The following is a biographical profile on Sir Isaiah Morter (1860-1924):

• Sir Isaiah Morter was born in Freetown District of Belize and was known as the Man of the Soil
• His Godfather one ‘Old Sowden’ a member of the thrifty, industrial and relatively wealthy community of the African descent provided young Isaiah Morter with a dory and a piece of land on which to grow bananas where he became very successful.
• With the hard work and diligence he placed into the Banana Industry, Mr. Morter’s plantation became very successful. Thereafter, he had acquired another piece of land which was the offshore island of Caye Chapel where he cultivated coconuts on a large scale.
• After Mr. Morter’s grandfather ‘Old Sowden’ saw how potential and successful he was, he decided to leave him his fortune in cash which he used to purchase a more extensive property in the Capital.
• Mr. Morter had retired in Belize City where he became more familiar with the Belizeans who referred to him as “Guinea Sigar” because he always had a cigar clenched between his teeth.
• Sir Isaiah Morter became a stalwart member and supporter of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (U.N. I. A.) founded by Marcus Garvey.
• He was fully supportive of Mr. Garvey’s endeavors which included improving the abundance of the Negro population and encourage them to return to Africa.
• After this was met, Mr. Garvey had given Mr. Morter an award that distinguished the U.N.I.A. honor which was the Knight Commander of Distinguish Order of Ethiopia, and a trip to New York to secure his medical condition.
• By 1922, Mr. Morter’s illness had become severely worse so Mr. Garvey had provided him with a Trinidadian nurse by the name of Ms. Lawrence who took care of him until he died in 1924.

In Mr. Morter’s will, he had left a sum of $100,000 in property to the U.N.I.A. in New York for the fund of African salvation.

How to cite: ISCR/NICH. “Sir Isaiah Morter (1860-1924).” Belize’s Heroes, Patriots & Benefactors Exhibit. Retrieved from: [Insert BHA Website URL]

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