Manuscript Group 16, Lewis Morris (1671-1746), Royal Governor of New Jersey Papers, 1704-1750

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Manuscript Group 16, Lewis Morris
(1671-1746), Royal Governor of New Jersey

Papers, 1704-1750, 0.5 linear feet / 103 items

Call Number: MG 16 + folder number

• Summary
• Biographical
  Note
• Provenance
  Note
• Scope
  and Content Note
• Related
  Collections
• Container
  List

Summary:

Accounts of money received and paid for the West New Jersey Society, 1704-1730;
correspondence with the Board of Trade and Plantations, 1739-1745; correspondence with
John Clark, George Clinton, Arthur Forrest, William Gooch, James Hooper, Richard
Partridge, William Shirley, Benjamin Smith, Richard Smith, Alexander Spotswood, George
Thomas, and Charles Wager.  See Papers of Lewis Morris, Collections of The
New Jersey Historical Society, Vol. 4 (New York, 1852).

Gift of Charles s. Boggs and Robert Davidson, 1845, 1849.

Biographical
Note:

Lewis Morris was born on
October 15, 1671 in New York City.  At the age of twenty, Morris inherited
wealthy estates that placed him among the elites of New Jersey and New
York.  His fortune was based on these estates which had a labor force of
about sixty-six slaves, perhaps making him the greatest slaveholder in the
Middle Colonies.  On November 3, 1691 Lewis Morris married Isabella Graham,
daughter of James Graham, attorney-general of the province of New York.
With his new wife, Morris established his home at what was then called Tintern,
now called Tinton.

As a result of his wealth and
elitist status, Morris believed he had the right to be involved in
politics.  Morris first served as a member of Governor Cornbury’s Council
for the province of New Jersey.  Due to conflict with Cornbury, Morris was
removed and, later, elected to the New Jersey Assembly.  Under the
administration of Robert Hunter, Morris became chief spokesman for the New York
Assembly in 1710 and was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the
province of New York in 1715.  While serving as chief justice, Morris
continued to serve on the Governor’s Council under Burnet and Montgomerie.
As a result of a dispute with Governor William Cosby, Morris lost his Chief
Justice position and was, once again, elected to the Assembly.  Upon the
political split of New Jersey and New York, Morris became Governor of the
province of New Jersey in 1738.  Although Morris challenged previous
governors, he was staunch against any question of his authority and often
quarreled with the Assembly.

Morris was active in the
church, serving as a vestryman of Trinity Church from 1697-1700 and becoming the
first American member of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in
Foreign Parts.  Lewis Morris died May 21, 1746 near Trenton.

Provenance
Note:

The Lewis Morris papers,
1704-1750, have been an original part of the New Jersey Historical Society’s
Manuscript Collection as a gift of Charles S. Boggs and Robert Davidson in 1845.

Scope
and Content Note:

The Lewis Morris papers,
1704-1750, contain letters of correspondence either kept by Morris or copied for
the purpose of records.  A majority of the papers in the collection are
from his service as governor, 1740-1746, and were organized with an index by
Charles S. Boggs and Robert Davidson.  There are also personal papers that
record meetings, speeches, and Morris’ accounts.

Within this collection there
is correspondence between Morris and Governors Clinton and Shirley as well as
other important persons of the time.  The subjects of many letters between
the governors of the colonial provinces pertain to policies and strategies of
the French and Indian War or the Seven Years War.  The joint colonial
expedition on the fortress of Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island was the subject
most written about in this collection. There are also letters depicting the
measures of war against Spain, called the Jenkin’s Ear War, 1739-1743.
Naval strategies against Spain are detailed in Governor Morris’ correspondence
with King George II and the Duke of Newcastle.  Morris communicated often
with royal officials in England.  Many letters from officials are
instructions and inquires made to the events in the provincial New Jersey
government.  Morris’ role in exercising royal authority is evident in
these letters.  Evidence of Morris’ conflict with the Assembly is shown
by his letters asking the Lords of Trade for assistance.  Other officials
who corresponded with Morris and had an influence were the Lords Justices and
the Admiralty.

This collection consists of
eighteen folders in one box with documents dating from 1704 to 1750.  The
documents are arranged by type and left in their original arrangement cited in
the inventory of papers by Boggs and Davidson.

Related
Collections:

Manuscript
Group 674, Anthony Walton White (1750-1803) Papers

Container
List:

Processed by Michael Colman, July 1999 as
part of the “Farm to City” project funded by a grant from the National
Historical Publications and Records Commission.

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