The Champion of Trees
- davidwilson100
- Jan 15
- 3 min read
Who isn’t familiar with the blue salt containers showing the girl wearing a yellow dress and holding an umbrella with the slogan “when it rains, it pours?” And what does that have to do with a “champion of trees” in the towns along the Q? Joy Sterling Morton, co-founder of the Morton Salt Company, loved trees, and ultimately converted his Lisle, Illinois estate into the Morton Arboretum.
The story begins on plains of Nebraska where Julius Sterling Morton was appointed Nebraska Territorial Secretary in 1858. Morton advocated for planting of trees to stop soil erosion on farms. Morton’s love of trees, however, went far beyond that practical advocacy; trees were virtually a way of life. He established the family motto: Plant Trees.
Using his position as editor of the Nebraska City News, the state’s first newspaper to increase pubic awareness of the importance of trees. In 1872, Morton proposed a designated day for the planting of trees. The first Arbor Day was held in Nebraska on April 10th of that year. Morton was quoted in the Omaha Daily Record newspaper, saying “there is no aristocracy in trees. They are not haughty. They will thrive near the humblest cabin on our fertile prairies, just as well and become just as refreshing to the eye and as fruitful as they will in the shadow of a king’s palace.”
In the mid-1880s, Morton’s sons, Joy Sterling Morton and his brother, Mark, by then living in Chicago, acquired an interest in a small salt distributor Richmond & Company in 1886, that ultimately became Morton Salt Company. Over the subsequent decades, Joy Morton derived substantial wealth from the company. In 1909, he acquired a rural tract of land along the DuPage River, north of the sleepy hamlet of Lisle, twenty-five miles west of Chicago.
Morton established a 1200-acre estate which he named Thornhill Farm (accompanied by the adjacent Lisle Farms), later expanded to 2000-acres. He used the Lisle Farms property as a dairy farm, and as a site for experimentation with scientific animal husbandry, raising Yorkshire pigs, Holstein cattle and Dorset sheep. Foremost in Morton’s mind, though, were trees.
Morton planted thousands of trees on his extensive property, and pondered ways in which he could share his love of trees with the general public. Over the next several years Morton toured arboretums throughout the United States and Europe, honing his vision of the establishment of an arboretum of his own. Initially considering working cooperatively with the newly formed Forest Preserve District of DuPage County. Morton instead established the Morton Arboretum as a privately-controlled trust, and donated 419 acres of the Thornhill Estate. Morton appointed seven family members and two Morton Salt executives to life terms on the Board of Trustees, ensuring long-term continuity of leadership and fulfillment of goals.
The Arboretum was formally dedicated on December 14, 1922, with Joy Morton as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees. Leaving day-to-day management of Morton Salt Company to others, Morton devoted full time to development of his sylvan paradise until his sudden death at age 78 in 1934. He was interred in the Morton family burial plot on the Thornhill property – a tiny family cemetery that still occupies a corner of the Arboretum.
His daughter Jean took over as Chairman of the Board of Trustees. Jean Morton Cudahy, son Sterling Morton, and granddaughter Suzette Morton Davidson all served in succession as Chairs of the Board of The Morton Arboretum until 1977, when direct Morton family involvement in direction of the Arboretum Trust ended.
Following Joy Morton’s death, his widow, Margaret, lived another six years in the Thornhill mansion until 1940 - the last Morton to live at Thornhill - leaving the estate to their children Jean and Sterling. Margaret was later memorialized by the naming of one of the Arboretum lakes Lake Marmo. Neither Jean nor Sterling had any interest in keeping Thornhill as a residence. The house was demolished and replaced by the Thornhill Education Center. The new structure incorporated the library, now known as the Founder’s Room, from the former home.
Since its founding, the Arboretum has expanded to 1,700 acres, featuring, in addition to the trees themselves, the Sterling Morton Library, visitors center, children’s garden, herbarium, restored tallgrass prairie, Center for Tree Science, hiking trails, driving roadways, and education programs. The living collections include more than 4,100 different plant species among the more than 200,000 cataloged plants. The Morton Arboretum stands as a fitting monument to the family motto – Plant Trees.
Comments