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Mr. Davies
was always a Whig in politics and was an
able public speaker and campaigner. In 1840
he was elected assistant alderman of the
City of New York from the Fifteenth Ward and
in 1842 was chosen an alderman. At this
time, he was chairman of the committee in
charge of celebrating the introduction of
Croton Water in the city. In 1850 he was
appointed corporation counsel, and he held
the office for three years. One of the most
important services he rendered in this
office was in successfully defending Mayor
Cornelius W. Lawrence in suits for damages
caused by the blowing up of buildings to
check a conflagration, upon order of the
mayor. After he retired from this office he
made, at the request of the common council,
a compilation of the statues relating to the
city with its ancient and modern
characteristics. In the summer of 1855m he
accompanied abroad Millard Fillmore, former
President of the United States, whose
friendship he had formed in early life,
continuing until his death. In the same
year he was elected to the bench of the
supreme court. During his term of office he
presided at two celebrated murder trials,
those of Cancemi and Burdell, and in the
general term concurred in the decision that
slaves brought into the state became free.
In the fall of 1859 he was elected justice
of the court of appeals for eight years,
during the last two of which he was chief
justice. He wrote the opinions of the court
in many most important cases, such as that
of Kortright vs. Cady (21 N. Y. 343),
establishing the point that tender of the
amount due on a mortgage destroys the lien
thereof; People vs. the Canal Appraisers (33
N. Y. 461), establishing the law relating to
navigable streams; Dealfield vs. Parish (25
N. Y. 9), discussing the matter of
testamentary capacity. Probably no opinion
ever caused him more thought and study then
that written in Metropolitan Bank vs. Van
Dyck (27 N Y. 400), sustaining the legal
tender acts of the nation. He gave to the
government unfaltering support during the
civil war, and his conviction that the
constitution conferred extraordinary powers
on the government in time of war found
expression in his opinions, especially in
the legal tender case. At the end of his
term, he declined re-election and resumed
his practice in partnership with Judge Noah
Davis until the latter was re-elected to the
bench in 1872, and afterward with his son,
Julian Tappan Davies. He was counsel for
the Mutual Life Insurance Company and other
large corporations, but devoted himself
mainly to chamber practice and to service as
referee in important cases. The day before
he was stricken with his last illness he sat
for many hours as one of the commissioners
to determine the feasibility of constructing
the Broadway Arcade Railroad. He was a
director of the Institution for the
Instruction of the Deal and Dumb, and during
the last year of his life its president. In
1870 he became dean of the Law School of the
University of the City of New York and
continued in this office as long as he
lived. He received the honorary degree of
LL. D. from the university and also from
Amherst College.
:Judge Davies
was conspicuous," write his son, Henry
Eugene Davies, in the Davies genealogy,
"during his long and busy life for sterling
integrity and devotion to the interests
committed to his charge. His capacity for
labor was prodigious and sustained by a
constitution of iron that gave him enormous
power of endurance. During the Cancemi
trial, after five days spend until a late
hour in presiding, at half-past seven on a
Friday evening he commenced to write his
charge. He fin-
Page 215
ished it as he was
summoned to breakfast at eight o'clock the
next morning, having labored all the night
without intermission for sleep or
refreshment. From this, and from other
similar herculean labors, he never suffered
any inconvenience or felt that he had
sustained a strain, until some two years
before his death, when age slowly claimed
him as its own. Yet eh retained great vigor
until the day when he was fatally attacked,
some two weeks only before his death. *
* * * * In person he was strongly
and heavily built, though of medium
stature. He possessed the powerful body
with large organs and short limbs,
characteristic of his Welsh ancestry. His
head was large, with a brain fully
developed, and a countenance full of
benignity, though stern in such times as
called for an exhibition of strength. He
was genial in manner and friendly with all
men. His sold pleasure was the professional
one of whist. Temperate indeed, almost
abstentions in his habits, simple in his
tastes, earnest in his professional duties,
the two leading motives of his life were
devotion to duty and love of his family.
True to the church of his ancestry, and
following their lead, he gave to St. Luke's
Church at Matteawan, in Dutchess County, the
land upon which its edifice is erected.
Under the shadow of its eaves he
rests--wife, children and grandchildren
reposing around him. The memory of his
pure, strong, loving spirit is the most
precious heritage of his living
descendants." He died in the city of New
York, December 17, 1881.
He married
Rebecca Waldo Tappan, born in Boston, 1815,
died February 24, 2884, daughter of John and
Sarah (Salisbury) Tappan. John Tappan was
born July 26, 1781, son of Benjamin (5) ,
Benjamin (4), Samuel (3), Peter (2), Abraham
(1)Tappan), married, September 30, 1805,
Sarah, daughter of Samuel Salisbury,
granddaughter of John, and
great-granddaughter of Nicholas Salisbury.
Elizabeth (Sewall), wife of Samuel
Salisbury, was a daughter of Samuel (6),
(Rev. Joseph (5), Samuel (4) Henry (3) Henry
(2) Henry (1), Sewall). Elizabeth (Quincy)
Sewall, wife of Samuel, was a daughter of
Edmund and Elizabeth (Wendall) Quincy.
Sarah (Salisbury) Tappan died August 28,
1829, after having eleven children, and he
married (second), September 22, 1841, Mrs.
Hannah (Pomroy) Edwards. John Tappan was
sent by the United States government to
London as a delegate to the International
Convention of Peace in 1843. Children of
Mr. and Mrs. Davies: 1. General Henry
Eugene, born in New York City, July 2, 1836;
entered the service as captain in 1861, and
rose to the rank of major-general in 1865,
resigning January 1, 1866; lawyer in New
York City; author of Davies Genealogy;
public administrator 1866--69 in New York
City; assistant district attorney 1870-73;
died September 6, 1694; married, August 10,
1858, Julia Rich. 2. William Gilbert,
born March 21, 1842; a lawyer; married,
December 15, 1870, Lucy C., daughter of Hon.
Alexander H. Rice. 3. Julien Tappan,
mentioned below. 4. Theodore, October 22,
1847; was in the diplomatic service;
journalist; died March 15, 1875. 5.
Francis Herbert, September 15, 1849;
married, April 27, 1876, Cornelia Scott,
daughter of Henry S. Rokenbaugh; died
February 27, 1906. 6. Helen, June 9,
1851. 7. Lucy, March 7, 1853; married,
April 21, 1875, Dr. Samuel Swift, died
February 4, 1897.
(VI) Julien
Tappan Davies, son of Hon. Henry E. Davies,
was born in New York City, September 25,
1845. He attended the schools of his native
city and the private school of Dr. Reed at
Walnut Hill, Geneva, New York. He entered
Columbia College in 1862 and was graduated
in the class of 1866. In the summer of
1863, while a student in college, he joined
the Twenty-second Regiment of New York State
Militia, and took an active part in the
Pennsylvania campaign of the Civil War,
ending at the Battle of Gettysburg. On
leaving college he devoted himself to the
study of law in the office of Hon.
Alexander W. Bradford. Under the will of
Judge Bradford, Mr. Davies succeeded to part
of his law practice, and soon afterward
became associated with his father, Judge
Davies, who retired from the bench of the
Court of Appeals, January 1, 1868. With
these fortunate connections he established
an active and prosperous professional career
and gained a deservedly high reputation as
one of the leading lawyers of New York
City. In politics he is a Republican. In
religion a member of the Episcopal Church.
He has been for many years counsel for the
elevated railways of new York; has been
since 1881 a trustee of the Mutual Life
Insurance Company of New York. His office
is at 34 Nassau Street, New York. He is now
Page 216
a partner in the firm
of Davies, Auerbach, Cornell & Barry.
He married,
April 22, 1869, Alice, born January 12,
1847, daughter of Hon. Henry H. Martin, a
descendant of Captain John Martin, of
Woodbury, Connecticut. Children: 1.
Julien Townsend, born February 20, 1870.
2. Alice, died in 1885, aged fourteen. 3.
Helen, died in 1887, aged five. 4. Thomas
Alfred, died in 1877, aged four. 5. Ethel,
born March 19, 1876. 6. Frederick Martin,
born September 12, 1877. 7. Cornelia
Sherman, born October 21, 1882.
BRINCKERHOFF.
The surname Brinckerhoff is Dutch in origin,
and is composed of the two Dutch words, "Brenger,"
messenger, and "Hof," court, the name in its
original meaning referring to a "messenger
of the court." The name therefore in the
land of its origin may be found in the form
of Brengerhof, as well as in the form
prevalent here in America. The family is
said to be of Flemish extraction, and was
anciently located in the city of Ghent, in
the Netherlands, where its members are
mentioned as free-born citizens, or
patricians, of the city, and among whom
Andries Brinckerhoff, senator, and syndic in
1307, is particularly noticed in the annals
of those times. From Ghent the family
extended itself in the sixteenth century in
Holland, Friesland, and Lower Saxony, in
which provinces the Brinckerhoffs became
established, their descendants enjoying much
distinction there at the present day. the
name is spelled in America Brinckerhoff and
Brinkerhoff, and in some manuscripts written
Blinkerhoff, in one instance Van
Blyncherhoff. The Flushing branch of the
family (descendants of Abraham, son of Joris
Dircksen Brinckerhoff, the immigrant) for
the most part use the "c". The Bergen
branch (descendants of Hendrick, son of
Joris Dircksen Brinckerhoff) have almost
entirely omitted it. among the families of
the name residing in Holland the "c" has
never been known, and probably it is an
American innovation. The family has a
coat-of-arms, the symbolic meaning of which
is thus described by James Riker: The
armorial bearings, the original escutcheon
of the family, denotes in the color blue,
fidelity; in the white of the shield, the
honors of knighthood; the wings signifying
promptness in state affairs, and the "flower
hills" in the knights shield faithfulness
and honesty. The family has a numerous
progeny in every generation, differing in
that respect from families like that of
Stuyvesant, which in the first four
generation was represented by a single male
member. Branches of the family have spread
into different states, even to the far West,
though the bulk of its members are still in
the neighborhoods of New York. All of the
name in America are said to be descended
from one patriarchal ancestor, the
immigrant, Joris Dircksen Brinckerhoff, of
New Amsterdam, and Brooklyn.
(I) Joris
Dircksen Brinckerhoff, the first American
ancestor of the Brinckerhoff family, was
born in the Netherlands about 1609, died in
Brooklyn, January 16, 1661. He arrived in
New Amsterdam (now New York) in 1638, coming
from the county of Drent or Drenthe in the
United Provinces, and having lived some time
in Flushing, a seaport in Zealand, before
his departure. After spending a short time
in New Amsterdam, then a small community of
a few hundred souls, he settled in Brooklyn,
where he obtained a grant of land by brief
dated March 23, 1646. He was a man of
worth, and was an elder of the Brooklyn
church at the time of his death, the first
edifice of which he was greatly instrumental
in planning and erecting. He married, in
Holland, Susannah Dubbels, whom he brought
with him to America, and who survived him
many years. His children were: 1. Derick,
who was slain by the Indians and left no
issue. 2. Hendrick, who settled on the
eastern bank of the Hackensack River in New
Jersey, where he bought a tract of land,
June 17, 1685, not long surviving the
purchase; married Claesie Boomgaert and left
sons, Cornelius, Derick and Jacobus, whose
descendants, now considerably scattered,
write their name Brinckerhoff; of the three
sons above named, Cornelius, the elder,
settled at Communipaw, and died in 1770,
leaving sons Hendrick and Hartman, who were
the ancestors of the Brinckerhoff family of
Bergen; Derick and Jacobus bought the
paternal estate; the former had descendants
at Hackensack and Schraalenburgh. 3.
Abraham, mentioned below. 4. Aeltie,
married William Van Couwenhoven.
(II)
Abraham, son of Joris Dircksen and Susannah
(Dubbels) Brinckerhoff, was born at
flushing, Holland, in 1632, died at Flushing
Bay, Long Island, in 1714. He obtained,
April 13, 1661, a patent for thirty-two
morgens of
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land at Flatbush, but
located at Flatlands. At Flatlands he
became an elder of the church, and was
chosen magistrate in 1673. He married,
Aeltie, daughter of Jan Stryker, and sister
to the wife of Cornelius J. Berrien . About
the time of that event Mr. Berrien went to
Newtown and Mr. Brinckerhoff removed there
also, having bought a large farm on Flushing
Meadows. Children: 1. Joris Abraham,
mentioned below. 2. John. 3. Derick,
married, in 1700, Aeltie, daughter of Jan
Cowenhoven; he became a farmer at Flushing,
where he enjoyed a commission as justice of
the peace. 4. Garret, settled in Flushing,
having descendants. 5. Ida, married John
Monfort. 6. Susannah, married Martin R.
Schenck. 7. Sarah, married (first) Jacob
Rapelje, (second) Nicholas Berrien. 8.
Mary, married, Theodorus Van Wyck. 9.
Lammetie, married Johannes Cornell.
(III) Joris
Abraham, eldest son of Abraham and Aeltie
(Stryker) Brinckerhoff, was born at
Flatbush, Long Island, March 27, 1729. He
succeeded to the paternal estate on Flushing
Bay, and acquired several other farms, which
he distributed among his sons. Early in
life he joined the Flatlands church. He
married Annetie, daughter of Teunis Coevers
and Sarah (Rapalye) Bogaert, born at Albany,
New York, and reputed the first white female
child born in the colony, a grant of land at
the Wallabout being bestowed on her in honor
of the event. Children: 1. Sarah, born
December 18, 1691; married Rem Adrianse.
2. Susannah, born March 4, 1693. 3.
Abraham, born December 10, 1694. 4. Teunis,
born March 29, 1697. 5. Isaac, born April
26, 1699. 6. Aeltie, born April 13, 1704;
married Cornelius Rapalye. 7. Neettie,
born July 22, 1706. 8. Hendrick, mentioned
below. 9. Antie, born October 4, 1712;
married Abraham Rapalye.
(IV)
Hendrick, son of Joris Abraham and Annetie (Bogaert)
Brinckerhoff, was born at Flushing Bay, Long
Island, January 2, 1709, died there in
1777. He succeeded to the homestead there
and lived on it all his life. He was a
pious and exemplary man, an alder in the
Dutch church at New town, and was magistrate
for several years. He married Lammetie,
daughter of Daniel Rapalye. Children: 1.
George, born in 1732; married in 1753, Ida
Monfort, and had issue: Hendrick, Lammetie
and Abraham. 2. Daniel, married Ann
Monfort. 3. Johannes, mentioned below. 4.
Abraham, married Sarah Onderdonk. 5.
Teunis, married Catherine Rapalye. 6.
Isaac, married Annetie Bennet. 7. Aeltie,
married Richard Cooper.
(V)
Johannes, fifth son of Hendrick and Lammetie
(Rapalye) Brinckerhoff, was born at Flushing
Bay, Long Island, in 1736, died at New
Hackensack, New York, November 23, 1764. He
removed from Long Island to Dutchess County,
engaging in business at New Hackensack. On
a visit to New York City he contracted
yellow fever and died at the early age of
twenty-eight. He married Sarah, daughter of
Abraham Brinckerhoff, a pious ad exemplary
woman, who with her babe returned after her
husband's death to the paternal home, and
afterwards married Elbert Adriance. The
only child of Johannes was Hendrick,
mentioned below.
(VI)
Hendrick (2), son of Johannes and Sarah
Brinckerhoff, was born at New Hackensack,
New York, in 1763, died at the homestead of
his stepfather, Elbert Adriance, at
Flushing, 1807. He inherited the farm and
the extreme portion of the Creedmore Range
was taken from this land. He married
Elizabeth, daughter of Rem Hegeman.
Children: 1. Elbert Adriance, mentioned
below. 2. Sarah, married Abraham Snediker.
3. Ida, married Isaac T. Reeves. 4.
Eliza, married David Hendricksen. 5.
Aletta, married Jason Beebe.
(VII) Elbert
Adriance, son of Hendrick (2) and Elizabeth
(Hegeman) Brinckerhoff, was born in Flushing
township, near the present site of Creedmore,
in 1786, died at Jamaica, Long island, March
5, 1875. He was brought up on his father's
farm, and was a merchant in New York City
for many years. He was an officer in the
Middle Dutch Church, and an elder in the
Collegiate Dutch Church of New York, for
several years. He married Elizabeth,
daughter of John Nostrand, their only son
being named after his grandfather, John
Nostrand, mentioned below.
(VIII) John
Nostrand, son of Elbert Adriance and
Elizabeth (Nostrand) Brinckerhoff, was born
in Flushing township, Long Island, near the
present site of Creedmore, November 16,
1808. He was graduated from the University
of Pennsylvania in 1829, and shortly after
entered commercial life. He was
Page 218
in business with his
father in New York City, the firm being that
of E. A. Brinckerhoff & son, but delicate
health forced a retirement to the country.
Afterwards he resided at Jamaica, Long
Island, and became connected with the Union
Hall Academy of that place, continuing from
1835 to 1865, the latter half as principal.
He retired from all active duties in 1865.
He removed to Englewood, New jersey, ion
1875, and there continued to reside. He
married Mary M., daughter of Robert Adrian,
LL. D., an eminent mathematician, who died
August 10, 1843.
(IX) Elbert
Adrian, son of John Nostrand, and Mary M.
(Adrian) Brinckerhoff, was born at Jamaica,
Long island, November 29, 1838. He was
educated in the academy of which his father
was principal. He was in business in San
Francisco for a time and settled in New York
City in 1861. He was vice-president of
the Merchants' National Bank; director of
Barrett, Nephews & Company (old Staten
Island Dyeing establishment), the United
States Cotton Duck Company, the Consolidated
Cotton Duck Company, the Mount
Vernon-Woodbury Cotton Duck Company, and the
J. Spencer turner Company of which he is
vice-president. Mr. Brinckerhoff is a
Presbyterian in religion; he is a trustee
of the Presbyterian Hospital, vice-president
of the American Bible Society, trustee of
the American Seaman's Friend Society, and a
member of the St. Nicholas Society and the
Holland Society. Mr. Brinckerhoff belongs
to the Down Town and Rockaway Hunt clubs.
He married, April 22, 1869, Emily A,
daughter of Colonel Washington R. Vermilye,
of New York City. Their children are: 1.
Emily V. 2. Mary E. 3. Elbert A. 4.
Elizabeth L. 5. Margaret. 6. Helen M.
7. Janet.
Henry Morton,
son of Peter Remsen and Helen (Morton)
Brinckerhoff, was born at
Fishkill-on-Hudson, New York, April 20,
1868. He is an electrical engineer and was
graduated from the Stevens Institute of
Technology in 1890. After graduation he was
with Thomson-Houston Electric Company at
Boston, and engaged in the construction of
the West end street railway. He became
assistant engineer in the power house,
Utica, New York Belt Line street railway,
and was foreman in charge of the cars
equipment with the General Electric Company
in Boston and on the Coney island & Brooklyn
railway. He was assistant electrical
engineer of the Intramural railway at the
World's Columbian Exhibition (first third
rail electrical railway in the United
States) in 1893. He was electrical engineer
of the Metropolitan West Side elevated
railway, Chicago, in 1894, equipping it as
the first large elevated city railway
operated by electrical traction, later
becoming assistant general manager and
general manager of the same road until 1906,
when he came to New York city and engaged in
practice as electrical associate of General
Willian Barclay Parsons, civil engineer.
Mr. Brinckerhoff is a member of the American
Institute of Electrical Engineers and the
Western Society of Engineers.
Henry
Waller, son of commodore Isaac and mary
Gordon (Waller) Brinckerhoff, is also
eminent among the descendants of Joris
Dircksen Brinckerhoff in this generation.
He was born at Ossining, new York, may 22,
1845, and was educated at the Cambridge
(Massachusetts) Latin School, Harvard
College, from which he was graduated with
the degree of A. B., in 1866, and from
Lawrence Scientific School. He has been
civil engineer of the United States Navy
Yard, New York; Jersey City Water Works,
West Shore Railroad; Sixth Avenue Elevated
road; Brooklyn Bridge; New York Steam
Company, and the Tehuantepec Ship Railway.
He has been managing editor of the
engineering Record, office engineer of the
Broadway cable road, and in 1889 made the
earliest report on the failure of the South
Fork Dam that destroyed Johnstown,
Pennsylvania. In 1864 he served three
months in the Twelfth Unattached Company,
Massachusetts Volunteer Militia. he married
Edith Adelaide Barry, who died April 19,
1897, and his children are: 1. Henry
Gordon, married Alys Swift, 2. Edith
Winship, married the Rev. Winthrop B.
Greene, died July 12, 1900, 3. Florence
Emilie, married Herbert G. Hanford.
MORRIS. The
patronymic, Morris, is usually given
as being Welsh in origin, and though it is
quite likely that many or most hearing the
name of Morris may have had an origin in the
ancient principality of the Britons, it is
certain that the name in other cases has had
a different origin. In the case of those of
Welsh
Page 219
descent, the name is
traced back to Rhys, sometimes called Rhys
Fitzgerald, brother of Rhys, Prince of
Geventland. In 1171, in conjunction with
Richard Strongbow, the Norman, Rhys
Fitzgerald, or Rhys, the son of Gerald, led
an expedition into Ireland. This was the
beginning of what is called in history the
"Norman Invasion" of Ireland, occurring more
than a century after the Norman Conquest of
England. The real conquest of Ireland did
not occur until the reign of Henry VIII,
four centuries later, the Normans who had
until that time entered Ireland having
intermarried with the Gaelic or Milesian
Irish and settled in the country with the
Gaelic as Milesian lords of clans. These
were, however, several encounters between
the incoming Norman Welsh and the Milesian
Gaels in several principalities of the
island, and owing to his achievements in
these engagements Rhys received the
appellation of "Maur" in Welsh or Brithonic
Celtic, and "Mor" in Gaelic Celtic, both
kindred words meaning "The Great." Rhys,
The Great, thus became Maur-Rhys or Mor-Rhys,
and in course of time his descendants
prefixing the name with Fitz, Mac, and O, to
indicate their decent according to the
Celtic fashion, and later dropping the
prefixes, were at first called FitzMaurice,
MacMaurice and O'Maurice, and later simply
Maurice, Morris and Morrison. These are
not, however, the only forms of Morris, for
the name is found in history variously
spelled Morys, Moerys, Moris, Morris, Morice,
Moryce, etc., and as compounded with various
initial expressions as De Mont-, Clan-, and
others besides those given above. Lower
says that the name can in many cases be
traced to an origin on the continent or
mainland of Europe, in many cases coming
from the north of Africa, and particularly
Morocco. Burke, in his "History of the
Landed Gentry of England," says: "This name
(Morris) , originally Maur-ryce or Mawr-rhys
was Mars and Mavors. The Welsh
Mawr-rhyce--meaning in English, "warlike" or
"powerful"--was a title applied to such of
the ancient chieftains as were prominent for
valor." The name Morris is common in
Ireland and is in most cases the anglicized
patronymic of a family of purely Milesian
origin, the ancient form of the name in
Gaelic being MacMuiros or O'Muirfeasa, later
transformed in English to Morrisey, Morris,
Morishy, MacMorris,. Morrison. Donoch,
brother of Diarmond, who is No. 111 on the
MacDermott (Princes of Coolavin, a title
still borne by the MacDermott).
(I) William
Morris lived in the first half of the
seventeenth century in Monmouthshire, Wales,
on an estate called Tintern, situated near
the historic Tintern Abbey. Children: 1.
Colonel Lewis, inherited Tintern estates;
was second in command of the parliamentary
troops at the siege of Chepstowe Castle in
1648, and in memory of his achievements at
that time the present crest and motto were
added to the family arms; he removed to
Barbados and later to New York City. 2.
William, inherited property in Denham,
Wales; was a parliamentary officer under
Cromwell; died at sea. 3. Thomas. 4.
Richard, mentioned below.
(II) Captain
Richard Morris, son of William Morris, of
Tintern, was born in Monmouthshire, Wales,
died in "Bronck's land (Bronx) near New York
City, in the autumn of 1672. He served with
distinction in the parliamentary army under
Cromwell. He followed his brother Lewis to
the Barbados and after short stay there
removed to New York City, where August 10,
1670, he purchased from Samuel Edsall, "a
certain tract or parcel of land formerly in
the tenure of Jonas Bronck's, commonly
called by the Indians Bronck's land, lying
and being in the maine lothe east and over
against Harlem town." he married, in the
Barbados, Sarah Pole, who died about the
same time as her husband.
(III) Hon.
Lewis Morris, son of Captain Richard and
Sarah (Pole) Morris, was born in
"Bronx-land," New York, October 15, 1671,
died in his country seat, Kingsbury, near
Trenton, New Jersey, May 21, 1746. He was
brought up and educated by his uncle,
Colonel Lewis Morris, whose heir he became.
In 1697 he procured from Governor Fletcher a
royal patent erecting "Bronxland" into a
manor under the title of the "manor of
Morrisania," and as such it continued until
the Revolution. He was first lord of the
manor, and became one of the most
distinguished and influential men of his
times in America, holding among other high
offices those of chief
Page 220
Justice of New York,
and governor of New Jersey. He married,
November 3, 1691, Isabella, daughter of Hon,
James Graham, attorney-general of New York,
and a descendant of the Grahams of the isles
of the same family as the earls of
Montrose. She died April 6, 1752.
Children: 1. Lewis, mentioned below. 2.
Robert Hunter, mentioned below. 3. Mary,
married Captain Vincent Pearse. 4.
Euphemia, married Captain Matthews, son of
Sir John Morris. 5. Anna, married Edward
Antrill, of Ross Hill, Raritan, New Jersey.
6. Arabella, married James Graham. 7.
Margaret, married Isaac Willets. 8. Sarah,
Elizabeth, married colonel Anthony White.
9. Sarah, married Michael Kearney. 10,
Isabella, married Richard Ashfield. 11.
John, a child, died young.
(IV) Lewis
(2), son of Hon. Lewis (1), and Isabelle
(Graham) Morris, was born at Trenton, new
Jersey, September 23, 1698, died at
Morrisania manor house, July 3, 1762. He
was the sole heir to and second lord of the
manor of Morrisania. When twenty-four years
of age he became a member of the council of
Governor Burnett, under governor
Montgomery, Burnett's successor. He
questioned the legality of certain
proceedings of the executive, and in 1730
was suspended for "Disrespectful" conduct.
In 1732 and for the succeeding eighteen
years he was elected and re-elected to the
assembly to represent the borough of
Westchester. He was zealous and prominent
in opposing the government on the issue of
Van Dam's salary, the removal of Chief
Justice Morris, and the course of Zenger's
Journal. During his father's absence
in England, 1734 to 1736, he took his place
in the popular leadership, and after Cosby's
death was a vigorous antagonist of the
succeeding lieutenant, Governor Clark. In
1737 he was speaker of the assembly. He
married (first), March 17, 1723, Tryntje,
born in New York City, April 4, 1723, died
March 11, 1731, daughter of Dr. Samuel
Staats. He married (second), November 3,
1746, Sarah, daughter of Nicholas Gouverneur,
and niece of his first wife. Children, four
by the first marriage: 1. Mary, born
November 1, 1724; married , May 9, 1743,
Thomas Lawrence Jr., of Philadelphia. 2.
Lewis, born April 18, 1726, died January 22,
1798; signer of the Declaration of
Independence. 3. Staats Long, born august
27, 1728, died in 1800; married (first) Lady
Catharine, Dowager Duchess of Gordon,
daughter of William, second Earl of
Aberdeen, and widow of Cosmo, the third Duke
of Gordon; married (second) Jane Urquhart.
4. Richard, mentioned below. 5. Josabella,
or Isabella, born February 3, 1748. 6.
Sarah, married V. P. Ashfield. 7.
Gouverneur, born January 30, 1753. 8.
Euphemia, married Samuel Ogden. 9.
Catherine, born January 30, 1757.
(IV) Hon.
Robert Hunter Morris, son of Hon, Lewis (1)
and Isabella (Graham) Morris, was born at
Trenton, New Jersey, about 1700, died at
Shrewsbury, New Jersey, January 27, 1764.
He inherited his father's lands in New
Jersey, and his career was identified with
that province and with Pennsylvania. In
1738 he was appointed by his father, then
governor, a mender of the New Jersey
council, and later became chief justice of
the state. He served as governor of
Pennsylvania from October 3, 1754, to August
20, 1756, meantime retaining his commission
as chief justice of New Jersey, in which
latter position he continued until his
death. He was unmarried.
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