Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/448

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410
MORRIS
MORRIS


Another son of the first Samuel, Samuel Cad- walader, patriot, b. in Philadelphia, 29 May, 1743 ; d. there in February, 1820, was a merchant, took an active part in perfecting the military organization of the state, and served as an officer during the Revolution. When bills of credit were issued by Pennsylvania in 1775, he was among those that were -directed by the assembly to sign them. He was a member of" the council of safety in 1776, and of the board of war at its organization. He assisted in equipping the state navy, and was appointed by congress to have the care of the prisoners of war within the limits of the state. He was in com- mand of a company of militia at Princeton and Trenton. In a letter dated 24 Dec, 1776, addressed to the council of safety, he says : " Be not afraid, y« Tories shall not triumph over us yet. We will yet have our Day, and make them Tremble." — An- other son of the first Samuel, John, lawyer, b. in Philadelphia about 1739; d. there, 9 March, 1785, was graduated in 1759 at the College of Philadel- phia (now University of Pennsylvania), studied law, was admitted to the bar, and became eminent in his profession. In 1776 he was commissioned a justice of the court of common pleas, and in the same year, having ardently espoused the cause of the colonies, he was appointed quartermaster of the Pennsylvania troops, with the rank and pay of a lieutenant-colonel. The year following an emer- gency arose that compelled him to discharge the duties of attorney-general. Andrew Allen, who had held the office since 1766, and who, in the early part of the Revolutionary struggle, had taken sides with the colonies, terrified at the success ■of the British in New York, and at their ap- proach to Philadelphia, became a Tory, and went over to the enemy. Important state cases, many of them growing out of the war, were then coming •on for trial in the several counties. In this crisis Morris was appealed to by the supreme executive council to accept the attorney-generalship, which he did, although he had no taste for the work of his profession in connection with criminal law. His services at this time were valuable, and added to the esteem in which he was held by the au- thorities. In 1777 he became master of the rolls and recorder for the city and county of Philadel- phia, which offices he held until his death. He was a member of the American philosophical society. — The second Anthony's grandson, Anthony James, soldier, son of James Morris, b. in Philadelphia in 1739; d. there, 20 May, 1831, aided in organizing the first Pennsylvania battalion, and was appoint- ed its major by congress, 25 Nov., 1775. He soon afterward accompanied his command to Canada, where he rendered important service. On 25 Oct., 1776, he was promoted lieutenant-colonel of the 2d Pennsylvania regiment of the Continental line, and on 12 March, 1777, was made colonel of the 9th regi- ment. — Capt. Samuel's son, Anthony, merchant, b. in Philadelphia in 1766 ; d. in Washington, D. C, 6 Nov., 1860, was graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1783, studied law, and was admit- ted to the bar in 1787. He subsequently became a merchant, and was extensively engaged in the East India trade. In 1793 he was speaker of the Penn- sylvania senate, and because as such he signed the bill providing for troops to suppress the Whiskey rebellion, he was disowned by the Quaker meeting, of which he was a member. During the adminis- tration of President Madison he was sent by the latter on a special mission to Spain, where he re- mained nearly two years. In 1800-'6 he was a di- rector of the Bank of North America, and from 1806 till 1817 a trustee of the University of Pennsyl- vania. — Capt. Samuel's grandson, Samuel Wells, lawyer, son of Benjamin Wistar Morris, b. in Phila- delphia, Pa., 1 Sept.. 1786; d. in Wellsborough, Tioga CO., Pa., 25 May, 1847, received an academic educa- tion, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and be- gan to practise at Wellsborough. He was appoint- ed judge of the district court, and subsequently elected and re-elected to con2:ress as a Democrat, serving from 4 Sept., 1837, till 3 March, 1841.— Another grandson of Capt. Samuel, Caspar, phy- sician, son of Israel W., b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 2 May, 1805 ; d. there, 16 March, 1884, was gradu- ated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1826, and after serving as resident physician to the Penn- sylvania hospital and making a voyage to India as ship's surgeon, began practice in Philadelphia, where he continued to reside until his retirement from professional pursuits in 1871. He took high rank as a practitioner, and was lecturer successive- ly on the theory and practice of medicine in the Philadelphia summer-school of medicine, on chil- dren's diseases at the Blockley almshouse hospital, and on the practice of medicine in the Philadel- phia medical institute. He was a founder and manager, and from 1860 till 1890 vice-president of the Institution for the blind and a manager of the Protestant Episcopal hospital. He published " A Life of William Wilberforce " (Philadelphia, 1841) : '• Memoir of Miss Margaret Mercer " (1848) ; " Let- ter to Bishop Alonzo Potter on Hospital Needs " (1851); "Lectures on Scarlet Fever" (1858); "Es- say on Hospital Construction and Management " (Baltimore, 1875): "Rilliet and Barthelon Dis- eases of Children " and " Heart Voices and Home Songs," for private distribution. — Capt. Samuel's great-grandson, Phineas Pemberton, lawyer, son of James Pemberton. b. in Bucks county. Pa., 2 May, 1817, was graduated at Georgetown college, D. C., in 1836, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1840. In 1862 he was given the chair of practice, pleading, and evidence at law and in equity, in the law department of the University of Pennsylvania, and in 1884 he became professor emeritus. In 1840 he was president of the Law academy of Philadelphia, and in 1863-'4 was a vice-provost of that institution. He received the degree of LL. D. from the University of Pennsjd- vania in 1884. Prof. Morris is the author of " A Treatise on the Law of Replevin " (Philadelphia, 1849) and " Mining Rights in Pennsylvania " (1860), and edited John W. Smith's " Landlord and Ten- ant (1856). — Samuel Wells's son, Benjamin Wistar, P. E. bishop, b. in Wellsborough. Tioga CO., Pa., 30 May, 1819, was graduated at the Gen- eral theological seminary in 1846, made deacon the same year, and ordained priest, 27 April, 1847. He was rector of St. Matthew's, Sunbury, Pa., for four years, and of St. David's, Manayunk, Phila- delphia, for six years, when he became assistant at St. Luke's, Germantown, Pa., remaining there un- til his elevation to the episcopate. He was conse- crated missionary bishop of Oregon and Washing- ton territory, 3 Dec, 1868. In 1880 his jurisdic- tion was divided. Washington territory being set apart as a separate see, wliile Bishop Morris re- mained in charge of the diocese of Oregon. He received the degree of S. T. D. from Columbia in 1868, and also irom the University of Pennsylva- nia the same year. — Caspar's son, James Cheston, physician, b. in Philadelphia, 28 May, 1831, was graduated at the medical department of the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania in 1854, and began to practise in Philadelphia, making a specialty of uterine and nervous diseases. He was physician to the Foster home for children from 1856 till