Luke W. Morris and Samuel B. Morris papers

This is a collection of the papers of Luke W. Morris (1768-1830) and Samuel B. Morris (1791-1859), members of a Philadelphia Quaker merchant family, dating from 1798 to 1842. Most of the papers pertain to the Morrises' business and personal finances, although they include a small amount of personal correspondence.

The collection is divided into two main series, one consisting of Luke W. Morris's papers and the other of his son Samuel B. Morris's papers. There is also one file containing accounts between Luke and Samuel from 1809.

Luke W. Morris's papers are divided into the subseries financial ephemera (1798-1828) and guardianship of the Cresson children (1822-1827). The financial ephemera subseries primarily contains bills and receipts for household goods and services, tax payments, school tuition payments for the Morris children, and agreements between Luke W. Morris and individuals he hired to work on his farm. The guardianship of the Cresson children subseries contains financial accounts, legal documents, and correspondence related to Morris acting as legal guardian for Caleb Cresson's children after his death in 1821. This was primarily a financial and administrative role with Morris managing the Cresson children's portions of their father's estate until they reached the age of majority. Many documents relate to managing properties on Cresson's Alley in Philadelphia.

There are three additional files in the Luke W. Morris series. The business papers and receipts file contains accounts for construction work on Morris's farm, additional bills and receipts, and documents distributing the stock in trade of his brewery business with Isaac Wistar Morris. The indentures, mortgages, and property papers file includes indentures for two workers who emigrated from Bremen, bonds for mortgages, correspondence related to executing an estate, and the purchase and sale of land. The third file contains a letter written by Norwood Penrose to Morris in 1830 about recent robberies in Burlington, New Jersey.

The Samuel B. Morris papers series is divided into six subseries and eight standalone files. The series begins with a file containing correspondence, shipping papers, and financial documents related to Morris's venture to Cadiz, Spain in 1812-1813 while acting as supercargo aboard the Ship "Ann Maria." This is followed by a small subseries related to the voyage of the Schooner "Hebe" to Puerto Rico and Cuba in 1817 containing correspondence and shipping papers.

The next subseries is Samuel B. Morris's incoming mercantile correspondence from various merchants and merchant firms from 1815-1820. The first part of the subseries consists of files organized by the correspondents' location. The second part consists of files with larger aggregations of letters from specific merchants, Beach & Parmelee and Orrin Sage. Morris's incoming mercantile correspondence represents his connections with merchants in ports along the eastern seaboard of the United States as well as in Europe and the Caribbean.

This subseries is followed by three files. The first contains incoming correspondence from Morris's uncle Anthony Morris from Bolton, England. The next file contains an unsigned letter from 1811 discussing the condition of enslaved people in what was then called the West Indies. The third file contains an unsigned letter from 1838 discussing the assessment of land in Towanda, Pennsylvania.

The next subseries pertains to a lawsuit by Waln & Morris against Moses Q. Wood and William P. Lippincott regarding a shipment of cornmeal on Wood's account in 1829. The subseries contains legal papers and correspondence regarding the suit as well as Wood's subsequent failure to repay the debt. A series of letters between S. Waln Morris and Moses Q. Wood captures a heated exchange around Wood's insolvency and Waln's refusal to enter into a settlement with Wood's other creditors.

The next file contains documents related to John Fullmer's insolvency. Most items are legal papers attempting to establish the scope of Fullmer's debt and arranging an agreement amongst his creditors for repayment.

The following subseries contains financial accounts, legal documents, and correspondence related to Samuel B. Morris's guardianship of George Feinour's children: Catharine Feinour, George Thompson Feinour, and Alice Feinour. The subseries include a detailed account book kept by Morris with Alice's expenses and payments from her father's estate between 1834 and 1842. There is also correspondence about Alice Feinour's schooling.

The next subseries relates to Samuel B. Morris's construction of a series of five, five-story buildings to be used as stores at the corner of Market Street and Fourth Street in Philadelphia in 1840-1841. The materials document the construction of the buildings as well as negotiations with potential tenants.

Following this subseries are two files. The first contains an assortment of Samuel B. Morris's shipping papers related to his mercantile business between 1809 and 1821. Some of the papers relate to merchants and merchant firms represented in the "Incoming mercantile correspondence" subseries. The second file contains Morris's legal and personal papers. It includes a bank book, Jacob Warren's bond to Morris for a debt, and a handwritten copy of Morris's "An Essay on Commerce," written in 1809.

The final subseries consists of Samuel B. Morris's financial ephemera, including bills and receipts, from 1809 to 1828. Unlike his father Luke's financial ephemera subseries, Samuel's subseries contains a wide variety of materials related to household and business transactions. There are many receipts related to Morris's payments to Philadelphia newspapers for advertising arriving ships and their cargo.

The final item in this series is a hollow-cut sillhouette of Samuel Morris created around 1805.