Stephen Warren Morehouse

Stephen Warren Morehouse (ca. 1840–1882) was a wilderness guide, cook, and hotel worker at Apollos “Paul” Smith's Adirondack hotel in northern New York State. He served in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, one of the first Black regiments organized during the American Civil War.

Early life and family Census records for Franklin County, New York indicate that Stephen Warren Morehouse was born in or near Waterford, New York around 1840 to Stephen B. Morehouse and Helen Morehouse (ca. 1810–1890).

In 1847, his father, Stephen B. Morehouse was given 40 acres of land in Franklin County by wealthy abolitionist and philanthropist Gerrit Smith. In 1860, the Brighton census recorded Warren “Morchouse” living with his mother Helen at Paul Smith's Hotel which had recently opened at Lower Saint Regis Lake, 12 miles southwest of Loon Lake. Both were listed as servants. A memoir from a client of the hotel described a camping trip with Paul Smith for which Warren served as cook and hunter. In his own memoir, Rainbow Lake hotelier James Manchester Wardner reported that “Wash” Morehouse was also employed as a cook for summer camping trips from his own hotel.

Civil war service In September 1863 Warren Morehouse was in Boston, Massachusetts, where he enlisted in the 54th Massachusetts Regiment Volunteer Infantry soon after its assault on Fort Wagner. Together with another black regiment, the 54th held off confederate forces while the White troops retreated. During the fighting, Emilio noted that "Warren Moorhouse of Company E” crept out ahead of the others as a sharpshooter. When night fell, the 54th withdrew under cover of darkness.

Later on, Warren took part in the Battle of Honey Hill and Potter’s Raid. During Potter's Raid, Emilio mentions Warren's service as a scout during action near Boykin, South Carolina. In August 1865, the regiment mustered out at Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, and in September marched through the streets of Boston to cheering crowds.

A copy of the Massachusetts 54th regimental muster role from 1865, recovered from the National Archives in Washington, DC, lists Warren Morehouse as a regimental marker. Regimental markers form at the ends of the battle line, together with the national colors in the middle of the ranks, the rest of the regiment could form around them. Usually assigned to sergeants, it is unusual that Warren Morehouse was assigned this duty while holding the rank of private. in Brighton, New York, on October 21, 1866, and settled in Vermontville.

The 1870 Franklin census noted that he worked as a “waitingman” at Sarah Hill's inn on the south end of the hamlet, and a map of Vermontville published in 1876 indicated a “W. Morehouse” residence on Swinyer Road.

The 1880 Franklin census listed him as a laborer. According to Franklin County census documents, Charlotte and Warren had four children; Mary Elizabeth (ca. 1870–1948), Henry A. (ca. 1873–1900), John W. Warren Morehouse's biography was summarized in “Dreaming of Timbuctoo,” a historical exhibit based at the John Brown Farm in North Elba, NY.

In 2024, the dining hall at Paul Smith's College was named in honor of Warren and Helen Morehouse.