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Julius Sterling Morton
J. Sterling Morton, in full
Julius Sterling Morton, (born April 22, 1832, Adams, N.Y., U.S.—died April 27, 1902, Lake Forest, Ill.), U.S. secretary of agriculture under President Grover Cleveland (1893–97) and founder of Arbor Day.
In 1854 Morton settled in the Nebraska Territory, where he founded and edited the
Nebraska City News and became active in local Democratic politics. He served in the territorial legislature (1855–56; 1857–58) and in 1858 was named by President James Buchanan to the post of territorial secretary. He served as secretary and later as acting governor until 1861. After Nebraska’s admission to the Union in 1867, Morton ran four unsuccessful campaigns for governor. From 1893 to 1897 Morton served as secretary of agriculture in the Grover Cleveland administration.