Lewis Morris: The Estate They Destroyed

Three primary documents from the lord of Morrisania whose estate the British occupied for the duration of the Revolution, and who served in New York politics throughout.

Lewis Morris was born April 8, 1726 at the Morris family estate, Morrisania, in what is now the Bronx. He graduated from Yale in 1746. He was the owner of the manor of Morrisania, a substantial estate that had been in the Morris family since the seventeenth century. He was the half-brother of Gouverneur Morris, who would later sign the Constitution and is credited with writing its Preamble.

Morris was a judge of the New York Supreme Court before the Revolution. He was elected to the Continental Congress in 1775 and was one of four New York delegates present to sign the Declaration of Independence on August 2, 1776.

The British occupation of New York following the Battle of Long Island in August 1776 extended to Morrisania, the Morris family estate. British forces seized the property and used it for the duration of the war. The estate was largely destroyed during the occupation, timber cut, buildings damaged, livestock taken.

Morris's family was scattered. He served in the New York Provincial Congress and the New York State Senate (1777–1781, 1783–1790) throughout the war, commuting between a diminished estate and public service. He is documented in the Letters of Delegates to Congress at the Library of Congress.

After the war, Morris helped rebuild Morrisania and continued in public service as a New York State Senator. He lived to see the Constitution ratified and his half-brother Gouverneur contribute to its drafting. Lewis Morris died on January 22, 1798, at seventy-one, at Morrisania, the estate that had survived occupation and returned to the family.

He is buried at St. Ann's Church in the Bronx, New York. The Morris estate, Morrisania, is documented in New York historical records and at the NPS through Independence National Historical Park's signer documentation.