Lewis MORRIS was the first Governor of New Jersey after its separation from New York.
He was born on 15 October 1671 in Morrisania, New York, the son of Richard MORRIS and Sarah POLE. His parents died when he was an infant, and he became lord of the Morrisania estate in the Bronx at barely a year old. His uncle, Col. Lewis MORRIS, relocated from Barbados to care for his young nephew and manage the estate until young Lewis came of age. Lewis officially inherited the estate in 1691.
This same year, he married Isabella GRAHAM, daughter of James GRAHAM, speaker of the New York General Assembly, and Mary HOME.
Together, they had the following children:
- Mary MORRIS, b. 1695
- Sarah MORRIS, b. 1697
- Lewis MORRIS Jr., b. 1698
- Robert Hunter MORRIS, b. 1700
- Anne MORRIS, b. 1706
- Arabella MORRIS, b. 1708
- Isabella MORRIS, b. 1705
- Euphemia MORRIS, b. 1710
- Margaret MORRIS, b. 1711
- Elizabeth MORRIS, b. 1712
- John MORRIS
- Nancy MORRIS
- James MORRIS
- Daniel MORRIS
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| Portrait of Lewis Morris, painted by John Watson |
Gov. Lewis MORRIS died on 21 May 1746 in Kinsgbury (near Trenton), New Jersey, and his remains are held in the Morris Family Crypt located at St. Ann's Episcopal Church in the Bronx.
