mation of the coalition government in that year, and also in advocating confederation, which he had long before proposed. In 1869 Mr. Morris be- came a member of the pri'7 council of Canada, and minister of inland revenue. From July till December, 1872, he was the first chief justice of the court of Queen's bench of Manitoba, and he was then appointed lieutenant-governor of that prov- ince and the Northwest Territories, and subse- quently he became also governor of the district of Keewatin. He became a commissioner of Indian affairs for Manitoba and the Northwest Territories, 16 June, 1873, and took part in that capacity in negotiating treaties with various tribes, whereby the government acquired the title to an area of country extending from the highlands above Lake Superior westward to the Rocky mountains, and covering the line of the Pacific railway. He was appointed in January, 1876, a commissioner respect- ing the land-claims of settlers in Manitoba, and re- tired from his lieutenant-governorship in 1877. In 1878 Mr. Morris was an unsuccessful candidate for Selkirk. Manitoba, for the Dominion parliament ; but in December of that year he was elected for Toronto East to the Ontario legislature, where he held a seat till 1886, when he retired, owing to failing health. He is a Conservative, was appoint- ed Queen's counsel by the Dominion government in 1881, has been president of St. Andrew's society, Montreal, a governor of the university of McGill college, and is chairman of the board of trustees of Queen's university, Kingston. He is the author of " Canada and her Resources," a prize essay pre- pared for the Paris exhibition ; " Nova Britannia," a lecture (Montreal, 1858) ; " The Hudson Bay and Pacific Territories," a lecture (Toronto, 1884) ; " The Treaties of Canada with the Indians of the North- west " (1880) ; and " Nova Britannia," a collection of speeches and lectures on confederation (1869).
MORRIS, William Walton, soldier, b. in Balls-
ton Springs, N. Y., 31 Aug., 1801; d. in Balti-
more, Md., 11 Dec, 1865. He was graduated at the
U. S. military academy in 1820, became 1st lieuten-
ant in 1823, participated in the attack on the In-
dian towns in the Arickaree expedition in that
year, and in 1824 was transferred to the artillery.
During the Seminole war he commanded a bat-
talion of Creek volunteers, with the rank of major,
formed the advance of Gen. Thomas S. Jessup's
command, and, marching into Florida to the assist-
ance of the state troops and those under Col. Zach-
ary Taylor, participated in the battle of Wahoo
Swamp, 26 Nov., 1836, For his conduct on that
occasion he was promoted captain. His services in
the subsequent engagements of this campaign won
him the brevet of major in 1837. He served on the
Canadian frontier in the border disturbances of
1839, during the Mexican war was major of the ar-
tillery battalion of the army of occupation, and
was engaged at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma.
He had devoted much study to military law be-
tween 1839 and 1846, and in the latter year was ap-
pointed military governor and alcalde' of the city
of Tapieo, subsequently assuming the same duties
in Puebla, where he remained until the close of the
war. He was promoted major in 1853, engaged in
the Seminole war of 1856-'7, was on frontier duty
the next year, and also served in quelling the Kan-
sas disturbances. He became colonel in 1861, and
during the civil war he was stationed at Fort Mc-
Henry, Baltimore. Md. By training his guns on the
insurgents, he quelled the riots that occurred in
that city, 19 April, 1861. Shortly after assuming
command at Fort McHenry, he refused to obey a
writ of habeas corpus that was granted by a Mary-
land judge, to obtain possession of a soldier of the
Fort McHenry garrison, resisting the execution of
the writ on the ground that the habeas corpus act
had been suspended by the beginning of hostilities.
From 1 Feb., 1865, till his death he commanded
the middle department and the 8th army corps.
He received the brevets of brigadier-general and
major-general in the regular army on 9 June, 1863,
and 10 Dec, 1865, respectively.
MORRISON, George Washington, congressman, b. in Fairlee, Vt.,l6 Oct., 1809. He was educated at Thetford, Vt., admitted to the bar in 1835, settled in Manchester, N. H., soon afterward, and
quickly won a high place at the bar, which he maintained for many years, till impaired health, in 1872, obliged him to retire. He was a member of the New Hampshire house of representatives sev-
eral times between 1840 and 1850, and solicitor of
his county in 1845-'7. He was chosen to congress
as a Democrat to fill a vacancy, and re-elected,
serving in 1850-'l and in 1853-'5. During his last
term he opposed, by speech and note, the Kansas-
Nebraska bill, notwithstanding his personal friend-
ship for President Pierce. — His cousin, Charles
Robert, jurist, b. in Bath, N. H., 22 Jan., 1819,
was educated at Newbury, Vt., admitted to the
bar in July, 1842, and was circuit justice, court of
common pleas, from 1851. He was adjutant of the
11th New Hampshire regiment in 1862-'4, and was
wounded thrice in the service. After the war he
continued the practice of law at Manchester till
1887, when he removed to Concord, N. H. He is
the author of " Digest of New Hampshire Re-
ports " (Concord, 1868) ; Probate Directory "
(1870) ; " Justice and Sheriff and Attorney's As-
sistant " (1872); "Town Officer" (1876); -'Digest
of Laws relating to Common Schools " (1881) ; and
'• Proofs of Christ's Resurrection, from a Lawyer's
Standpoint" (Andover, Mass., 1880; revised ed.,
1885). In 1880 he prepared a history of his branch
of the Morrison family, which was embodied in the
general history of the family by Leonard A. Mor-
rison (Boston, 1880). He has now (1888) in prepa-
ration a " Digest of all New Hampshire Reports."
MORRISON, James, army contractor, b. in Cumberland county, Pa., in 1755; d. in Washington, D. C. 23 April, 1823. He was the son of an Irish emigrant, and was for six years in the Revolutionary army, doing good service as one of Daniel Morgan's corps of riflemen. After the war he engaged in business in Pittsburg, Pa., and became sheriff. In 1792 he removed to Lexington, Ky. There he became successively land-commissioner, representative in the legislature, supervisor of the revenue, navy agent, contractor for the northwestern army during the war of 1812, quartermaster-general, president of the Lexington branch of the United States bank, and chairman of the board of trustees of Transylvania university. He acquired great wealth, which he expended in refined hospitality, the judicious patronage of deserving young men, and the encouragement of literature. He was a man of great natural ability and much decision of character, and had made good early deficiencies by extensive reading. He died while he was prosecuting a large claim against the government in Washington.
MORRISON," James Frank, electrician, b. in
St. John's, New Brunswick, 18 April, 1841. After
being educated by a private tutor he left his home
in 1855 and went to Boston, the former abode of
his family, where he obtained employment in a
commercial house. He there studied telegraphy,
went to Baltimore in 1862, and shortly thereafter
entered the telegraph service^ of the Baltimore and
