James Morris III ( – ) was a Continental Army officer from Connecticut during the American Revolutionary War and founder of the Morris Academy, a pioneer in coeducation.Strong 1976
Born in Litchfield County, Connecticut, James Morris spent his early life hoping and training to be a minister.Carhart 1911, p. 176 However, after graduating from Yale College,Keefer 1947, p. 16 Morris accepted a commission of First Lieutenant from the Continental Army and joined the fight for American Independence.Keefer 1947, 18 Morris was captured during the Battle of Germantown and spent most of the remaining war in captivity.Keefer 1947, pp. 18-19Keefer 1947, p. 23 Upon his release, Morris was promoted to the rank of Captain and supported Alexander Hamilton in the Siege of Yorktown.Keefer 1947, p. 25 When he returned from the war, Morris began and ran an academy that trained both boys and girls together, a rarity at the time.Keefer 1947, p. 29Keefer 1947, p. 32
James Morris died in 1820.Keefer 1947, p. 37 The South Farms section of the town of Litchfield, where he was born, was incorporated as a separate entity in 1859 and re-named Morris in his honor.
Early life and education James Morris was born on January 19, 1752, on his father's farm in Morris (then South Farms) in Litchfield County, Connecticut. Shortly after his birth, he was baptized by the pastor Dr. Joseph Bellamy in Bethlehem's old meeting house.Morris 1933, pg. 6 He was the eldest child of Deacon James and Phebe Morris (née Barnes) and had a younger sister, Lucy, who was born two years after his birth.Carhart 1911, p. 171 His parents were both deeply religious, which was typical of New England farmers at the time. His father, who was described as a "devout man," served as a deacon for the church.Keefer 1947, pp. 11, 13
Morris was the third James in his line, following his father and grandfather, who were also called James. Morris's paternal great-great-grandfather, Thomas Morris, was an English shipbuilder who immigrated to Quinnipiac (now New Haven), hoping to continue his trade in the New World. He arrived in Boston aboard the ship Hector in 1637, and later purchased a tract of land on what is now known as Morris Cove, due to its timber and fertile soil. He remained there until his death in 1673.Carhart 1911, p. 1Hart 1853, p. 7–8 The earliest evidence of the Morris family in South Farms comes from a 1734 land purchase, when John Morris, of East Haven, bought land from John Bird at the south end of Bantam Lake. James Morris, Jr., (1722–1789), Morris's father, received most of his land from his uncle, John, on his death in 1744.Dickerman 1897, p. 304 Soon after this grant, James, Jr., built one of the first houses on the property.France 1990, pg. 5 His home was located to the west of an old highway that ran through land now owned by Camp Columbia. In 1751, he married Phebe Barnes, the daughter of Thomas Barnes, at the First Congregational Church in Litchfield.
As a young man, Morris displayed a keen mind and a disposition for education. He learned to read by age four and, as a devoted follower of Jonathan Edward's theology, plead with his father for a new Bible. By the age of six, after reading through his father's large Bible, he received his own.Morris 1933, pg. 4-5
When Morris was nine, his father built a new, much larger home just north of his birthplace, with a design that young Morris should live in half of it. As the only son, his father couldn’t bear the idea of him leaving home for a formal education, envisioning Morris as “his earthly prop on which he might lean in old age.” An idea Morris himself found unbearable.Morris 1933, pg. 7-8
Education His father, being a member at the public library in Bethlehem, would often bring home religious texts which Morris would read.Strong 1976, p. 12 Through these studies, Morris hoped to eventually become a minister. In the winter of 1770, when Morris was eighteen, his father agreed to let him attend college, and sent him to Bethlehem to study full-time under Dr. Bellamy.Strong 1976, p. 13 He was put under the tutelage of Thomas Miner, a divinity student of Bellamy's, and continued with his studies until the spring of 1770.Morris 1933, pg. 9-10 He spent the season studying under the South Farms minister Dr. Salmon Hurlburt, but made little progress, as his efforts were constantly disrupted by household chores.Keefer 1947, p. 15 That fall, Morris relocated to Judea to study under Rev. Daniel Brinsmade, where he found yet another instructor in Mr. Nathan Hale (1742–1813), saying of him, "Mr. Hale was an accurate scholar and an able instructor."
In September 1771, Morris began more formal studies at Yale College. For his tutor at Yale, Morris was assigned future Yale president Timothy Dwight IV, who would be an influential force in coeducation in his own right. Morris was awarded his degree in July, 1775, noting in his memoirs, "having had my share of honorary appointments."
Upon graduation Morris returned to South Farms, where he helped his father with the harvest and took a post teaching grammar school in nearby Litchfield, where he received his first opportunity to teach and was paid "'handsome wages' hoping to reimburse his father for the heavy expenses of his college education."Strong 1976, p. 14
The War
Commission and early service
Morris's tenure as an instructor in Litchfield was cut short when, within months of arriving, he received an unsolicited ensign's commission in the Connecticut militia, which he accepted.Strong 1976, p. 14 While in the service of the Connecticut militia Morris saw his first action, fighting battles in both Long Island and White Plains.Keefer 1947, p. 17 In his memoirs, Morris wrote of this time, stating that "The soldiers universally manifested a great respect for me, for my care of the sick and my attention to their wants, and for my sympathies in their distresses."
In late December 1776, Morris completed his commitment to the Connecticut militia and immediately accepted a commission in the Continental Army as a first lieutenant. After serving as a recruiting officer in Litchfield, Morris joined General George Washington and the army at Peekskill. On October 3, 1776, General Washington commanded this army in the Battle of Germantown. The American forces were ultimately unsuccessful in this battle and Morris was taken as a prisoner of war on October 4, 1776.
Captivity The early part of Morris's confinement were the most trying. He was taken to the "New Jail" in Philadelphia where he "was locked in a cold room ... destitute of everything by cold stone walls and bare floors—no kind of a seat to sit on—all total darkness, no water to drink or a morsel to eat; without a blanket to cover [him]."Keefer 1947, pp. 21-22
Despite his meager accommodations, Morris decided to make the best of his imprisonment in Philadelphia by negotiating with his jailors to borrow books from the so-called circulating library recently established by Benjamin Franklin in that city.Strong 1976, p. 15 One historian points to this time as when Morris was exposed to the philosophers that would be so influential in his later life as an educator: "From Milton, James Morris absorbed ideas in favor of healthy exercises to develop both body and mind at the same time; from Rollin, the danger of following custom blindly rather than reason; and from Locke, the novel idea that the English language was as important as Latin and Greek."
In May 1778, Morris convinced his captors to admit him to parole and was sent to Flatbush, Long Island, where he stayed with a Mr. Clarkson.Keefer 1947, p. 22 In his memoir, Morris noted that Clarkson was "a man of science and large property, ... who owned the most extensive private library that [Morris] had ever known in the United States." While still in captivity Morris found this situation rather comfortable and took every advantage of the library he so admired.
On January 3, 1781, Morris was freed as part of a prisoner exchange.
Post-release Upon his release, Morris returned to Peekskill where he discovered that he had been promoted to the rank of captain while in the custody of the British. Morris commanded a company back to White Plains until he received orders to head south to Virginia. Upon arrival, Morris's company, under the overall command of General George Washington, aided in Siege of Yorktown, the last major battle of the American Revolution. Specifically, Morris's company of light infantry provided support to the forlorn hope commanded by Colonel Alexander Hamilton.
Post-war James Morris returned to South Farms in December 1781. Days after his return, on December 20, he married Elizabeth Hubbard. Shortly thereafter, the people of South Farms made Morris both the Justice of the Peace and a Selectman.Keefer 1947, p. 30 In the summer of 1782 Morris briefly returned to service, but was ultimately released from service in November of that year.Keefer 1947, pp. 29-30
In the following years James and Elizabeth had five children:
Abigail Morris (b. 8/2/1783) James E. Morris (b. 12/4/1784): 1803 Yale graduate, Teacher at Sunbury Academy and Tutor at Franklin College, now University of Georgia, attorney in Waynesboro, GeorgiaConstitutionalist (Augusta, GA), 2/20/1827, obit Reuben Smith Morris (b. 5/24/1786): 1804 Yale graduate, attorney in Cayuga, New York. Samuel Hubbard Morris (b. 2/6/1788) (d. 12/22/1793) Robert Hubbard Morris (b. 7/25/1789): "endowed with 'good academic education,'" settled at Cayuga."
In between the birth of James and Reuben, Morris became severely ill.Strong 1976, p. 18 During his illness, a man named Gad Farnam moved into the Morris's home to care for him day and night.Strong 1976, p. 18-19 The two families became very close and Gad's daughter Rhoda, only five years old at the time of the illness, later became Morris's second wife.Strong 1976, p. 29 It was at this point in Morris's life that he accepted that he would never realize his early dream of becoming a minister.
The Morris Academy By 1790, it had become common for children to come to Morris's house for instruction and access to his library.Keefer 1947, p. 32 Morris welcomed all of these students, both male and female. Morris's coeducation caused some stir within the community when some claimed that his education of women was "'blowing up their pride' so that 'they would feel themselves above their mates and they would feel above labour.'" In 1794, these frustrations were brought to fruition when a hearing was held in the church. The charges were dismissed and the publicity from the controversy brought so much attention, that, by 1803, he had instructed students "from all the New England States except Rhode Island, and from the States of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia. Also from the Island of St. Thomas in the West Indies, and from the Island of Bermuda."Keefer 1947, pp. 35-36
By the turn of the century, Morris found it necessary to formalize his instruction and construct a proper Academy building.Strong 1976, p. 31 The estimated cost was $1200, so Morris enlisted wealthy residents of Litchfield and South Farms.
On November 28, 1803, The Morris Academy moved out of James Morris's home and into the brand new building.Strong 1976, p. 34 For the period from 1803 to 1812, the Morris Academy grew to an average of 50-75 students.Strong 1976, p. 36
The abolitionist John Brown, born in 1800, studied at the Morris Academy, although the exact dates are not known.
The Academy was handed to several other heads of school, until, on April 12, 1888, the Morris Academy was closed for good.Strong 1976, p. 80
In the introduction to her book on the academy, Barbara Nolen Strong noted: