Lewis Morris, New York

1726-1798

Representing New York at the Continental Congress

Lewis Morris was born in New York in 1726. He inherited great wealth, most of which was lost during the war.

He graduated at Yale College in 1746, and returned to the farm of his father, in Lower West Chester, near Harlem. When his father passed on he became engaged in politics. He served in the Provincial legislature shortly before the troubles with Gr. Britain began and before it was dissolved by the royal governor.

Morris joined with the patriots when conflict began, siding, in many cases, against his wealthy neighbors. He convinced local politicians to send representatives to the re-formed Legislature in April of 1775. That congress appointed delegates to the second Continental Congress, and Morris was one.

He served on committees for the defense of New York, one for provisioning colonial forces, and another for Indian affairs. These tasks carried him throughout New England in the first few years of the war.

He also served as a brigadier-general in the New York militia and so was often torn between his duties in congress and those to the defense of his own colony. In 1777, he was succeeded in congress by his brother, Gouverneur Morris.

He returned to his local duties, later served as a judge in Worcester, and served intermittently as a member of the upper house of the new legislature until 1790.

All of the Morris property and nearly all of his wealth had been destroyed in the revolution. Lewis spent several years working to rebuild his farm. He also served on the first Board of Regents for the University of New York. He died in January 1798 at the age of 72.

From: US History.org

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Although Lewis Morris was a wealthy landowner who enjoyed the prestige of the social elite, he represented the patriot element in Tory-dominated New York. The British sacked his estate during the war, and his three eldest sons fought under Washington.

Born in 1726, Morris was the eldest son of the second lord of the vast manor of Morrisania, in Westchester (present Bronx) County, N.Y. Upon graduating from Yale College in 1746, he helped manage the estate. Three years later, he married, siring 10 children. In 1762, when his father died, he inherited Morrisania and became its third lord. About this time, he gained an interest in local politics, and in 1769 served a term in the colonial legislature.

As time went on, though residing in a pro-Loyalist county, Morris became increasingly critical of British policy. In 1775 he helped organize a meeting at White Plains that overcame strong opposition and chose county delegates, including Morris as chairman, to New York's first provincial convention. It elected him to the Continental Congress (1775-77), where he specialized in military and Indian affairs. For most of 1776, he was absent from Philadelphia, serving as a brigadier general in the Westchester County militia. During the British invasion of New York that year, the redcoats ravaged Morrisania, and forced Morris' family to flee.

When his career in Congress ended, Morris rose to the rank of major general in the militia and became a county judge (1777-78) and State senator (1777-81 and 1784-88). After war's end in 1783, when he was able to return to Morrisania, he devoted much of his time to rehabilitating it. In 1784 he sat on the first board of regents of the University of New York. And 4 years later, at the State ratifying convention in Poughkeepsie, he strongly supported Alexander Hamilton's successful drive for approval of the U.S. Constitution.

Morris died in 1798 at Morrisania at the age of 71. His grave is in the family vault in the yard of St. Ann's Church in the Bronx.

From: National Park Service