Gouverneur Morris Jr.

Gouverneur Morris II (1813-1888), American railroad executive.

Gouverneur Morris II (February 9, 1813, Morrisania, Bronx, New York–August 20, 1888, Bartow-on-the-Sound, Pelham, New York)

Biography

Coat of Arms of Gouverneur Morris

He was the son of a founding father of the United States, Gouverneur Morris, and of Anne Cary ("Nancy") Randolph. He married his first cousin Martha Jefferson Cary, daughter of Wilson Jefferson Cary, and Virginia Randolph Cary.^[1]

Morris was one of the major entrepreneurs of the 19th century Bronx. As Vice President of the New York and Harlem River Railroad, he built the railroad now running along Park Avenue in New York City. In 1840, he donated St. Ann's Church as a family memorial.^[2] He promoted Port Morris as a commercial port, and donated land to skilled workers in 1848, to create an ideal workingman’s village if it were called Morrisania. That is today’s Morrisania neighborhood. He spent much of the later part of his career in Vermont, as president of the Vermont Valley Railroad.

He wasn't as active in politics as his famous father, but he was a founder of the Republican Party and attended its opening convention in 1854.

Morris was buried at St. Ann's Episcopal Church in the Bronx.^[3]

References

1. Louise Pecquet du Bellet, Some Prominent Virginia Families, p. 81,2
2. Elizabeth Spencer-Ralph and Gloria McDarrah (April 1980). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Riverdale Presbyterian Church Complex". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
3. "Obituary: Gouverneur Morris" (PDF). New York Times. August 21, 1888. Retrieved 2008-11-28.

External Links

• The Gouverneur Morris, Jr. Papers 1835-1879 at the New York Historical Society