Grant Morton born William H. Morton is one of the first people to successfully attempt skydiving, and is sometimes credited with the first skydive and jump from a powered aeroplane, in 1911. Supposedly, at age 54, Morton, a veteran career parachutist, made the first dive by jumping from a Wright Model B over Venice, California.
On May 15, 1905 Grant Morton ascended in a balloon to 5,000 feet. At some point he became injured and began bleeding becoming unconscious but descending safely with his body lashed to the balloon's trapeze. On July 2, 1905 Morton was nearly killed during an exhibition at Urbita Springs, San Bernardino, California. He was ascending in a hot-air balloon when the balloon hit tree limbs and gas began to escape. The balloon, however, reached a height of 200 feet before falling rapidly and hitting another tree. Morton was taken to the county hospital with a broken shoulder amongst other injuries but was expected to recover. Some weeks later in August 1905 Morton had another incident in a balloon, again at Urbita Springs, when the balloon he was ascending in became a runaway and Morton jumped clear allowing the vessel to float away on its own. Because of his various injuries Morton had become incapacitated by October and was unable to work putting him and his wife in poverty. His wife sought to go out and work which angered Morton and he is reported to have engaged in spousal abuse over his wife working against his wishes.
An article in Air and Space Magazine published by the Smithsonian makes a claim that U.S. Army Captain Albert Berry was the first to jump from a powered airplane on March 1, 1912 and that Morton did so on April 28, 1912 which would certainly give credit to Berry, providing it was Morton's first airplane jump and not his second or third. The article states Morton's jump of April 28, 1912 to have been at 2,600 feet over Venice Beach with Phil Parmalee as his pilot. Several accounts published throughout the last one hundred years consistently give the 1911 jump date for Morton' first airplane jump and that it was at 4,000 plus feet and closer to Los Angeles itself, Venice Beach being a suburb of the larger city. This would be a difference of over 1400 feet, significant differences in altitude.
