Julia Taylor Morton passed away peacefully, in the loving presence of family on July 20. She was 100 years old. Morton, wife of the late Hugh Morton, will be remembered for her spirit, grace and stewardship of Grandfather Mountain. Her family remembers her as warm and friendly and as a beautiful, refined lady.
Morton was born in 1926 at her home at Justamere Farm in Greensboro, N.C. Her parents were Wesley Taylor and Catherine Buisson Taylor. Morton was a precocious and diligent little girl who attended Greensboro public schools, followed by boarding school at Chatham Hall in Chatham, Va.
In 1942, Morton entered Woman’s College in Greensboro, where she graduated in just three years after being awarded admission to the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. Later that same summer, she met Hugh MacRae Morton. The two were married on Dec. 8, 1945, at the First Presbyterian Church in Greensboro.
The Mortons had four children together: Julia (Judy) MacRae, Hugh MacRae Jr., James (Jim) McKay and Catherine Walker. The Morton family grew as Hugh and Julia became grandparents to Hugh (Crae) MacRae III and John (Jack) McGee. Hugh and Julia also had three great-grandchildren: Clyde MacRae, Margaret Hanes and James Ford.
Morton led quite the fulfilling life and held many notable achievements. She volunteered with Avery Literacy, teaching reading and math and helping adults study for the GED test. She was known for decades of community volunteer work across the state. In 1973, she was elected to the University of North Carolina Board of Governors. She served in this capacity for 16 years, was elected Vice Chairman of the Board and headed the committee that selected Dick Spangler to succeed President Bill Friday to lead the 16-campus university system.
“We are heartbroken by the loss of Julia Morton, and we extend our deepest condolences to the Morton Family,” said Jesse Pope, president and CEO of the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation. “Julia’s life was marked by faith, grace and a rare ability to make people feel seen and welcomed. She was Hugh Morton’s steadfast partner and one of Grandfather Mountain’s most cherished champions – helping carry forward the legacy of conservation, public access and love for this mountain. Her spirit will remain woven into Grandfather Mountain, and we will honor her by continuing the work she so beautifully advocated for and supported.”
Morton’s greatest legacy perhaps came to be in 2009, after the death of her husband, when she led the creation of the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation. By contributing sole ownership of the tourist attraction via a donation of the only remaining share of Grandfather Mountain, her generosity changed the Mortons’ family business into a not-for-profit organization that continues to make Grandfather Mountain accessible to the public while investing its resources in education, conservation and preservation of the natural world. Morton’s generosity permanently protects Grandfather’s wonders for the people of N.C. and beyond.
“Julia Morton was a treasure for Grandfather Mountain and Avery County,” said Jon Barrett, board chair of the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation. “Her generosity and foresight resulted in the creation of Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation, which continues to enable countless visitors to experience, explore and enjoy in perpetuity the natural wonders of this unique habitat of flora and fauna. We will always remember and be grateful for her presence among us and, especially, for her legacy to leave Grandfather Mountain open to the people of North Carolina and beyond.”
Morton was truly the woman behind the scenes at Grandfather Mountain for many decades and, in her later years, continued to impact the mountain in grand ways that have honored her family, the natural world and those who travel from far and wide to enjoy the mountain.
“Mrs. Morton was one of Grandfather Mountain’s most beloved ambassadors,” said Pope. “Hugh Morton was Mr. Enthusiasm and Mr. Hospitality, inviting the whole world up to see and enjoy his mountain. Julia Morton was the woman behind the man that made it easy for him to be so gracious. Whenever Hugh played host, Julia was his consummate hostess.”
Each June, Julia would join Gaye and Clara Hartley in cooking up a huge picnic to feed all the entertainers at the Singing on the Mountain. In August, she would coordinate hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill at Grandfather’s Let-It-Rain Picnic Shelter to feed the dozens of news photographers who came to Grandfather for the N.C. Press Photographer’s Camera Clinic. And in September, she invited 40-50 hang glider pilots and contest officials to her home for a chicken dinner as part of the Masters of Hang Gliding Championship.
Perhaps the best-known story about Julia Morton as a hostess dates to the 1974 Singing on the Mountain. After the concert, Mr. Morton invited June Carter and Johnny Cash to dinner at their home. He assured Julia that she would only be feeding three couples — but he did not anticipate that Cash would be bringing along an entourage of musicians and road crew.
When the caravan arrived, Julia was horrified to discover she had nowhere near enough food to feed the unexpected guests. Hugh’s assistant, Dick Barkley, was dispatched throughout the neighborhood, knocking on doors and searching freezers for chicken, steaks, pork chops, or trout — anything Julia could throw on the grill to satisfy the hungry crowd.
Then Julia learned it was also June Carter Cash’s birthday. Determined to be a proper hostess, she sent her daughter, Judy, to the freezer to retrieve a pound cake, which was quickly thawed and decorated for the birthday festivities.
For Julia, the evening became the biggest entertaining nightmare of her life — a dinner party that had spun completely out of control. Years later, however, the story took on a much happier ending. Upon being introduced to Roseanne Cash during a Nashville recording session, Tim Smith, nephew of Singing on the Mountain Music Master Arthur Smith, mentioned that they had met years earlier at the Morton home after Singing on the Mountain. Roseanne immediately remembered the evening with affection.
“That,” Roseanne said with a smile, “was the best family vacation we ever had.”
Not only did Morton carry forward the legacy of Grandfather Mountain but, she also provided her husband’s photograph and film works to the North Carolina Collection at Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill so that his photographs could be preserved and enjoyed for generations to come. An estimated 250,000 negatives and slides spanning eight decades from the 1930s to the early 2000s were included in this donation.
Julia Morton was preceded in death by her husband, Hugh Morton, and two sons, Hugh Morton Jr. and James McKay Morton. She is survived by her two daughters, Judy Morton and Catherine Morton; a daughter-in-law, Pansy McGee Morton; her two grandsons and their wives, Crae Morton (Mamie Morton) and Jack Morton (Adrienne Morton); and her three great-grandchildren, Clyde, Margaret and James.
The family requests those who wish to express sympathy to consider making a memorial donation in honor of Julia Taylor Morton to the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation at P.O. Box 129, Linville, N.C. 28646. Online contributions to the Stewardship Foundation may be made at www.grandfather.com/donate. In addition, memorial donations may be made in Morton’s honor to Amorem Hospice at 902 Kirkwood Street NW, Lenoir, N.C. 28645, or to Holy Cross Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 645, Valle Crucis, N.C. 28691.
The nonprofit Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation strives to inspire conservation of the natural world through education, exploration and example. For more information, visit www.grandfather.com.