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About Colonel Lewis Morris
Wrong Lewis(?) or possibly wrong father- should be William Morris?
Lewis Morris was the first Morris of this line to come to America to New Jersey.
Source of the following info- http://www.familytreeproject.org/getperson.php?personID=I2788
Colonial [%E2%80%8EColonel] Lewis Morris [1] born abt 1601 in Tintern, Monmouthshire, Wales [1] died 14 Feb 1690/91 Bronx, New York [1]
Source 1. [S148] LongIslandGenealogy.com.
1. Col. Lewis Morris "the Cromwellian" was born in 1601 and died in 1691. Prior to his arrival in America, he was placed in the West Indies, at Barbadoes in 1655, and finally a Quaker, with George Fox, 1671. He later came to N. Y. and founded the estate called "Morrisiana" in Westchester, New York.
Lewis and his brother Richard backed Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War, being credited with attacking Chepstow Castle, Wales in 1646 and took part in other battles against King Charles I. Its said that he may have been second in charge of the Parliamentary forces during the attack on Chepstow. It is written Lewis raised a troop of horse at one point and lost the battle. In reprisal, the King took away the Morris land in Tintern, Wales. However, after the death of the King, Lewis settled in Barbados, possibly a prize from Cromwell. He was there by 1654 and had an estate and was a member of the Council (possibly a nephew John Morris had already settled there). One book says Lewis visited Barbados in 1633 while working for the 'Providence Company' (Lumsden, "The Barbados-American Connection," pp. 76-78). Lewis was sent by Cromwell to attack the Spanish in the West Indies in 1654 and 1655 under Admiral Penn. He is said to have been present at the attack on Hispaniola (Haiti) that year and of Jamaica after demanding "a present of one hundred thousand weight of sugar to pay his debts, before he would consent to accompany the fleet." Lumden's book suggests that Lewis "accumulated a fortune from privateering" (which was certainly common in the 17th and 18th centuries). Upon the restoration of the Crown in 1660, Lewis remained in Barbados and bought land in St. Lucia in 1663. He became an wealthy merchant and planter, living near Bridgetown, had sugar plantations in St. Andrew's parish and became a devote Quaker. In fact he complained about the treatment of "Friends" on the island and refused to pay church dues. An the man who had fought wars on two Continents would not give money or men to the militia. He was fined over 16,000 of sugar for his refusals. In 1672, he received word of his brother's death in New York. Lewis went there in 1673 and settled on the family land in the Bronx. However, the Dutch took New York back from the English that year and a proclamation of 20 September 1673 set out that Lewis' personal estate was to be confiscated. However, a family friend had moved the belongings to Shrewsbury, New Jersey where Lewis was able to set up the family estate, safely in English hands. In 1675, Lewis purchased six thousand acres which become "Tinton" in Shrewsbury, Monmouth County, named for "Tintern" the family village in Wales in County Monmouth. There he had iron works and mills. He lived in New Jersey for years, getting another 1000 acres in 1685 on the south side of the Monmouth River in exchange for a similar amount sitting on the Delaware River near New Castle that had been inherited by him on the death of his brother Richard Morris. His name first appears in Bronx land records index from 1676. Lewis was able to take back the family land in the "Bronck's land". It was part of the over-all 500 acres he originally owned and the 14 hundred acres Richard purchased before his death. The land was confirmed as belonging to Lewis in a patent from the English Gov. Sir Edmund Andros dated 25 March 1676 for 1,920 acres and in an Indian confirmation dated 7 February 1684. As was to become custom in the Morris family for generations to come, Lewis held many positions in government. He was elected a Representative to the Colonial Assembly 1681-1682 and then as a member of Deputy-Governor Rudyard's New Jersey Council 1682-1683. From 1683 to 1686 he held the same position in Governor Thomas Dongan's Council. Lewis, then known as "Colonel Morris" died at his plantation in 1691 (Not yet known as Morrisania, as that manor was built in 1697). His will caused problems because he left everything to his wife Mary, but she died after it was written (2 February 1690) and before it's probation (8 May 1691). The Colonel did not want his guardian, young Lewis Morris to get anything. The rebel nephew Lewis had been his charge since the Colonel's brother Richard Morris and Richard's wife died in 1672, when Lewis was one year old. His youthful pursuits did not please his Uncle: "...I formally intended to have made my nephew Lewis Morris, son of my deceased brother, Richard Morris, my sole executor; his many and great miscarriages and disobedience towards me and my wife, and his causeless absenting himself from my house, and adhering to and advising with those of bad life...I do make and ordain my beloved wife, Mary Morris, sole executive.." Lewis was to get most of the land etc. when he reached 21, unless Mary was to find him under the influence of undesirables. Then she was to get it all. When the will was brought to court, it had erase marks and cross outs. One writer said in the 1880's that it was Mary's attempt to help others gain possession of Lewis' property. The writer said they had married in Barbados and that Mary was "a woman of low extraction and bad conduct" who destroyed all the family papers while Lewis was ill. If it was true, it didn't work. Young Lewis got the whole fortune, including a large chunk of Northeast New Jersey and what is today half the Bronx. On 15 May 1691, letters of Administration on the "Bronk's Land, Westchester County" were granted by New York Governor Sloughter to "nephew Lewis Morris, as next of kin..." The old Colonel did leave money to the "Friends" house in Shrewsbury, New Jersey and to "...my honored friend, William Penn, my Negro man Yaff, provided the said Penn shall come to dwell in America..." Colonel Lewis Morris is buried in the family vault at St. Ann's Church in the Bronx, which was built on the site of the family estate "Morrisania" years later. Mary is said to have moved there as well. One contemporary put Lewis' life in context this way: "Col. Lewis Morris, of good interest and an honest man though a Quaker." An old, hand-written genealogy on the family located in the Morris-Popham Papers in the US library of Congress has scribbled on it that Lewis left Barbados because of the Royal resentment against him, once Charles II was put on the throne. It also said the family lost its Welsh lands when Charles I gave them to "..the Somerset family.." and finally says, that when Lewis was old, he "married his maid died without issue."
Refference: (Monette, Orra Eugene, First Settlers of Ye Plantations of Piscataway and Woodsridge Olde East New Jersey part 4, The Leroy Carman Press. California. 1931. (Bibliographic Information: First Settlers of Ye Plantations of Piscataway and Woodsridge Olde East New Jersey) traces the family origin of Lewis Morris and his father Thomas.
Source of the following info- http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=111761396
"Lewis was the son of Thomas Morris, of the Island of Barbados, and Grace Morris. His will (November 21, 1670) is on file at the Island of Barbados in Bridgeton, the capital city. Lewis Morris was the first Morris of our line to come to America to New Jersey. Thomas Morris was the son of William Morris and was born about 1630. The original William Morris had four sons: Lewis, William, Thomas and Richard. William Morris owned the estate of Tintern Castle."
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Colonel Lewis Morris's Timeline
| 1601 |
1601
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Tintern, Monmouthshire, Wales (United Kingdom)
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| 1630 |
1630
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| 1690 |
February 14, 1690
Age 89
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Bronx, New York, United States
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| ???? |