Robert Clark Morris

Robert Clark Morris (November 19, 1869 – October 13, 1938) was an American lawyer, politician, and founder of the Aline Brothier Morris Fund. He was the son of American Civil War colonel Dwight Morris, and the grandson of James Morris III, who served as an officer in the American Revolutionary War.

Early life

Robert Clark Morris was born on November 19, 1869, at "Lindencroft," his parents' home in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The property, purchased only a month earlier, had previously belonged to P. T. Barnum. His parents, Col. Dwight Morris and Grace Josephine (née Clark) Morris, had met in France while his father was serving as United States Consul General at Le Havre. They married in Paris in 1868, before returning to Bridgeport. Col. Morris was a veteran of the American Civil War, known for leading the 14th Connecticut Infantry Regiment during the Battle of Antietam. Morris's paternal grandfather, James Morris III, was the founder of the Morris Academy, an early coeducational institution founded in Morris, Connecticut.

Morris graduated from Yale Law School in June 1890 with a Bachelor of Laws degree, and was admitted to the New Haven County Bar later that month. On June 28 he left for Europe with his new wife, Alice, where he spent two years studying continental jurisprudence. After his return in 1892 he received the degree of Master in Law from Yale; the following year he was awarded Doctor of Civil Law. In 1894 he was admitted to the New York Bar and moved to New York City where he opened his own private practice. Although life as a lawyer was very busy, Morris still found time to teach. In 1895, Yale invited him to lecture on French law before the Law Department of the University. Over the next nineteen years, Morris taught several subjects at the school. For nine years he taught French law, for eight more years he taught international arbitration and procedure, and for the final two years he lectured on government and citizenship. They divorced in 1930.

On May 30, 1931, he married Adelina "Aline" Brothier, the daughter of Francois and Mary (née Millet) Brothier, in Greenwich. She died on October 6, 1932, of uremic poisoning, and was buried in Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport.