Complete records of the trust fund are nonexistent, however from city records some fragments can be found, which include:
On May 3, 1838, the city council passed a resolution accepting the Morton School Fund. The resolution indicated:
“Received of James E. Davis, executor of William Morton, deceased, the sum of seven thousand dollars in cash notes indorsed by said Davis, being an advance upon the legacy of said Morton to the corporation of Lexington for the establishment of a school in the city of Lexington for the education of poor children. The said money being received from the executor for the purpose directed in said will, and to be applied as directed in said will of said Morton.”
“Given under our hands as the committee of Ways and Means for the city of Lexington appointed by the corporation to receive said legacy, this 28th of November, 1838.”
J. B. Johnson H. L Bradley
Attest: - P. LeGrand
In 1851, the city recorded receiving $561.96 from the Morton School Fund. In 1855, the city reported liabilities of “Bonds of the Morton School Fund, $9,366.” During 1860-61, the Morton estate was finally settled, with an additional $2,900 distributed to the city. In 1877, the school account indicated “Interest on Morton fund, $700.” In 1878, the account included $563.89 from the fund.
In August 1888, the city directed that the “deposit in the Third National Bank, amounting to about $1,666, be invested in some safe interest-bearing securities to be selected by the Mayor.” On June 3, 1889, the city transferred the remaining $1,613.89 from Third National Bank, to the city’s general fund. This is the final record of the fund.
During the 1890s, Mayor Henry T. Duncan indicated that “Mayor Foushee told me on two or three occasions that he had loaned the money to the city of Lexington, and had executed the city’s notes for that amount payable to the Morton School Fund, and that he had placed the notes with other valuable papers in the city’s box at the Security Trust and Safety Vault Company.” Mayor Duncan discovered the city’s box was empty.
At the time, Mayor Duncan stated “every child in Lexington has a direct interest in the proper execution of the Morton Fund and it is hoped that some day the city authorities will take the necessary steps to carry out and perpetually protect the wishes of William Morton.”
In August 1900, the City of Lexington agreed to transfer the “Forage Lot on Bruce Street,” (between Short and Second Street) to the Board of Education in exchange for the release of all claims arising from the misappropriation of the Morton Fund. The value of the lot was estimated at $500.[i]
[i] Lexington Leader, February 28, 1896, page 5, column 4, February 14, 1897, page 10, columns 1-6, April 15, 1897, page 5, columns 5-6.
