Morton-Johnson Home in Gray, GA

Organizing Regent

Mrs. Addie Kate Morton Johnson

Organized

February 22, 1922

Charter Members

Mrs. Addie Kate Morton Johnson

Mrs. Mary Blount Andrews

Mrs. Annie Morton Bullard

Mrs. Minnie B. Henderson Finney

Miss Mary Burney Jordan

Mrs. Nora Morton Lancaster

Miss Fannie E. Moore

Miss Fleta White Person

Mrs. Lula Kennon Roberts

Mrs. Lottie Thompson Williams

Mrs. Leola Conner Ivey

Mrs. Sara Marie Roberts Pursley

The Oliver Morton Chapter, D.A.R. was organized by Mrs. Addie Kate Morton Johnson in her home in Gray, Georgia, Jones County on February 22, 1922.  The chapter was named for Oliver Morton, the Revolutionary ancestor of Mrs. Johnson and several other charter members of the chapter.  Mrs. Addie Kate Johnson became the first regent of the chapter. There were 12 charter members.  The organizing Regent left a “Morton Johnson Scholarship Fund,” and asked the chapter to name the recipients of this fund each year.

Our Founder

Addie Kate Morton Johnson

Addie Kate Morton was born on March 3, 1873.  She was the daughter of Edmund T. Morton who served in the War Between the States.  Her paternal grandparents were Oliver H. and Catherine Harris Morton.

Addie Kate eventually married Judge F. Holmes Johnson and they resided in a charming house in the heart of Gray. That home is still standing today on Highway 22, just north of the railroad tracks.  Addie Kate and Judge Johnson had one child, Richard Morton Johnson.  While in his young teens, Richard was killed in a tragic train accident.

A niece of Mrs. Johnson and Oliver Morton Chapter members remembers visiting in the Johnson home as a child.  There she enjoyed the beloved black and white terrier, Peter Pan, and a very colorful parrot who resided in a cage in the living room during chilly weather.  The backyard was home to a flock of pigeons.  She remembers that Mrs. Johnson was a true Southern lady who hosted high school proms in her spacious yard.

Upon her death in 1953, Mrs. Johnson directed that a portion of her estate be used to establish a scholarship in memory of her son.  It was called the Morton Johnson Scholarship Fund and was to be used for the higher education of deserving boys and girls of Jones County.  In the beginning there was only one scholarship awarded each year.  Those first scholarships were considerably less than the $1000 awarded to recipients today.  For the 2007-2008 school year, eleven $1000 scholarships were given to deserving students.

Addie Kate Morton Johnson’s generosity in setting up the Morton Johnson Scholarship Fund has touched the lives of many students and promises to help many more in the future.