Lewis MORRIS, Congress, NY (1726-1798)

MORRIS, Lewis, (half brother of Gouverneur Morris and uncle of Lewis Richard Morris), a Delegate from New York; born in Morrisania (now a part of New York City), N.Y., April 8, 1726; instructed by private tutors and was graduated from Yale College in 1746; engaged in agricultural pursuits; appointed by the Crown a judge of the Court of Admiralty in 1760 and resigned in 1774; again appointed by the provincial congress in 1776, but declined; elected to the Colonial Assembly of New York in 1769, but was declared disqualified for nonresidence; delegate to the provincial convention of the colony in April 1775; Member of the Continental Congress 1775-1777, and was a signer of the Declaration of Independence; deputy to the state provincial congress in 1776 and 1777; county judge of Westchester County in 1777; member of the committee on detection of conspiracies in 1777; served in the state senate 1777-1781 and 1784-1788, and was a member of the council of appointment in 1786; member of the first board of regents of the University of New York and served from 1784 until his death; delegate to the state convention which adopted the Federal Constitution in 1788; died in Morrisania, N.Y., January 22, 1798; interment in vault beneath St. Anne's of Morrisania Church, Bronx, N.Y.

Bibliography

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present