Charles Manigault Morris

Charles Manigault Morris (May 7, 1820 – March 22, 1895) was an officer in the United States Navy and later in the Confederate States Navy. Morris was a descendant of several of the most prominent Northern and Southern families in colonial America.

Early life Morris was born in Adams Run, South Carolina, on May 7, 1820. He was the youngest son of Col. Lewis Morris (1785–1863) of New York and his wife Elizabeth (née Manigault) Morris (1785–1822) of South Carolina, who married in 1807. Among his siblings was Gabriella Manigault Morris (wife of John Mease Butler and sister-in-law of Pierce Mease Butler), Margaret Ann Morris (wife of John Berkley Grimball), Henry Manigault Morris (who married M. Georgia Edwards), and Richard Lewis Morris (who married Anne Elizabeth Dunwoodie). His maternal grandparents were architect Gabriel Manigault (a son of Peter Manigault, the wealthiest person in British North America in 1770) and Margaret (née Izard) Manigault (a daughter of Continental Congressman and U.S. Senator from South Carolina Ralph Izard). He was also distant cousin of Confederate General Arthur Middleton Manigault, and a great-nephew of Arthur Middleton. In March, he was appointed a First Lieutenant in the Confederate States Navy. From 1861 to 1863, Morris served on the Savannah, Georgia Station where he married his second wife.

After John Newland Maffitt became ill at Brest, France, Morris took over in January 1864 as commander of the CSS Florida. During the remainder of the American Civil War, he served abroad as an agent of the Confederate States government.

Later life Following the war, Morris and his family settled in England. After the War, his wife took an interest in the education of President Jefferson Davis' daughter, Margaret "Maggie" Davis at the convent in France. In 1880, he returned to the United States and lived the rest of his life in Baltimore, Maryland.

Personal life multiple image

direction=horizontal total_width=350 background color=White header_background=White header = Morris family portraits by John Wollaston image1 = A gentleman of the morris family.PNG caption1 = image2 = Mary walton morris.PNG caption2 = footer_background=White footer = A Gentleman of the Morris Family and Mary Walton Morris, both of which Charles inherited from his elder brother's widow. After his death, they passed to Charles' son Lewis. Today they are both owned by the National Gallery of Art.

Morris was twice married. His first wife was Hannah Heyward Troup (1830–1854), a daughter of Camilla Heyward Brailsford and James McGilvary Troup. After her death in 1854, he married Clementina Hansen McAllister (1832–1907), a daughter of George Washington McAllister of Strathy Hall, Georgia (and namesake of Fort McAllister), in November 1861. His second wife was a first cousin of Archibald McAllister, a U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania during the Civil War. Together, they were the parents of:

Elizabeth Manigault Morris (1863–1910), Henry Manigault Morris (1865–1884), who was born in Caen, France and died unmarried. a doctor and Captain in the United States Navy who married Mary Gibbs Murphy, a daughter of Thomas and Mary (née Gibbs) Murphy of New York, in 1906. After his first wife's death, he married Ella Willard (née Bingham) Duffy (–1953), a daughter of Jacob Willard Bingham, Clementina Rosalie Morris (1873–1919), who was born in Brighton, England. She died unmarried in 1919 and left her dog, Tommy Moonface, a legacy of $10 month of the rest of his life for his "board and keep".

Morris died at his home, 908 St. Paul Street in Baltimore, on March 22, 1895. His funeral service, led by the Rev. Dr. John Sebastian Bach Hodges, was held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Baltimore. His widow died on August 24, 1907.