Lewis G. Morris

Lewis Gouverneur Morris (August 19, 1808 – September 19, 1900) was an American maritime advocate and sheep and cattle breeder who was a member of the prominent Morris family of Morissania.

Early life Morris was born on August 19, 1808, in Claverack, New York. His elder sister, Mary Morris, was married to James Alexander Hamilton, third son of Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton.

His paternal grandparents were Richard Morris, Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court, and Sarah (née Ludlow) Morris, the sister of William Henry Ludlow. His great uncle was Gouverneur Morris Jr. and his great-great uncle was Gouverneur Morris, a Founding Father of the United States, signatory to the Articles of Confederation and U.S. Constitution who wrote the Preamble to the United States Constitution and has been called the "Penman of the Constitution.".

In 1838, he took up his lifelong fight to restore and improve the Harlem River. After careful legal consultation and planning, on September 14, 1838, he led a raid on the Macombs Dam, and restored the channel. After a long legal battle with the dam's owner, he persevered in Renwick v. Morris. The removal of the dam was justified as being a public nuisance in violation of the original provisions of the dam's public authorization. the daughter of Jacob Lorillard (1774–1836) and granddaughter of Pierre Abraham Lorillard, founder of the Lorillard Tobacco Company. Her sister Eliza Meier Lorillard married Nathaniel Platt Bailey. who married Annie Louisa Westcott, daughter of Joseph H. Westcott, in 1872. in 1898. They divorced after she discovered he had a wife in India.

Morris died at his home, Mt. Fordham, on September 19, 1900, at the age of 92.

Descendants Through his son Fordham, he was the grandfather of Emily Lorillard Morris, who married Rolaz Horace Gallatin, son of Frederic Gallatin and Almy Goelet (née Gerry), and cousin of Albert Eugene Gallatin and nephew of Commodore Elbridge Thomas Gerry, in April 1896.

Through his son Francis, he was the grandfather of Lewis Gouverneur Morris Jr. (1882–1967), the original proprietor of the Lewis G. Morris House, was married to Princess Anita of Braganza (1886–1977), the daughter of William Rhinelander Stewart and widow of Prince Miguel, Duke of Viseu.