William Thomas Green Morton (August 9, 1819 – July 15, 1868) was an American dentist. In 1846, he publicly showed how inhaled ether could be used as a surgical anesthetic. He helped doctors and medical professionals accept the use of anesthesia during surgery.

Early life

William T. G. Morton was born in Charlton, Massachusetts, to James Morton, a miner, and Rebecca (Needham) Morton. Before attending college, he worked as a clerk, printer, and salesman in Boston. In 1840, he enrolled at the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. In 1841, he gained notoriety for creating a new method to attach false teeth to gold plates. In 1842, after graduating from college, he traveled to Hartford, Connecticut, to study with dentist Horace Wells and Dr. Nathan Cooley Keep. In 1843, he married Elizabeth Whitman of Farmington, Connecticut, who was the niece of former Congressman Lemuel Whitman. Her parents disapproved of his dental work and only agreed to the marriage after Morton promised to study medicine. In the autumn of 1844, Morton entered Harvard Medical School and attended lectures by Charles T. Jackson, who explained the anesthetic properties of ether. Morton later left Harvard without graduating.

Career

On September 30, 1846, Morton performed a painless tooth extraction. He used ether on Ebenezer Hopkins Frost (1824–1866). After reading a newspaper article about this event, Boston surgeon Henry Jacob Bigelow arranged for a famous demonstration of ether on October 16, 1846, at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) operating theatre. During this demonstration, John Collins Warren painlessly removed a tumour from the neck of Mr. Edward Gilbert Abbott. News of this use of ether spread quickly around the world. The first recorded use of ether outside the USA happened in London, England, by dentist James Robinson. He used it for a tooth extraction at the home of Francis Boote, an American doctor who had heard about Morton’s and Bigelow’s demonstrations. The MGH theatre became known as the Ether Dome and is preserved as a monument to this event. After the demonstration, Morton tried to hide the name of the substance Abbott inhaled. He called it “Letheon,” but it was soon discovered to be ether.

A month after the demonstration, a patent was issued for “Letheon.” However, people already knew the substance was ether. The medical community criticized the patent, calling it unfair for a profession focused on helping others. Morton told his colleagues he would not stop hospitals or charitable institutions from using ether. He claimed his goal for seeking a patent was to ensure ether was used safely, prevent misuse, and cover the costs of its development. Morton’s efforts to gain credit and profit from ether were complicated by his secretive and misleading actions during its development. Other doctors, especially his former business partner Horace Wells, also claimed credit for discovering ether. Wells ended their partnership after only three weeks, saying Morton was difficult to work with. Morton’s attempts to get patents in other countries also made people question his true intentions. Because of this, no one tried to enforce the patent, and ether became widely used.

In December 1846, Morton asked Congress for $100,000 in compensation. This request was complicated by claims from others, including Jackson and Wells, who said they discovered ether first. Horace Wells even wrote a letter to the Hartford Daily Courant, describing his experiments with anesthesia. He stated that Morton and Jackson had said ether was new to them. Wells preferred nitrous oxide over sulfuric ether for his experiments, believing it was less harmful. After others claimed credit for anesthesia, Morton made additional patent applications in 1849, 1851, and 1853. All failed. Later, Morton tried to sue the U.S. government for payment. His lawyer was Richard Henry Dana Jr.

Morton became more well-known when he was a key witness in the trial of John White Webster, who was accused of murdering George Parkman. Morton’s rival, Dr. Jackson, testified for the prosecution. People in Boston were eager to see Morton and Jackson face off in court. Morton’s former tutor, Dr. Nathan Cooley Keep, identified the artificial teeth used by Parkman in the remains found. Morton first disagreed with Keep’s claim but later agreed with him.

In 1852, Morton received an honorary degree from the Washington University of Medicine in Baltimore, which later became the College of Physicians and Surgeons.

In the spring of 1857, Amos A. Lawrence, a wealthy Bostonian, along with doctors and other influential Boston citizens, planned to raise $100,000 as a national tribute to Morton. Contributions came from both the public and private sectors.

Morton served the public again in the autumn of 1862 when he volunteered as a surgeon in the Army of the Potomac. He used ether on more than 2,000 wounded soldiers during battles at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and the Wilderness.

Death

In July 1868, Morton was in New York City. He was traveling in a carriage with his wife when he suddenly asked the driver to stop. Morton then ran into the lake in Central Park "to cool off." This unusual action was caused by a serious stroke (cerebrovascular incident), which led to his death shortly after.

Morton was taken to a nearby hospital called St. Luke's. His wife later told others that when the chief surgeon saw Morton, he said something to his students.

She then showed the surgeon three medals, explaining that these were the only awards Morton had ever received for his work.

Morton is buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery, which is located in Watertown and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Legacy

In 1871, a group of people who helped raise money for a national tribute published The Historical Memoranda Relative to the Discovery of Etherization. This document aimed to give Morton credit as the inventor and first person to share the use of anesthetic inhalation. It also supported giving a financial reward to Morton’s family because of the serious moral and legal challenges Morton faced while working on this discovery.

Morton’s life and achievements were later the subject of the 1944 movie The Great Moment by Paramount Pictures. His story was also turned into a radio play titled Dishonour Be My Destiny in Australia.

The first use of ether as an anesthetic is honored by the Ether Monument in Boston’s Public Garden. However, the monument’s designers did not take sides in the debate about who should receive credit for the discovery. Instead, the statue shows a doctor wearing medieval Moorish-style clothing and a turban.

Morton’s first public success in using ether as an inhalation anesthetic was a major and widely reported event. Because of this, many people believe he was the “inventor and revealer” of anesthesia. However, Morton was not the first to use ether. In 1842, Georgia surgeon Crawford Williamson Long used ether as an anesthetic. Long shared his work with doctors in Georgia many times but did not publish his findings until 1849 in The Southern Medical and Surgical Journal. These early uses of ether were important steps in the development of the medical field now called anesthesiology, which made modern surgery possible. The spread of news about this “new” anesthetic was partly helped by a later disagreement between Morton and Horace Wells and Charles T. Jackson.

Morton’s son, William J. Morton, was a well-known doctor and expert in electrotherapeutics.

Personal life

He and his wife had five children: William James Morton (1845–1920), Marion Alethe Morton (1847–unknown, but alive after 1865), Edward Whitman Morton (1848–unknown, but alive after 1870), Elizabeth Whitman Morton (1850–1922), and Bowditch Nathaniel Morton (1857–1909).