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{{Infobox person
| name           = Lewis G. Morris
| image          =Portrait of Lewis Gouverneur Morris.jpg
| birth_name     = Lewis Gouverneur Morris
| birth_date     = {{birth date|1808|8|19}}
| birth_place    = [[Claverack, New York|Claverack]], [[New York (state)|New York]]
| death_date     = {{death date and age|1900|9|19|1808|8|19}}
| death_place    = [[Fordham, New York]]
| occupation     = Maritime [[Advocacy|advocate]], sheep and cattle [[breeder]]
| spouse         = {{marriage|Emily Lorillard<br>|1839|1850|reason=her death}}
| parents        = Robert Richard Morris<br>Frances Ludlam
| relatives      = [[Richard Morris (U.S. politician)|Richard Morris]] (grandfather)<br>[[Lewis G. Morris Jr.]] (grandson)<br>[[James Alexander Hamilton|James A. Hamilton]] (brother-in-law)
| children       = 4
}}

'''Lewis Gouverneur Morris''' (August 19, 1808 &ndash; September 19, 1900) was an American maritime [[Advocacy|advocate]] and sheep and cattle [[breeder]] who was a member of the prominent [[List of United States political families (M)#The Morris of Morrisania and New Jersey|Morris family]] of [[Morissania]].<ref name="LGMObit1900">{{cite news | newspaper=The New York Times| title=LEWIS G. MORRIS DEAD: Member of Distinguished American Family – Advanced Harlem Ship Canal Project.| date=20 September 1900| url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1900/09/20/105752347.pdf}}</ref>

==Early life==
Morris was born on August 19, 1808, in [[Claverack, New York]].<ref name="AHM1906"/>  He was the youngest son of Robert Richard Morris (1762–1851) and Frances Ludlam (1766–1852).<ref name=jah>{{cite book |last=Hamilton |first=James Alexander |title=Reminiscences of James A. Hamilton: or, Men and events, at home and abroad, during three quarters of a century |location=New York |publisher=C. Scribner & Co. |year=1869 |url=https://archive.org/details/reminiscencesja01hamigoog }}</ref><ref name="SNS1905">{{cite book|last1=Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York|title=The Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York: History, Customs, Record of Events, Constitution, Certain Genealogies, and Other Matters of Interest. V. 1-|date=1905|page=[https://archive.org/details/saintnicholassoc01sain/page/n115 110]|url=https://archive.org/details/saintnicholassoc01sain|access-date=15 August 2017|language=en}}</ref>  His elder sister, Mary Morris (1790–1869), was married to [[James Alexander Hamilton]] (1788–1878), third son of [[Alexander Hamilton]] and [[Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton]].<ref name="Reynolds1914">{{cite book|last1=Reynolds|first1=Cuyler|title=Genealogical and Family History of Southern New York and the Hudson River Valley: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Building of a Nation|date=1914|publisher=Lewis Historical Publishing Company|url=https://archive.org/details/genealogicalfami00reyn|page=[https://archive.org/details/genealogicalfami00reyn/page/1380 1380]|access-date=15 August 2017|language=en}}</ref>

His paternal grandparents were [[Richard Morris (U.S. politician)|Richard Morris]] (1730–1810), Chief Justice of the [[New York Supreme Court]],<ref name="nyhistory">{{cite web|title=Richard Morris (1730–1810)|url=http://www.nyhistory.org/exhibit/richard-morris-1730-1810-0|website=www.nyhistory.org|publisher=[[New-York Historical Society]]|access-date=15 August 2017|language=en}}</ref> and Sarah ([[née]] Ludlow) Morris (1730–1791), the sister of [[William Henry Ludlow House|William Henry Ludlow]].<ref name="Reynolds">{{cite book|last1=Reynolds|first1=Cuyler|last2=Cutter|first2=William Richard|title=Genealogical and Family History of Southern New York and the Hudson River Valley: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Building of a Nation {{!}} Vol. III|date=1914|publisher=Lewis Historical Publishing Company|location=New York|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iNIUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1143|access-date=September 26, 2017|language=en}}</ref>  His great uncle was [[Gouverneur Morris Jr.]] and his great-great uncle was [[Gouverneur Morris]], a [[Founding Fathers of the United States|Founding Father of the United States]], signatory to the [[Articles of Confederation]] and [[United States Constitution|U.S. Constitution]] who wrote the [[Preamble to the United States Constitution]] and has been called the "Penman of the Constitution.".<ref>[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/continental/constit.html Documents from the Constitutional Convention and the Continental Congress]. Library of Congress.</ref><ref name="LGMObit1900"/>

==Career==
Morris, who inherited "Mt. Fordham", his family's estate,<ref name="AHM1906"/> was a resident of [[Morris Heights, Bronx|Morris Heights]], [[New York (state)|New York]], maintained a small farm at [[Fordham, Bronx|Fordham]], until it was encroached upon.  He then purchased another farm in [[Scarsdale, New York|Scarsdale]] and on these farms bred sheep and cattle.<ref name="LGMObit1900"/><ref name="Brown">{{cite book|title=Valentine's manual of old New York|author=Henry Collins Brown|volume=2|location=New York (N.Y.)|year=1922|publisher=Common Council|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G2Vr09WaXcEC&pg=PA250|page=250|author-link=Henry Collins Brown}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=59JFAAAAYAAJ&q=morrisJ|title=An Abstract of the Proceeding of the County Agricultural Societies: Address, Lewis G. Morris, President of the Society|date=1 March 1854|publisher=Transactions of the New York State Agricultural Society|volume=XIII - 1853|location=[[Albany, New York]]|pages=210–218, 87, 745, 757|language=en|quote=Having drawn a very favorable position for agriculture, as  an occupation[...]It is mainly owing to the establishment of societies such as this, all over our Union, and by aid of the agricultural press,[...] which means it affords our American aptitude a change to apply the experience of the old world, for centuries, and our inventive genius as a nation has led to many improvements which are better adapted to our soil and climate.[...Won by Morris...] Award of Premiums, 1853: Class I. - Cattle: No. 1. Short Horns. [8 Awards totaling $110({{Inflation|US|110|1853|2019|fmt=eq}}) ] No. 2 Devons [6 Awards totaling $63({{Inflation|US|63|1853|2019|fmt=eq}})] }}</ref>

In 1838, he took up his lifelong fight to restore and improve the [[Harlem River]]. After careful legal consultation and planning, on September 14, 1838, he led a raid on the [[Macombs Dam]], and restored the channel.  After a long legal battle with the dam's owner, he persevered in ''Renwick v. Morris''.  The removal of the dam was justified as being a [[public nuisance]] in violation of the original provisions of the dam's public authorization.<ref name="AHM1906"/>

Morris also championed the design of the [[Croton Aqueduct]] to soar over the Harlem River at [[High Bridge (New York City)|High Bridge]], rather than block the channel.  He also pushed to see the [[Harlem River Ship Canal]] become a reality.<ref name="AHM1906"/>

He was president of the [[Great New York State Fair|New York State Agricultural Society]] and a member of the [[Royal Agricultural Society of England]].<ref name="AHM1906"/>

===Military service===
In 1840, Morris was appointed inspector of the [[New York State Militia]], 4th Division, with the rank of [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]].  During the [[U.S. Civil War]], he was prominent and active in support of the Union, serving as a member of the War Committee.<ref name="AHM1906"/>  In August 1862, he again was appointed Colonel and was noted for recruiting the 135th Regiment of Infantry, later known as the [[6th New York Heavy Artillery Regiment]], under the command of [[Brigadier general (United States)|Brigadier Gen.]] [[William H. Morris]], son of [[George Pope Morris]], the poet, although neither were members of his Morris family.<ref name="AHM1906"/>

==Personal life==
In July 1839, he married Emily Lorillard (1819–1850),<ref name="AHM1906">{{cite book|title=The American Historical Magazine|date=1906|publisher=Publishing Society of New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/americanhistoric1909publ/page/437 437]|url=https://archive.org/details/americanhistoric1909publ|access-date=27 September 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Newportraits2000">{{cite book|last1=Newport Art Museum (R.I.)|title=Newportraits|date=2000|publisher=UPNE|isbn=9781584650188|page=186|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JLfRCgAPCyIC&pg=PA186|access-date=27 September 2017|language=en}}</ref> the daughter of Jacob Lorillard (1774–1836) and granddaughter of [[Pierre Abraham Lorillard]], founder of the [[Lorillard Tobacco Company]].<ref name="Ackerman2007">{{cite news|last1=Ackerman|first1=Ruthie|title=Loews Lets Lorillard Go|url=https://www.forbes.com/2007/12/17/loews-spinoff-closer-markets-equity-cx_ra_1217markets39.html|access-date=27 September 2017|work=[[Forbes]]|date=17 December 2007|language=en}}</ref>  Her sister Eliza Meier Lorillard married [[Nathaniel Platt Bailey]].<ref name="Newportraits2000"/>  Together, they were the parents of four sons, two of whom died young. Their two surviving sons were:<ref name="AHM1906"/>

* Fordham Morris (1842–1909),<ref name="FMObit1909">{{cite news|title=FORDHAM MORRIS DEAD.; Bright's Disease Kills Member of Old New York Family at Lenox.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1909/07/07/archives/fordham-morris-dead-brights-disease-kills-member-of-old-new-york.html|access-date=27 September 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=7 July 1909}}</ref> who married Annie Louisa Westcott, daughter of Joseph H. Westcott, in 1872.<ref name="AHM1906"/>
* Francis Morris (1844–1883), who married Harriet Hall Bedlow, daughter of Henry Bedlow.<ref name="AHM1906"/> After his death, she married John Rex Guelph-Norman (1861–1932), who claimed to be the son of King [[Edward VII]] and rightful heir to the throne,<ref name="Guelph1910">{{cite book|last1=Guelph|first1=John R. Wettin|title=The Memoirs of Prince John De Guelph, rex et imperator de jure of Great Britain and Ireland;|date=1910|publisher=New York, B. W. Dodge & company|url=https://archive.org/details/memoirsofprincej00guel|access-date=27 September 2017}}</ref> in 1898.<ref name="ANJournal1897">{{cite book|title=The United States Army and Navy Journal and Gazette of the Regular and Volunteer Forces|date=1897|publisher=Army and Navy Journal Incorporated|page=591|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c_8-AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA591|access-date=27 September 2017|language=en}}</ref>  They divorced after she discovered he had a wife in India.<ref name="Guelph1909">{{cite news|title=Prince de Guelph|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/138915794/|access-date=27 September 2017|work=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]|date=March 27, 1909|page=10|language=en|quote= [Guelph-Norman] then came to New York as &quot;Prof. John R. Guelph Norman,&quot; attracted by the offer of Charles Broadway Rouss of $1,000,000 ({{Inflation|US|1000000|1898|2019|fmt=eq}}) to any man who could restore his sight. He said he had lived in India and had attended the King of Siam for blindness. '''Sued Month After Marriage,'''. Then Norman met '''Mrs. Harriet Hall Bedlow Morris, widow of Commander Morris, U. S. N.''', and daughter of the late Henry Bedlow, once Mayor of [[Newport, Rhode Island|Newport, R. I.]] Norman treated the daughter. He courted her and won the mother. Here entered the stories of his having a wife in India. Mrs. Norman filed suit for divorce within one month of the marriage. Norman returned to New York, where Mrs. Hilda Schleatter, charging that he had hypnotized her out of $1000, had him arrested. He was sent to [[Ludlow Street Jail]] }}</ref><ref name="1909Missing">{{cite news|title='PRINCE DE GUELPH' MISSING.; Little Difficulty Over His Bill Sends Him from the St. Regis.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1909/03/27/archives/prince-de-guelph-missing-little-difficulty-over-his-bill-sends-him.html|access-date=27 September 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=27 March 1909}}</ref>

Morris died at his home, Mt. Fordham,<ref name="LGMDeath1900">{{cite news|title=DIED. Morris|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1900/09/20/archives/obituary-1-no-title.html|access-date=27 September 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=20 September 1900}}</ref> on September 19, 1900, at the age of 92.<ref name="LGMObit1900"/><ref name="1900funeral">{{cite news | newspaper=The New York Times| title=Funeral of Lewis G. Morris| date=23 September 1900| url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1900/09/23/105753440.pdf}}</ref>

===Descendants===
Through his son Fordham, he was the grandfather of Emily Lorillard Morris (b. 1873),<ref name="Weiser1960">{{cite book|last1=John Conrad Weiser Family Association|title=The Weiser family: a genealogy of the family of John Conrad Weiser, the elder (d. 1746); prepared on the two hundred fiftieth anniversary of his arrival in America, 1710–1760|date=1960|publisher=John Conrad Weiser Family Assoc.|page=210|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P5JYAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA210|access-date=27 September 2017|language=en}}</ref> who married Rolaz Horace Gallatin (d. 1948),<ref name="RHGObit1948">{{cite news|title=R. HORACE GALLATIN|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/11/02/archives/r-horace-gallatin.html|access-date=27 September 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=2 November 1948}}</ref> son of Frederic Gallatin and Almy Goelet (née Gerry) (d. 1917),<ref name="GallatinEstate1917">{{cite news|title=ESTATE OF MRS. GALLATIN; It Exceeds $1,000,000 and Husband Gets $30,000 a Year for Life.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1917/04/04/archives/estate-of-mrsgallatin-it-exceeds-1000000-and-husband-gets-30000-a.html|access-date=27 September 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=4 April 1917}}</ref> and cousin of [[Albert Eugene Gallatin]] and nephew of Commodore [[Elbridge Thomas Gerry]], in April 1896.<ref name="GallatinWedding1896">{{cite news|title=A DAY'S WEDDINGS. {{!}} Gallatin--Morris|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1896/04/29/archives/a-days-weddings.html|access-date=27 September 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=29 April 1896}}</ref>

Through his son Francis, he was the grandfather of [[Lewis Gouverneur Morris|Lewis Gouverneur Morris Jr.]] (1882–1967), the original proprietor of the [[Lewis G. Morris House]], was married to [[Anita of Braganza|Princess Anita of Braganza]] (1886–1977), the daughter of William Rhinelander Stewart and widow of [[Prince Miguel, Duke of Viseu]].<ref name="nyt1977">{{Cite news |title=Anita Stewart Morris, 91, Dies; Heiress Wed a European Prince|work=[[New York Times]] |date=September 16, 1977}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*{{find a Grave| 103121242}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Lewis G.}}
[[Category:1808 births]]
[[Category:1900 deaths]]
[[Category:Morris family (Morrisania and New Jersey)]]
[[Category:Lorillard family]]
[[Category:People from the Bronx]]