The cemetery file lists him as Merton Oxford. Some newspaper accounts of his death refer to him as Merton or Martin Oxford. Although his true full name was Alpha Morton Oxford, he never used his first name except as a middle initial, not even in military records. He was known simply as Morton or Mort.

Morton was the first of two boys born to Clara Lake and Edwin Oxford. In June 1898, he responded to America's call to arms and served with Company H, 7th Artillary Reg., Indiana Volunteers. The war with Spain concluded before he left Indianapolis but he was still assigned to Fort Barrancas, Florida, until discharged on 25 Feb 1899.

After he returned home, Morton had a disagreement with his father and he left, vowing not to return again. The 1900 census finds him temporarily in the household of Truman King, his grandmother's former husband. He re-enlisted in the Army on 29 Jan 1901 and served with Company M, 9th Infantry Regiment. He received his discharge, with Very Good rating, at Camp Skagway, Alaska, on 28 Jan 1904.

In 1905 and again in 1910, he wrote letters to his brother Will (by that time, he also had six living half-siblings by his father's second marriage). The last letter said he and his family were living in Olympia, Washington, and encouraged Will to come join him. After 1910, he was never heard from again and the Oxford family always wondered what might have happened to him.

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More recent research (in the latter 1990s) has revealed that he married a Jennie Rogers in 1908, in Multnomah County, Oregon. He and Jennie had two children, the first died after birth in 1909 and the second was born in 1910. From newspaper accounts, his marriage difficulties with Jennie resulted in him taking his life. The Masonic Cemetery files lists him as buried in R-58, L-3, B-91 and there is no stone.