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The Life of Gouverneur Morris Index < Prev      Page 2      Next > leges, and called Morrisania.  The first proprietor of the Manor of Morrisania died in 1673, leaving an only son, named Lewis, an infant and an orphan, his mother having died a few months before. Being thus left, when he was not yet a year old, without parents or any other natural protectors, the government of the colony appointed guardians to take care of him and the property left by his father.  Not long afterwards his uncle came to America and settled at Morrisania.[1]  He took his young nephew under his charge, and finally made him heir to his fortune. The early years of Lewis Morris, the nephew, were wild and erratic.  On one occasion, having committed some offence of youthful extravagance or folly, which he knew would displease his uncle, he strolled away to the southem colonies, and thence to the West Indies, where he supported himself for some time as a scrivener.  Soon satisfied with the pleasures of wandering, and tired of a life of dependance and privation, he returned again to his uncle's roof, where he was received with kindness.  Endowed with strong natural powers, and fond of distinction, he entered at an early age upon a public career.  He was one of the Council of New Jersey, and a judge of the Supreme Court of that colony, and also for several years member of the Assembly, and Chief Justice oŁ New York.  In this latter colony he was at one period a popular leader in the party of the Assembly and people, in opposition to the Governors, who, as in most of the other colonies, generally continued to keep up a quarrel with the people; by their arbitrary abuse of power and exactions of < Prev      Page 2      Next > From The Life of Gouverneur Morris: With Selections from His Correspondence and Miscellaneous Papers; Detailing Events in the American Revolution, The French Revolution, and in the Political History of the United States, by Jared Sparks, Volume 1, Boston: Gray & Bowen, 1832, p 2. Some minor edits may have been made, but an attempt has been made to preserve the original spelling. Although some effort has been made to correct the limitations of OCR technology, if you find an error please report it to jvinci@colonialhall.com.     Designed and Edited by John Vinci Last modified August 20, 2006