Staats Long Morris

Staats Long Morris (27 August 1728 – 28 January 1800)[1] was an American colonist who served as a major general in the British army during the American Revolution.

Staats Long Morris
Portrait of Morris, by John Wollaston, c. 1752
Member of Parliament for Elgin Burghs
In office
1774–1784
Preceded byThomas Lockhart
Succeeded byWilliam Adam
Personal details
Born(1728-08-27)27 August 1728
Morrisiana, New York
Died28 January 1800(1800-01-28) (aged 71)
Quebec, Canada
Resting placeWestminster Abbey
Spouse(s)
​
(
m. 1756; died 1779)

Jane Urquhart
​
(
m. 1780; his death 1800)
ParentsLewis Morris
Catherine Staats Morris
Alma materYale College

Early life

He was born in Morrisiana, New York on 27 August 1728. He was a son of Speaker of the New York General Assembly Lewis Morris and, his first wife, Katrintje "Catherine" Staats (1697–1731). Among his siblings were brothers Lewis Morris, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and Richard Morris, a New York judge, and half-brother Gouverneur Morris, an author of the United States Constitution.

He was a grandson of the first colonial governor of New Jersey Lewis Morris and Isabella (née Graham) Morris (a daughter of Speaker James Graham). His paternal uncle was Robert Hunter Morris, the Deputy governor of New Jersey. His maternal grandfather was New York surgeon, Dr. Samuel Staats.[2]

He studied at Yale College.[3]

Career

On 31 May 1756, he joined the British army, and became captain of the 36th Regiment of Foot. He was quickly promoted lieutenant-colonel in the 89th (Highland) Regiment of Foot, with which he served at the siege of the French colony of Pondicherry, India in 1761. On 7 July 1763, he was made brigadier-general and in 1777 was promoted major-general. In 1778 he was appointed Colonel of the 61st Foot for life[4] and on 3 May 1796 made a full general.[5] He was appointed to succeed James Johnston as governor of the garrison at Quebec in 1797,[6] holding the office until his death.[7]

In 1769, he took out a patent of some 30,000 acres, at Butternuts Creek, near Otsego Lake (New York), and developed a settlement. In 1785, the patent was reassigned to Lewis Morris, and Richard Morris.[8] He inherited Morrisania,[9] which he sold to Gouverneur Morris in 1787.[10] On 1 June 1769, he purchased 967.37 acres, for £2,902 near Morristown, New Jersey.[11] On 28 August 1790, he sold land in New Jersey to John Ramsey, John Dickson, and Thomas Coyle.[12]

Morris became a member of the British Parliament, representing Elgin Burghs from 1774 to 1784.[13][14]

Personal life

In March 1756, Morris married the widowed Lady Catherine Gordon (1718–1779), a daughter of William Gordon, 2nd Earl of Aberdeen and Lady Susan Murray (a daughter of John Murray, 1st Duke of Atholl).[15] Lady Catherine was the Dowager Duchess of Gordon after the death of her first husband Cosmo Gordon, 3rd Duke of Gordon in August 1752. Among her children from her first marriage were Alexander, 4th Duke of Gordon, Lord William Gordon, and Lord George Gordon. Lady Catherine died on 10 December 1779.[16][17]

Around December 1780, he remarried to Jane Urquhart (1749–1801), a daughter of Capt. John Urquhart of Craigston and Joanna (née Urquhart) Urquhart.[18][19] Her older sister, Mary Urquhart, was the wife of Robert Arbuthnot of Haddo and the mother of Sir William Arbuthnot, 1st Baronet and Elizabeth Arbuthnot (wife of Consul-General John Hunter).

He died in Quebec, Canada on 28 January 1800, aged 71. He was buried in an unmarked grave in the nave of Westminster Abbey in 1800. His widow died the following year on 15 March 1801.[2]

References
  1. "General Staats Long Morris". geni_family_tree. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  2. "MORRIS, Staats Long (1728-1800), of Huntly Lodge and Knaperna, Aberdeen". www.histparl.ac.uk. History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  3. Samuel J. Willis, David Thomas Valentine (1864). Manual of the corporation of the city of New York. New York (N.Y.): Common Council.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  4. "Governor Lewis Morris Descendants - General Staats Long Morris". iment.com. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  5. "Person Page". thepeerage.com. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  6. "No. 14074". The London Gazette. 19 December 1797. p. 1202.
  7. "No. 15256". The London Gazette. 13 May 1800. p. 463.
  8. "New York in the Revolution: Cooper's Wyandotte". external.oneonta.edu. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  9. Genealogy, Long Island. "Long Island Wills and Death Notes, 1760-1766". longislandgenealogy.com. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  10. "GOUVERNEUR MORRIS (175... - Online Information article about GOUVERNEUR MORRIS (175..." encyclopedia.jrank.org. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  11. "Chapter 22". rootsweb.ancestry.com. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 22 April 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "E" (part 1)
  14. Joseph Lemuel Chester, ed. (1876). The marriage, baptismal, and burial registers of the collegiate church or abbey of St. Peter, Westminster. Harleian Society. p. 466. Staats Long Morris urquhart.
  15. "Gordon, Duke of (S, 1684 - 1836)". Cracroft's Peerage. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
  16. "Person Page". thepeerage.com. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  17. John Burke (1838). A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great Britain and Ireland. 4. Colburn.
  18. Joseph Lemuel Chester, ed. (1876). The marriage, baptismal, and burial registers of the collegiate church or abbey of St. Peter, Westminster. Harleian Society. p. 466. Staats Long Morris urquhart.
  19. John Bulloch, ed. (1900). Scottish notes and queries. D. Wyllie & Son.

Sources
Military offices
Preceded by
John Barlow		 Colonel of the 61st Regiment of Foot
1778–1800		 Succeeded by
Sir George Hewett, 1st Baronet
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
Thomas Lockhart		 Member of Parliament for Elgin Burghs
1774–1784		 Succeeded by
William Adam
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