Editing Levi P. Morton (section)

===Businessman===
Morton decided on a business career, and in 1838 he began work as a [[general store]] clerk in [[Enfield, Massachusetts]].<ref name="Red_Book"/> He taught school in [[Boscawen, New Hampshire]], and engaged in mercantile pursuits in [[Hanover, New Hampshire]], then moved to [[Boston]] to work in the Beebe & Co. importing business.<ref name="Red_Book"/> He eventually settled in New York City, where he entered the [[dry goods]] business in partnership with [[George Blake Grinnell]] and became a successful cotton broker.<ref name="Red_Book"/> He then established himself as one of the country's top investment bankers in a firm he founded, Morton, Bliss & Co., which was later reorganized as the Morton Trust Company.<ref name="Red_Book"/>

During the [[American Civil War]], Morton supported the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]].<ref name="SenateHistorian"/> Unable to obtain cotton from the southern states because of the Union blockade, Morton suspended his cotton business for the duration of the conflict.<ref name="SenateHistorian"/> After the war, Morton and his British partner, [[Sir John Rose, 1st Baronet|Sir John Rose]], recovered their financial positions and improved their political fortunes by using their contacts to assist the United States and England to settle the [[Alabama Claims|''Alabama'' Claims]].<ref name="SenateHistorian"/> When England agreed to pay a $15 million settlement (about $307 million in 2020), Morton's bank was chosen to facilitate payments to claimants in the United States.<ref name="SenateHistorian"/>

In addition to operating Morton, Bliss & Co., Morton was active in several other businesses. These included the board of directors of the New York Viaduct Railway Company,<ref>{{cite magazine |date=July 15, 1871 |title=The New-York Viaduct Railway Company |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mp5GAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA84-IA4 |magazine=[[Appletons' Journal]] |location=New York |publisher=D. Appleton & Company |page=iv |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> Guaranty Trust Company,<ref>{{cite magazine |date=January 1910 |title=The Trust Company Merger |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fg5HAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA50 |magazine=Trust Companies |location=New York |pages=49–50 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> Washington Life Insurance Company,<ref>{{cite book |date=1889 |title=The Washington Life Insurance Company: Historical, Actuarial and Medical Statistics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dGsaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA7 |location=New York |publisher=Washington Life Insurance Company |page=7 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> Home Insurance Company,<ref>{{cite magazine |date=January 1905 |title=Strong Statement of the Home Insurance Company |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eQEwYSB5xeoC&pg=PA14 |magazine=The Insurance Age |location=New York |publisher=Matthew Griffin |page=14 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> and [[Equitable Holdings|Equitable Life Assurance Society]].<ref>{{cite magazine |date=1909 |title=Equitable Life Assurance Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BZ1EAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA216 |magazine=The Insurance Year Book |location=New York |publisher=The Spectator Company |page=216 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> In addition, he was an investor in numerous ventures, including the [[Mexico North Western Railway|Rio Grande, Sierra Madre & Pacific Railway]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Powell |first=Fred Wilbur |date=1921 |title=The Railroads of Mexico |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nj8aAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA157 |location=Boston |publisher=The Stratford Co. |page=157 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> Virginia Iron, Coal & Coke Company,<ref>{{cite magazine |date=August 30, 1902 |title=Virginia Iron, Coal and Coke Company |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9XggAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA8-PA17 |magazine=The Age of Steel |location=St. Louis |publisher=Journal of Commerce Co. |page=17 |via=[[Google Books]] }}</ref> and Intercontinental Rubber Company.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=August 1910 |title=Intercontinental Rubber Company |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dncpAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA179 |magazine=The Ticker and Investment Digest |location=New York |publisher=Ticker Publishing Company |page=179 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> Morton also maintained a farm on his estate, where he raised prizewinning horses and cattle.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=November 5, 1892 |title=Vice-President Morton's Farm |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cQznAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA431 |magazine=[[The Illustrated American]] |location=New York |publisher=The Illustrated American Publishing Company |page=431 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

In 1909, Morton received an offer from [[J. P. Morgan]] to merge the Morton company with the [[J.P. Morgan & Co.#Morgan Guaranty Trust|Morgan Guaranty Trust Company]].<ref name="SenateHistorian">{{cite web |url=https://www.senate.gov/about/officers-staff/vice-president/morton-levi.htm |title=Levi Parsons Morton, 22nd Vice President (1889–1893) |last=Historian of the United States Senate |website=Senate.gov |publisher=U.S. Senate |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date=May 15, 2020}}</ref> He accepted, after which he retired from most business pursuits.<ref name="SenateHistorian"/>