Author's new book delves into life and times of Joy Morton
Long before Lisle became The Arboretum Village, there was a singular man who valued trees.
Joy Morton was a Nebraska farm boy who grew up to become a small-town banker, farmer, investor, city planner, corporate achiever and advocate for trees.
Born in 1855, Morton's first name, Joy, was his mother's family name. His father was J. Sterling Morton, the founder of Arbor Day and Secretary of Agriculture under President Grover Cleveland.
The young man's formal education ended when he was 15, although he also had three months at his uncle's business school. Morton gained experience by managing his family's farm and acquiring his own acreage, working on a railroad survey crew and hauling goods by wagon train.
When he was 17, a serious case of spinal meningitis sidelined him. The robust 6-foot, 2-inch outdoorsman was not able to leave Nebraska City for a career until his early 20s.
In a well-written and organized book - "A Man of Salt and Trees: The Life of Joy Morton" - author James Ballowe explores Morton's life and accomplishments.
Ballowe is a professor of English emeritus from Bradley University, a teacher with the arboretum's Naturalist Certificate Program, author of "A Great Outdoor Museum: The Story of the Morton Arboretum" and, until recently, a longtime board member of the Illinois State Museum.
His new book took six years to complete. Ballowe plowed through 50 boxes of letters and documents (Morton family members were prolific letter writers) at the Chicago History Museum as part of his research.
The result is an in-depth look at a familiar name on the suburban landscape.
"In Joy's lifetime, letter writing was not just a casual means of communication," Ballowe wrote. "Joy's family and friends reveal what they thought and felt, knowing that their correspondence might well be kept for a long period of time and read by others, or might even become part of the historical record."
By age 25, Morton had saved enough money to invest as a junior partner in a Chicago salt company, Ballowe wrote. Five years later, he owned the business that would become the Morton Salt Company.
He also played a role in Daniel Burnham's Plan of Chicago, financed advancements in the Teletype, planned construction of skyscrapers, funded explorations of Mississippi Indian culture and purchased a seat on the Board of Trade for $2,500.
Ballowe searched for Morton's motivation and says his subject clearly felt an obligation to give back to his hometown, Nebraska City, and created the Morton Library and Overland Opera House with that in mind. In 1923, he donated the Morton family's 52-room Arbor Lodge and its 65-acre arboretum to the state of Nebraska as its first park.
That sense of obligation to Nebraska, however, was tempered by what Ballowe says was Morton's disappointment in its electoral support for President William McKinley.
Through his Chicago community involvements and business interests that included banking, railroads and the salt industry, Morton was drawn to the political savvy and business potential of the big city where he would spend most of his life.
What brought Morton to Lisle, quite literally, was a new mechanical innovation - the motorcar. He delighted in exploring Illinois by car, despite frequent mechanical problems.
"I well remember the day when I first visited (Lisle)," Morton wrote a friend. "The view down the valley - is very beautiful."
Morton purchased 1,000 acres of hillside, woods and farmland for $100 an acre. A brook bisected his property that contained stands of native woods and productive farmland. Morton found Indian artifacts on an ancient trail running through the property.
On Thornhill Farm, Morton raised hogs, horses and cattle. He contributed to the large milk industry that distinguished Lisle. The estate, which provided Morton a respite, reminded him of his childhood. His 25-mile commute to his office in the city took only 50 minutes by train.
Morton's desire to leave a legacy led to thoughts of an arboretum. To that end, he and his wife traveled around the world touring botanical gardens and gathering ideas.
Back in Lisle he wrote, "Planted thousands of young evergreen trees, besides many shrubs and deciduous trees; the place is looking better than it ever has."
In his research, Ballowe found correspondences, documents and photographs at the Sterling Morton Library that detailed the arboretum plans of Morton; his son, Sterling Morton; his daughter, Jean Morton Cudahy; and Charles Sprague Sargent, director of Harvard's Arnold Arboretum for 50 years.
"Sargent had a tremendous influence on how Joy shaped his own arboretum," Ballowe said. "(Joy) wanted to confine the efforts to trees, including some flowers and shrubs only for effect."
"I want something to develop during the balance of my life on ground for which I have a personal affection," Morton wrote.
In the early 1920s, crews excavated the first pond and planted 23,750 pine trees at a cost of $1,500.
Morton later added 1,000 balsam and 1,000 Douglas fir from Wisconsin.
Morton heeded Sargent's advice to include in the arboretum a research library, herbarium, education component and trees from around the world within the same temperate region.
"A Man of Salt and Trees: The Life of Joy Morton" is a story of father and son relationships, balancing adversity and success, political and business savoir-faire, and a love story honoring "until death do us part. "
Ballowe will present a free program on Joy Morton and sign books at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, at the Lisle Library, 777 Front St. Register at lislelibrary.org and click on "calendar" or call (630) 971-1675.
He also will speak at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Chicago Cultural Center.
<p class="factboxheadblack">If you go</p> <p class="News"><b>What:</b> Presentation by James Ballowe, author of "A Man of Salt and Trees: The Life of Joy Morton"</p> <p class="News"><b>When:</b> 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10</p> <p class="News"><b>Where:</b> Lisle Public Library, 777 Front St. </p> <p class="News"><b>Cost:</b> Free</p> <p class="News"><b>Info:</b> <a href="http://lislelibrary.org" target="new">lislelibrary.org</a></p>