Morris Family of New York

MORRIS FAMILY OF NEW YORK. The founder of the family in America was Richard Morris (1616–1672), a veteran of Cromwell's army, who became a merchant in Barbados and married the wealthy Sarah Pole. With his brother Lewis (1601–1691), he bought 500 acres in New York just north of the Harlem River, then known as Bronck's land (now the Bronx). Richard and Sarah Morris died there in 1672, only two years after the purchase, and their infant son, Lewis (1671–1746), was adopted by his uncle Lewis. Lewis Morris (1601–1691) built the Bronx estate to almost 2,000 acres and also acquired 3,500 acres in Monmouth County, New Jersey, all of which he passed on to his nephew and ward in 1691. In May 1697 the New York estate became the manor of Morrisania. Richard and Sarah's son Lewis (1671–1746) then became first lord of the manor, a title that passed to his son Lewis (1698–1762), the second lord, who passed it on to his son, Lewis Morris (1726–1798), the third (and last) lord of the manor and a Signer. Lewis the Signer's brother Staats Long (1728–1800) served in the British army, although not in America during the Revolution. Another brother, Richard (1730–1810), was chief justice of the supreme court of the state of New York. And his half-brother, Gouverneur Morris (1752–1816), was a delegate to the Continental Congress, a close associate of Robert Morris, the so-called "Financier of the Revolution" (who was no kin), one of the architects of the Constitution, and minister plenipotentiary to France. Lewis the second lord's brother, Robert Hunter Morris (c. 1714–1764), was chief justice of New Jersey and governor of Pennsylvania, and his illegitimate son Robert (c. 1745–1815) became chief justice of the state of New Jersey in 1777.

SEE ALSO Morris, Gouverneur; Morris, Lewis; Morris, Robert (1734–1806); Morris, Robert Hunter; Morrisania, New York.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Howard, Ronald W. "Lewis Morris." American National Biography Online at www.anb.org.

Lefferts, Elizabeth Morris Waring. Descendants of Lewis Morris of Morrisania. New York: T. A. Wright, 1907.

Mintz, Max M. "Gouverneur Morris." American National Biography Online at www.anb.org.

――――――. Gouverneur Morris and the American Revolution. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1970.

                             revised by Harold E. Selesky