Mark J., a practicing physician of Center Grove, who was born Septembers, 1864, and graduated from the medical department of the State University, of Nashville. Prior to entering the university he had studied medicine for three years. He has at present quite a good practice, which is constantly increasing. The fourth child of our subject is Q. Emmet; sixth, Rufus H., seventh Nannie R. and eighth James L. Mr. Morton is a Republican, and he and wife are members of the Primitive Baptist Church. He was elected magistrate in 1882, and this office he filled in a highly satisfactory manner.

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This family biography is one of the numerous biographies included in The History of Bedford County, Tennessee published in 1887 by Goodspeed.  The History of Bedford County was included within The History of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford & Marshall Counties of Tennessee. For the complete description, click here: History of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Beford and Marshall Counties of Tennessee

View additional Bedford County, Tennessee family biographies here

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