Anthony Morris, Quaker preacher, b. in Stepney, London, England, 23 Aug., 1654; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 24 Oct., 1721. He was the son of Anthony Morris, of London, and on emigrating to this country first settled in New Jersey, but in 1683 removed to Philadelphia. In the charter of that city, bearing date 20 March, 1691, he is mentioned as an alderman. In 1692 he was appointed a judge of the courts of common pleas and quarter sessions, and of the orphans' court, of which, in the following year, he became the president judge. In 1694 he was made a judge of the supreme court, and he retained his several judicial offices until 1698. He was one of the judges that in 1693 sat in the noted trial of George Keith, John Budd, and others. Of his judicial career William Penn wrote to the Lords of Trade in London: "Morris is one of the most sufficient as well as diligent magistrates there." In 1695-'7 he was a member of the provincial council, and he served for several years as a member of the assembly. In 1704 he served as mayor of the city. He began to preach in 1701, and thereafter devoted nearly all his time to ministerial labor among the Society of Friends, travelling through most of the North American provinces, and visiting Great Britain in 1715.--His son, Anthony, merchant, b. in London, England, in March, 1682: d. in Philadelphia, 23 Sept., 1763, was for nearly forty years one of the most influential members of the Society of Friends in Philadelphia, taking an active part in all the movements that were originated at their monthly meetings. In 1737, and for several years afterward, he was an associate justice of the city court. He sat for several sessions as a member of the assembly, and in 1738 was chosen mayor of Philadelphia. On being re-elected, he refused to serve.--His daughter, Sarah, Quaker preacher, b. in Philadelphia in 1704; d. there, 24 Oct., 1775, became a minister of her denomination. She labored among the Friends in New Jersey, Maryland, and Long Island, visited Rhode Island in 1764, and travelled through Great Britain in 1772-'3.--The second Anthony's son, Samuel, merchant, b. in Philadelphia, 21 Nov., 1711; d. there in April, 1782, took an active part in the affairs of the province. In 1756 he was commissioned by Gov. Robert Hunter Morris an auditor to settle the accounts of the illfated Braddock expedition. He was a zealous advocate of independence, and during the Revolution was a member of the committee of safety and the board of war. In 1777 he was appointed register of wills of Philadelphia, which office he held until 1782. From 1779 till his death he was a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania.--The second Anthony's grandson, Samuel, son of a third of that name, b. in Philadelphia, 24 June, 1734; d. there, 7 July, 1812, often served in the legislature. He was elected "governor" in 1776 of the club known as "The State in Schuylkill," and re-elected annually until his death. He was also president for many years of the " Gloucester fox-hunting club." When the first troop of Philadelphia city cavalry was organized, not less than twenty-two members of the last-named association were enrolled in its ranks. Samuel Morris was elected its captain. The troop served through the campaign of 1776-'7 as Washington's body-guard, and took an active part in the battles of Trenton and Princeton, in which latter engagement Samuel's brother, Anthony, ensign of the troop, was killed. On temporarily relieving the command from duty in January, 1777, Washington returned his "most sincere thanks to the captain," and added that, although the troop was "composed of gentlemen of fortune," its members had "shown a noble example of discipline and subordination." For thus taking part in the Revolution, Capt. Morris was disowned by the Society of Friends, but he continued until his death to wear the dress and use the language of that sect, worshipping with them regularly. The first Samuel's son, Cadwalader, merchant. b. in Philadelphia, 19 April, 1741; d. there, 25 Jan., 1795, was a member of the city troop of horse that was commanded by his cousin, Capt. Samuel Morris. In 1783-'4 he was a delegate from Pennsylvania to the Continental congress. He served at one time as an inspector of the Bank of Pennsylvania, whose establishment in 1780 he assisted by subscribing £2,500 to its capital, his father, Samuel, having given £3,000. The object of this institution was declared to be "the supplying of the Army of the United States for two months." In 1781 he was a founder and also a member of the first board of directors of the Bank of America. After the war he had an iron-furnace for several years at Birdsborough, Berks co., Pa., after which he returned to mercantile pursuits in Philadelphia. Another son of the first Samuel, Samuel Cadwalader, 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 command 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, ye Tories shall not triumph over us yet. We will yet have our Day, and make them Tremble."--Another 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 Philadelphia (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 emergency 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 approach 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 authorities. In 1777 he became master of the rolls and recorder for the city and county of Philadelphia, 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 appointed 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 regiment.--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 admitted 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 Pennsylvania 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 administration of President Madison he was sent by the latter on a special mission to Spain, where he remained nearly two years. In 1800-'6 he was a director of the Bank of North America, and from 1806 till 1817 a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania.--Capt. Samuel's grandson, Samuel Wells, lawyer, son of Benjamin Wistar Morris, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 1 Sept. 1786; d. in Wellsborough, Tioga co., Pa., 25 May, 1847, received an academic education. studied law, was admitted to the bar, and began to practise at Wellsborough. He was appointed judge of the district court, and subsequently elected and re-elected to congress as a Deimocrat, serving from 4 Sept., 1837, till 3 March, 1841. Another grandson of Capt. Samuel, Caspar, physician, son of Israel W., b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 2 May, 1805; d. there, 16 March, 1884, was graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1826, and after serving as resident physician to the Pennsylvania 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 successively on the theory and practice of medicine in the Philadelphia suimmer-school of medicine, on children's diseases at the Blockley almshouse hospital, and on the practice of medicine in the Philadelphia 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); "Letter to Bishop Alonzo Potter on Hospital Needs" (1851); "Lectures on Scarlet Fever" (1858); "Essay on Hospital Construction and Management (Baltimore, 1875); "Rilliet and Barthel on Diseases 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 Pennsylvania 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 Tenant" (1856).--Samuel Wells's son, Benjamin Wistar, P.E. bishop, b. in Wellsborough, Tioga co., Pa., 30 May, 1819, was graduated at the General 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, Philadelphia, for six years, when he became assistant at St. Luke's, Germantown, Pa., remaining there until his elevation to the episcopate. He was consecrated missionary bishop of Oregon and Washington territory, 3 Dec., 1868. In 1880 his jurisdiction was divided, Washington territory being set apart as a separate see, while Bishop Morris remained in charge of the diocese of Oregon. He received the degree of S.T.D. from Columbia in 1868, and also from the University of Pennsylvania the same year.--Caspar's son, James Cheston, physician, b. in Philadelphia, 28 May, 1831, was graduated at the medical department of the University 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 1860, from 1855 till 1859 to the Moyamensing house of industry, and from 1857 till 1872 to the Episcopal hospital. From October, 1862, till August, 1863, he served as contract surgeon in the army. From 1855 till 1863, inclusive, he examined, in connection with lectures on practice, materia medica, chemistry, and the institutes of medicine, in the University of Pennsylvania, and also lectured there on microscopic anatomy. He has received several patents for various inventions. His most important literary work has been his translation from the German of Prof. C.G. Lehmann's "Manual of Chemical Physiology" (Philadelphia, 1856). He has also contributed largely to professional journals, and is the author of "The Milk Supply of Large Cities" (Philadelphia, 1884); "The Water-Supply of Philadelphia"; "Annals of Hygiene"; and "Report of Philadelphia Water Department" (1886).
Source: Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography, vol. IV, ed. by James Grant Wilson and John Fiske. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1888, pp. 409-411.
Contributed by: Nancy.