Township Sections of Mini-Biographies
from

The History of Otsego County, New York

1740-1878

D. Hamilton Hurd

Published by Everts & Fariss, Philadelphia

MORRIS

Jonathan MOORE, wife and four sons came from Salisbury, 
Conn., in about the year 1792, and located on adjoining farms . 
Two sons with their families subsequently moved to the west. 
Alanson, the eldest, married Asenath SKINNER, and had a family 
of four children. Two sons reside in town. Ansel C. Moore, a 
banker in Morris village, married Esther FREEMAN, and had a 
family of four daughters and one son; Mrs. Mary F. A. PEARSALL 
resides with her father; Josephine married Everett E. YATES, and 
lives in New Jersey; Albert G. married Elizabeth BEARDSLEY, 
and died Feb. 10, 1876; Victorine is the wife of Hon. James E. 
COOKE, of Morris; Amelia married Rev. Romaine S. MANSFIELD, 
and resides in Spring Valley, N.Y. Mr. Ansel C. Moore was the 
first vice-president and a member of the first board of directors of 
the bank of Cooperstown, subsequently merged into the Second 
National bank of Cooperstown, and was also supervisor of 
Butternuts for eight years.
A daughter of Jonathan Moore, named Ruth, married Nathan LULL; 
Charity married Uri JACKSON; Charlotte married William LULL; 
and Cynthia married Amos PERRY.
[Note: see bio for Ansel C. Moore]
-----
An honored pioneer of Morris was Benajah DAVIS, who settled 
contemporaneously with Paschal Franchot in "Louisville," now the 
village of Morris. He built a tannery on the corner of the street 
opposite the Louisville Hotel, which he continued until his death. 
His family consisted of three sons and one daughter, viz.: Elizabeth 
married Samuel C. GILBERT, and resides in Gilbertsville; John, 
deceased, married Sarah MORRIS; Jonah, deceased, married 
Tamar PALMER, who lives in Morris village; and James W. 
lived and died in Kingston, on the Hudson.
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Ichabod B PALMER, wife and family moved from Connecticut 
soon after the beginning of the War of the Revolution, and settled 
about two miles above the village on the east side of the creek, on 
a farm which he carried on as long as he lived. A son, Amos, then 
occupied the farm, which remained in his possession until his death, 
which occurred in 1862. Ichabod B. Palmer's family consisted of 
nine children,- three sons and six daughters. Ammi Palmer, a son, 
died in Cleveland, Ohio, at the advanced age of one hundred and 
four years. Other children are as follows, viz.: Amos Palmer married 
Theresa LULL, and had a family of eleven children; Mrs. Tamar 
DAVIS is the only one living in the town; Rev. Noble Palmer is the 
rector of the Episcopal church in Havens, N.Y.; Amos P. Palmer 
resides in Albany, and is a banker; Jacob K. is a resident of Warren, 
Pa., and carries on the tanning business; Ichabod B. is a farmer, and 
resides near Ithaca; a daughter married Cornelius JONES, and 
resides with a son, Wm. Jones, a merchant, in Exeter; one, now 
deceased, married Dr. Wm. YATES, and the old homestead is now 
occupied by a son, George Yates; one, now deceased, was the 
wife of Wolcott DUNNING, and lived in New Lisbon; and another 
daughter, also deceased, became the wife of Richard PRATT, and 
resided in Burlington.
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General Jacob MORRIS, from whom the town derived its name, 
who during the Revolution was on the staff of Major-General Charles 
Lee, settled in the south part of the town, near the site of the 
"Morris Memorial Chapel." He was born in 1755. During the 
Revolution he was in the battle of Monmouth and other engagements. 
At the close of the war he engaged in business in New York, and 
soon after removed to his home in what was then considered the 
western wilderness. 
General Morris married for his first wife a Miss COX, of Philadelphia, 
and for his second wife a Miss PRINGLE, of Richfield. His family 
was as follows, viz.: Lewis Lee, born in 1778, and came to Butternuts 
when about sixteen years of age. He married for his first wife a 
Miss GILBERT, and for his second wife a Miss WINTER. Seven 
children are living, viz., Lewis, in Binghamton; William, in New York; 
John, in Friendville, Pa.; Charles Lee, in Australia; Mrs. John A. 
COLLIER, in Rochester; Mrs. John A. DAVIS, in New York, and 
James R., who resides on his father's homestead.
John Cox, the second son, was born in Philadelphia, in 1781; was 
educated at Dartmouth college, subsequently studied law, and 
practiced in New York. He afterwards removed to this town, where 
he continued his practice and was judge of the county. Richard, the 
third son, was born in Philadelphia, in 1782, and came here with 
his parents. He married a Miss UPTON, and settled at "Upton 
Park."
Mary Ann, born in 1784, married Isaac COOPER, of Cooperstown. 
George died in infancy. Sarah Sabina, born in 1788, married for 
her first husband Peter KEAN, and for her second husband, Looe 
BAKER. She is still living in New York with a daughter, Mrs. 
Hamilton FISH. 
Jacob Walton was born in Butternuts, in 1792. A son, Charles
Morris, occupies the old homestead.
Catherine Cox, born in Butternuts, in 1794, and married John H. 
PRENTISS, of Cooperstown. William Augustus, born in 1796, 
was accidentally killed in about 1818. James Elliot died in infancy. 
Charles Valentine, born in 1802, entered the navy as a midshipman 
when fourteen years of age, and has since remained in the service. 
He was in command of the Washington navy-yard during the late 
Rebellion, and is now on the retired list, and resides at Sackett's 
Harbor, N.Y. William Pringle, born in 1832, is a practicing attorney 
in Madison, Wis. General Jacob Morris died Jan. 10, 1844, aged 
eighty-eight years.
The Morris patent embraced 30,000 acres, and was granted to Lewis 
and Richard Morris to indemnify them for the loss of their property 
on the Hudson, which was destroyed by the British during the 
Revolution. Lewis was a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
[Note: see bios for Adolphus G & Richard B Morris]
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WALKER- An honored pioneer in what is now the town of Morris
was Stephen WALKER who moved from Johnstown, Saratoga Co., 
NY, and settled in 1811. He was some fifteen days on his journey 
and first lived in a house on the premises of Judge Van Rensselaer, 
and after a few years bought and built a house of his own, where 
he lived till old age. His wife, Lydia GARDNER, of Nantucket, 
was a birth-right Quaker, and he always attended the "Friends' 
meeting" in the meeting house still standing at Morris, and most of 
his life was favored with the preaching of Joseph BOWNE, of 
fragrant memory. He was a native of Providence, R.I. He was a 
good citizen, an honest, true man, and a kind and loving father of 
a family. He died in 1845, aged eighty years.
He had thirteen children, all of whom lived to be married and have 
children of their own. William died in Wisconsin, in 1873, aged 
eighty-two years. Stephen died at Buffalo, in 1864, aged seventy-two. 
Polly (Mrs. George ANDREWS), still living at Syracuse, N.Y., 
mother of Edward Andrews, bishop of the Methodist Episcopal 
church of Des Moines, Iowa, and of Hon. Charles Andrews, of 
Syracuse, judge of the court of appeals of New York. Samuel G., 
who died at Buffalo, in 1857, aged fifty-seven years. Phebe A. 
(Mrs. S. S. MUNSON), now of Fowlerville, Michigan. Sarah (Mrs. 
E. WALTER), who died at Litchfield, Mich., in 1867, aged sixty-
three years, the mother of Prof. E. S. Walter, of Michigan university. 
Ferdinand, now of Brooklyn, N.Y. Caroline (Mrs. Isaac CASKEY), 
now of Detroit, Mich. Matilda (Mrs. Sylvester GRANGER), now of 
Detroit. Benjamin G., who died at Tecumseh, Mich., in 1851, aged 
thirty-eight years. Charles I., now of Detroit, Mich., a distinguished 
lawyer, judge, and fifteen years professor of law in the University 
of Michigan. Susannah (Mrs. A. C. McGRAW), who died at 
Detroit, in 1842, aged twenty-four years, leaving two sons, E. M. 
McGraw, a lawyer of San Francisco, and Dr. T. A. McGraw, an 
eminent surgeon and professor in medical college at Detroit. Edward 
C., also a lawyer of Detroit, and for fifteen years regent of Michigan.

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