USA > New Jersey > Historical and genealogical miscellany : data relating to the settlement and settlers of New York and New Jersey > Part 5
USA > New York > Historical and genealogical miscellany : data relating to the settlement and settlers of New York and New Jersey > Part 5
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First, of his partiality. Some years ago the dissenters of the parish of Jamaica in this province brought an Ejectment against the Church Ministers for the Church he preached in and was possessed of; when the Tryal came ou, the Defendant's Council demured to the Plaintiffs evidence; Morris the Chief Justice desired them to waive the demurer, telling them that if the Jury found for the Plaintiff he would grant the Defendants a new tryal; the Defendants Council were very unwilling to do it, but however knowing the Man and fearing the worst from him if they refused they did consent, and the Jury found for the Plaintiff; the Defendants Council moved the next term (before Judgement) for a new tryall, and urged his promise, he denied at first that he gave any, but when they offered to make oath of it, he said a rash promise ought not to be kept, and never would grant them a new Tryall; whereby they lost their Church, and the Dissenters have ever since had it; its talked and believed to, that he was bribed to it, but as I have had no proof offered me, I have made no inquiry about it; his partiality however is evident.
Secondly, his delay of Justice. The complaints of this to, are the subjects of every day's discourse, in term time especially; I will single out one instance only, wherein not only his delay but likewise his injustice will appear. One Renselaer, brought his Ejectment against another Man, which the Lawyers tell me, is done on a feigned Lease for a term of years. The cause proceeded to issue, and a special verdict was found. The points of Law were afterwards argued before him at several times by Council on both sides, after this they expected and moved for Judgement, term after term, till the lease whereon the Ejectment was brought was pretty near expiring ; then the Pltf moved that we would either give Judgement or enlarge the time of the lease; but he would do neither, so the Lease expired and the Pltf lost the benefit of his suit after a tedious at- tendance and a vast expence.
Thirdly, his oppressing the people, by giving them a great deal of trouble, and puting them to a fruitless expence, both, of time and money, in their attendance on the Courts. The constant method he takes in opening and adjourning the Court is thus: he adjourns it to eight or nine in the morning, but seldom opens it till twelve, one and two, and sometimes three in the afternoon, tho' the Jurys and others who have business are waiting from the hours adjourned to, not knowing when to expect him, and fearing to be fined if they happen not to be there. Irregular hours proceed from several causes, some whereof are his pride in makeing the world wait his leizure and his intemperate drinking in which he often spends whole nights ; this he does in term time in the Town of New York. In the Circuits it is still more intolerable, for there, these hours of adjournment and sitting are not only like those, but the people who go forty or fifty miles from their habitations, live at much greater expence and loose more time, and sometimes after Jurys have been summoned, witnesses subpened, partys attended, and all the Justices of the Peace and other Officers have gone to the place appointed for holding these Courts, as by ordinance of Morris's own procuring, they are directed and waited their several days in expectation of the Chief Justice, who then alone was to go the Circuits, he has not come to hold the Court. I have heard the damage that one County has sustained by one neglect of holding the Circuit Courts, computed at above two hundred pounds. To remedy in some measure this grievance, the Assembly have, since my come- ing to the Governt given the Second Judge a Salary, and now both, the Chief Justice and Second Judge are obliged to go the Circuits or forfeit their Salary. Besides, in some of the Northern Countys he has neglected going the Circuit near four years."
In 1734 Lewis Morris went, as an agent, to England to inform the Home Government of the situation, but while treated with distinction, he failed in his mission to secure Cosby's re- moval, though it was determined that Morris had been removed from the Chief Justiceship on insufficient cause.
In 1738 Lewis Morris was appointed Governor of New Jersey. The references to this re- markable man in the Documentary Histories of New York and New Jersey are too numerous to further quote in extenso, but enough has been given to furnish something of an insight into his strength and his peculiarities.
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HISTORICAL MISCELLANY
Lewis Morris was a member of the Church of England and much interested in religious matters, which secured him the backing of the church party, in England:
1700. Lewis Morris wrote a letter to the Bishop of London, concerning the state of religion in the Jerseys, and paid his respects to his Middletown neighbors, saying, "they are, perhaps, the most ignorant and wicked people in the world. Their meetings, on Sundays, are at the Public House, where they get their fill of rum and go to fighting and running of races, which are practices very common all the Province over."
His estimate of the inhabitants elsewhere, was only a little less severe: "The youth of the whole Province, are very debauched and very ignorant. The Sabbath day seems there to be set apart for rioting and drunkenness. In a word, a general ignorance and immorality runs through the youth of the whole Province."
This severe arraignment was, in part, an effort on the side of Lewis Morris, to secure to himself, the appointment of Governor of the Province, by propitiating the Church of England, and, in part, an effort to settle his grievances with the people of Middletown, of whose frequent indictments and contempt he had had such abundant evidence. Apparently the poor opinion each had of the other, was reciprocal.
Lewis Morris was a Member of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and a liberal benefactor and Vestryman, of Trinity Church, in New York City.
The politics of his time were a confused jumble and Lewis Morris was, apparently, ar- rayed first with one contending faction and then with another in a most contradictory manner, suggesting a lack of principle, greed of self-advancement and often personal revenge, but it was a day of strife between the Quaker, the Scot and the Englishman; the Proprietor and the Patentee, and the Governor, Council and Assembly, each of whom, with keen and often dis- honorable rivalry, strove for supremacy. From the vast amount of their crimination and recrimination it is difficult to arrive at a positive conviction of the merits of the struggle, but I feel that Lewis Morris possessed no lofty sense of rectitude, but did possess a selfish ambition allied closely to the principle of rule or ruin.
His autocratic nature and inordinate political ambition were the sources of his troubles and they were unceasing and great. For fifty-six years, the whole range of his political life, he wrangled. He was intemperate of speech and action in his youth, but became more dig- nified and restrained as he advanced in years. He possessed great aptitude for public life but under any opposition became irritable and aggressive. To his superiors he was often hostile, while to his inferiors he was arrogant and overbearing. He maintained his own rights vigor- ously, but had little respect for those of others. He was vain, courageous and independent, which caused him to be arrested for contempt and to be expelled from the Assembly of New Jersey and the Assembly of New York. With six out of nine colonial governors he warred, and defended himself by writing vigorous and plausible letters to the Home Government, which must have been sorely tried to discover the truth and adjust their differences.
That he possessed a large and intelligent grasp on public affairs and served his employers well is established by the length of his service, and whatever may be said of his public life, his private life was free from blemish and his honesty unquestioned. If his peculiarities made him foes, his partisanship made him as many friends. Up to his last he was physically and men- tally strong, and it was typical of the man that, at the very end of his career, he was still in conflict with the legislative authority, in this instance the New Jersey Assembly, who, prac- ticing tactics similar to his own of former years when in New York, withheld his supplies and salary.
In his will he requested that he be buried in Morrisania, in a plain coffin, with no funeral sermon; that no mourning rings or scarfs should be given, or mourning worn, saying: "I die
33
MORRIS OF MONMOUTH COUNTY
when I should die, and no one ought to mourn because I do so, but may mourn to pay the shop keeper for his goods, should they comply with (what I think) the common folly of such an expense."
Lewis Morris heired his father, Richard Morris', estate and the greater part of his uncle, Col. Lewis Morris', estate, to which he added by his own efforts, and became one of the most opulent men of his day.
From about 1689 to 1708, he resided at Tinton Manor, Shrewsbury, whence he removed to the Manor of Morrisania. For some years, at least, he spent a part of his time between these two places, but as years went on, he became more identified with his Westchester planta- tion.
In 1738, when New Jersey was separated from New York, he was appointed to the governor- ship of the former state, and rented a farm, near Trenton, which he called Kingsbury, where he resided during the eight years that he held office, and where he died May 21, 1746.
1701. Lewis Morris, of Shrewsbury, and Dame Isabella, his wife, made a conveyance of lands.
1701. Lewis Morris, of Tinton Manor, heir of Colonel Morris, made a conveyance of land.
1702. Lewis Morris, of Tinton Manor, in consideration of his services, with the Ministers of State, in England, received a deed for six different pieces of land, in various localities, and Lord Cornbury says, his quit rents were rebated.
1703. Lewis Morris, of Tinton Manor, leased land from the Proprietors, along the beach, between Manasquan and Shrewsbury River, for "the trees for sawing and making pitch, tar," etc.
1705. Lewis Morris had "lately taken that farme, [in Westchester], into his hands" . . . and "was very busy putting his affairs in order there." Making this an excuse, he failed to attend the Council, to which he was summoned by Lord Cornbury, who suspended him for his rudeness, but he apologized through Dr. Ennis.
1708, Mch. 15. Lewis Morris, of Shrewsbury, sold land to Samuel Tilton, of Middletown, lying next to John Tilton.
Lewis Morris married, in New York City, by license dated Nov. 3, 1691, Isabella, daugh- ter of James Graham, the Attorney-General of the Province. She must have had a strong influence over him, for, from being an unruly youth, he promptly settled down, and applied himself assiduously to public affairs. She was born June 3, 1672/3, and died April 3,. 1752.
Issue
15 Mary Morris; buried Jan. 15, 1746/7; married Capt. Vincent Pierce (Pearse), of the Royal Navy, died May 28, 1745; without issue.
16 Euphemia Morris, born 1710; died Dec. 3, 1756; married Capt. Matthew, son of Sir John Norris, died Dec. 15, 1738.
17 Anne Morris; married Edward Antill, of Ross Hall, Raritan, N. J.
18 Elizabeth Morris, born Apr. 3, 1712; married Col. Anthony White.
19 Margaret Morris, born Mch. 13, 17II; married, May 19, 1746, Isaac Willetts, died 1774.
20 Arabella Morris; married Nov. 30, 1788, James Graham, died June 24, 1767.
21 Lewis Morris, born Sept. 23, 1698.
22 Robert Hunter Morris; named by his father after his friend, the Governor of New York.
23 John Morris; living in 1732.
24 James Morris
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HISTORICAL MISCELLANY
25 26 Children who died young.
27
28
29 Isabella Morris; married Richard Ashfield.
30 Sarah Morris, born 1695-7; died May 29, 1736; married Michael Kearny, born 1669; died May 7, 174I.
10 LEWIS MORRIS, son of Thomas Morris, 6, was born, by deduction, about 1655. He was called "Lewis Morris, Jr.," to distinguish him from Col. Lewis Morris, and also "Lewis Morris, of Passage Point," to distinguish him from his kinsman, Governor Lewis Morris, of Tintern Manor, Shrewsbury, N. J. He was among the early settlers of the Monmouth Tract.
In 1681, he was confirmed in his ownership of three hundred acres of land, at Middletown, as a "First Purchaser of Navesink," from the year 1670.
1682-3. He was Sheriff of Monmouth County, and Ensign of a Shrewsbury Company of Militia.
1690 to 1695. He was a Justice, of the Court of Sessions, in Monmouth County, as was also, at the same time, Lewis Morris, of Tinton.
1689, Apr. 15. Col. Lewis Morris conveyed to Lewis Morris, son of Thomas Morris, land, that he had acquired, in 1681, by purchase from Simon Cooper, and which was called Norransont or Passage Point. This land is now known as Rumson Neck, near Seabright, New Jersey.
1689, June 25. At a Court of Sessions, held at Middletown, on this date, Lewis Morris was among a goodly number of individuals accused of "running of races" and "playing at nyne pins on the Sabbath day."
Lewis Morris, of Passage Point, like his kinsman, whose name he bore, was aggressive, fiery and autocratic, and much embroiled with his neighbors:
1694, Dec. 25. The Grand Jury indicted Lewis Morris, of Passage Point, for striking Nicholas Sarah, of Freehold, and the Court issued a summons for him to appear at the next Court of Sessions, to be held, at Middletown, Mch. 27, 1695.
At this Session, the two Justices Morris sat, and Lewis Morris, of Passage Point, did inform the Court how matters was and submitted himself to the Bench; and was dismist.
Sarah was evidently much disgruntled by his failure to punish Morris, and abused Peter Tilton, one of the Justices, for which he was presented by the Grand Jury.
1694, Sept. 25, 26 and 27. The Grand Jury indicted Lewis Morris, of Passage Point, because he, "with several of his negroes, did feloniously take away the hay of William Shattock."
Apparently he little relished a trial by jurors, independent enough to indict him, a pre- siding magistrate, so that he removed the case, by habeas corpus, to the Court, at Perth Amboy, while Lewis Morris, of Tintern Manor, became his bondsman.
1694, Dec. 25. Then Lewis Morris, of Tintern Manor, and Lewis Morris, of Passage Point, by reason of their families were sick, did desire that they might withdraw and go home; which was granted.
Lewis Morris was killed by one of his negroes, in 1694-5, who was hung for the offence:
It is ordered by the court that the negroes that are in the goal, for the murdering of Lewis Morris, of Passage Point, shall be conveyed, by the Sheriff, to Perth Amboy, to attend the Court of Common Right, on the second Tuesday, of October next. And that a mittimus shall be directed to the Sheriff, of Middlesex, to receive and keep said negroes.
35
MORRIS OF MONMOUTH COUNTY
Upon his death, his widow applied for and received letters of administration, upon his estate, Apr. 1, 1696, which was inventoried, May 26, 1696, and amounted to £146-9-5. She was Elizabeth, the daughter of William and Audrey Almy, of Rhode Island.
Some years after Lewis Morris' death, Elizabeth (Almy) Morris married John Leonard, Esq., who died 1711-12, leaving a will dated Feb. 28, 1711; proved May 2, 1712, which men- tioned :
Wife, Elizabeth, executrix.
Son, John
Son, Henry
Son, Samuel
Son, Christopher
Daughter, Sarah
Daughter, Ann
Stepson, Lewis Morris
Cousin, Henry Leonard; empowered to dispose of the real estate.
Witnesses: William Lippincott, Francis Borden and Sarah Powell.
Issue
31 Lewis Morris
32 Richard Morris
33 Thomas Morris; supposed.
34 John Morris, born 1695; died 1769.
35 Rebecca Morris; married John Chamberlain.
36 Daughter; supposed. As Cornelius Tomson, of Freehold, yeoman, in his will, Aug. 14, 1727, named a son, Lewis Tomson, and John Morris, (who was the son of Lewis Morris, of Passage Point, as proved by his signature), was witness to this will, and testified to its proof, Dec. 21, 1727, I infer the existence of this daughter.
11 JOHN MORRIS, son of John Morris, 8, resided at Antigua, and died in 1687; mar- ried Grizzle Wallace, of Scotland.
Issue
37 Richard Morris
38 William Morris; died without issue.
39 John Morris
40 Thomas Morris
4I Valentine Morris
17 ANN MORRIS, daughter of Lewis Morris, 9, was born Apr. 3, 1706; married, June 10, 1739, Edward Antill, 2nd, born June 17, 1701; died Aug. 15, 1770.
Issue ·Sarah Antill, born, Aug. 18, 1740, at Piscataqua, Middlesex County, N. J .; mar- ried Lieut .- Colonel John Morris, (54).
18 ELIZABETH MORRIS, daughter of Lewis Morris, 9, born Apr. 3, 1712; married, Dec. 14, 1741, Col. Anthony White, born Oct. 28, 1717; died June 19, 1787. Her will was dated Feb. 10, 1766, and was proved Aug. 30, 1784. His will was dated Feb. 14, 1780, and was proved Nov. 12, 1787.
Col. White had a son, Anthony W. White, who had a natural child mentioned in his will and in the wills of his sisters.
.
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HISTORICAL MISCELLANY
21 LEWIS MORRIS, son of Governor Lewis Morris, 9, born September 23, 1698, at Tinton, N. J., died at Morrisania, N. Y., where he spent the most of his life, July 3, 1762. He married, first, March 17, 1723, Trintie, daughter of Dr. Samuel Staats, by Johanna Rynders, his wife, of New York city. She was born, as per the Bible record, Apl. 4, 1697, in New York, and died Mch. II, 1731, aged 36 years, "after a violent illness for Nine Days." He married, second, Nov. 3, 1746, at Westchester, Sarah Gouverneur (apparently his first wife's niece), born Oct. 17, 1714; died Jan. 14, 1786.
He was a member of the Governor's Council at the age of 24, and so remained until re- moved by the inimical Montgomerie. He was Speaker of the New York Assembly from 1737 to 1746; Judge of the Court of Admiralty 1738, and one of the Commissioners to fix the boundary line between New York and New Jersey in 1743.
By the side of his greater fatlier he suffers in comparison, but he was a clever politician, suave, humorous and tenacious, and quick with repartee.
He had some of the strange whimsical peculiarities and intolerances that stamped his for- bears. His son Lewis had been educated at Yale, but his father must have taken some offence at that institution, for when providing in his will for the education of his son Gouverneur, he stated:
"My express will and directions are that he be never sent for that purpose to the colony of Connecticut, lest he should imbibe in his youth that low craft and cunning so incident to the people of that country, which is so interwoven in their constitutions that all their art cannot disguise it from the world, tho' many of them under the sanctified Garb of Religion have endeavored to Impose themselves on the World for honest men."
Issue by first wife
42 Mary Morris, born Nov. I, 1724; married, May, 9, 1743, Thomas Lawrence, Jr., of Philadelphia, Pa.
43 Lewis Morris, born Apl. 8, 1726; died Jan. 22, 1798.
44 Staats Long Morris, born Aug. 27, 1728.
45 Richard Morris, born Aug. 15, 1730.
Issue by second wife
46 Isabella Morris, born Feb. 3, 1747-8; died Oct. 31, 1830; married, Nov. 7, 1762, Isaac Wilkins, died Feb. 5, 1830.
47 Sarah Morris, born Nov. 23, 1749; died Nov. 6, 1781; married, by license dated Sep. 15, 1772, Vincent Pearse Ashfield.
48 Gouverneur Morris, born Jan. 30, 1752.
49 Euphemia Morris, born Sep. 30, 1754; died June 2, 1818; married, Feb. 5, 1775, Colonel Samuel Ogden.
50 Catherine Morris, born Jan. 30, 1757; died, Dec. 1, 1776, aged 19 years, 10 months.
22 GOVERNOR ROBERT HUNTER MORRIS, son of Governor Lewis Morris, 9, was born about the year 1700. When his father became Governor of New Jersey, in 1738, he was appointed Chief Justice of that state and a Member of the Governor's Council. He likewise was, for a time, October, 1754 to August, 1756, Governor of Pennsylvania. As Chief Justice of New Jersey, he presided until his death. He was a genial, hearty man, possessing popularity. His home was at Tinton near where he died in 1764.
Smith, the historian, records his death: "He had a cousin, living at Shrewsbury, N. J.,* who was wife of the clergyman of the parish. On the evening of the 27th of January, [1764], there was a dance in the village, at which all the respectable families of the neighborhood were present. The Chief Justice led out the clergyman's wife, danced down six couples, and then
*Said to be the present residence of Dr. Ehrick Parmly, at Rumson.
37
MORRIS OF MONMOUTH COUNTY
without a word, or a groan, or a sigh, fell dead on the floor." "Unhappy New Jersey has lost her best ornament."
Some years before his death, Robert Hunter Morris made his will, in which he set forth that he was a resident of Tinton, in New Jersey, "intending on a voyage to Great Britain." He was doubtless then about to start on his mission of advancing the interests of the American Colonies, in England, where he resided some years. This instrument, dated Sept. 24, 1757, and proved Feb. 24, 1764, mentioned:
Niece, Ann Morris, that now lives with me, £500 down, and £20 a year.
Nephew, John Morris, an officer in Lasscasses' Regiment, [Lafscellses], £500.
My son, Robert Morris, who lately lived with Richd Saltar, and now lives with Mr. Dove, a schoolmaster, at or near Gloucester, in West Jersey, a share in a mine, at Rocky Hill, when twenty-one years of age.
My daughter, Mary Morris, now living with Revd Mr. Samuel Cook, £2000.
To Richard Morris, one-third of a property.
To his nephews, Lewis and Robert Morris, his share of the land devised, by his father's will, to himself and his brother, near Mohocks River.
"And whereas my said children, and my said nephew and niece, John and Anna Morris are natural chil- dren and cannot inherit,'' etc.
To Thomas Lawrence, of Philadelphia, a tract of land above the Highlands.
To Sarah Robinson £200, for her goodness to my mother.
To Elizabeth Stogdale £300.
Executors: good friend, David Ogden, and nephew, Richard Morris, who are instructed to pay his debts and apply his estate to bring up his child.
Witnesses: Anthony Dennis, Thomas Leming and Hannah Leming.
Issue
51 Robert Morris; natural child.
52 Mary Morris; natural child, supposed by Elizabeth Stogdale.
23 JOHN MORRIS son of Lewis Morris, 9.
Neither Governor Lewis Morris nor his wife made mention of sons other than Lewis and Robert Hunter Morris, in their wills, who were named as executors. That they failed to do so, is no proof that they had no other sons. That they did have, is known beyond dubiety. The authority for this John is: "My son, Staats Long, was born the 27th day of August, 1728, at a quarter after one in the morning; was christened by Parson Oren; Capt. Robert Long and my brother, John, godfathers; my sister, Ann, and Elizabeth Schuyler, godmothers."
Bible of 'Judge Lewis Morris; born 1698. New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. 7, p. 17.
By exclusion of all other relatives, both on his side as well as his wife's, the "brother, John, " must have been John Morris.
Then again, Mary Corbett, a sister to the Isabella Graham who married Governor Lewis Morris, appointed, as an executor in her will, "her nephew, John Morris," and he qualified for the position.
Physically he must have been a man of enormous size, for it is related that on transferring the coffins in the vault, at Morrisania, to a new one that had been built, one of them broke, and Gouverneur Morris, (115), picking up a huge jaw bone that had fallen to the ground, made the remark: "This must have belonged to John Morris, for he was an immense man."
John Morris undoubtedly was the Surrogate, of Monmouth County, in 1733. By in- ference, I believe him to be the father of the two natural children, mentioned in the will of Governor Robert Hunter Morris, as his niece and nephew.
Issue
53 Lieut. John Morris; a natural child.
54 Ann Morris; a natural child.
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HISTORICAL MISCELLANY
24 JAMES MORRIS, son of Lewis Morris, 9.
The authority for this child rests upon the following deed:
1717, Apr. 13. George Willocks, of Perth Amboy, and Margaret, his wife, granted to "James Morris and Isabella Morris, one of the sons & of ye Daughters, of Lewis Morris, of Morrisania, in Province of New York, Esq"," for the sum of five shillings from each of them, paid, one hundred and seventy acres, in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, N. J.
29 ISABELLA MORRIS, daughter of Lewis Morris, 9, born 1705; died Apr. 25, 1741; married, in 1723, Richard Ashfield, born Dec. 16, 1695; died 1742. '
1695. Richard Ashfield, of New York, merchant, sold lands, in Monmouth County, to William Clark.
Issue
(a) Lewis Morris Ashfield, born Feb. 9, 1724. He had a natural daughter, Helene, wife of Richard Clay, by his natural cousin, Ann Morris. Lewis Morris Ash- field married, Feb. 4, 1748, Elizabeth, daughter of John Redford. He died, Sep. 27, 1769, at Tintern, leaving a will dated Aug. 5, 1769; proved Aug. 22, 1770, devising a large estate to his son, Redford Ashfield, and to his daughters, two of whom, (aged 17), were Mary and Euphemia Ashfield. His son, Redford Ashfield, resided mostly in Barbadoes, where he died, without issue, at Demar- ara, in 1786 or 1787, leaving his estate to his sister, Mary Ashfield, who married Col. Elisha Lawrence, (son of John, near Allentown, N. J.), late of Nova Scotia, and died, probably near the close of the Revolutionary War, without issue, and to his other sister, Euphemia Ashfield, who married, Jan. 12, 1793, George D. Brinkerhoff, of Parcipany, Hanover Township, Morris Co., N. J.
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