Skip to main content

Morris family financial records

 Collection
Identifier: HC.MC-975-08-018

Scope and Contents

This collection is comprised of the 51 volumes of business and personal financial records of various members of the Morris family. Materials include account books, trustee accounts, and receipt books. Volumes generally record deposits, withdrawals for payments for goods and services, and account balances.

Dates

  • 1794-1943

Creator

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research use.

Use Restrictions

Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17).

Biographical Note

Samuel Buckley Morris (1791-1859) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Quakers Luke Wistar and Elizabeth Buckley Morris. Samuel B. Morris became a member of the shipping firm of Waln & Morris in Philadelphia. He was one of the first directors of the Philadelphia Saving Fund Society. Morris was one of the founders of Haverford College, a manager of Friends Asylum and served on the Committee for Westtown School from 1843 until his death in 1859.

Hannah Perot Morris (1854-1931) was the daughter of Samuel Morris and Lydia Spencer Morris. She attended Westtown School and was made a minister in the Society of Friends in 1908. She was the first woman appointed by a Quarterly Meeting in Philadelphia Yearly Meeting to serve on Representative Meeting. Morris was the author in 1907 of Glimpses of the Life of Samuel Morris.

Source: Morris Family Papers, 1715-1925, finding aid, Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections.

Elliston Perot Morris I (1831-1914) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1831, the son of Samuel B. Morris and Hannah P. Morris. He attended Westtown Boarding School, and Haverford College. He took care of his family's financial trusts and real estate holdings in a downtown Philadelphia office. He was prominent in Germantown civic organizations, serving on the board of the Savings Fund for 60 years, and was active in local Quaker institutions such as the Friends' Free Library and the Friends' Free School. He was a long-time member and president of the Friends' Freeman Association of Philadelphia and in this capacity corresponded with Booker T. Washington about Christianburg Institute, a school for African-Americans in Virginia. He died on December 3, 1914, at the House.

Martha Canby Morris (12 May 1836 – 1 November 1, 1919) was born in 1836 in Wilmington, Delaware, the daughter of Merrit Canby. She married Elliston P. Morris in 1861. Upon the death of Merrit Canby, her father, in 1866, she inherited money for which she kept an account. Martha ran the households at Church Lane and Sea Girt and documented expenditures. She died in Philadelphia in 1919.

Marriott Canby Morris I (September 7, 1863 - March 2, 1948) was born in Philadelphia in 1863, the eldest child of Elliston and Martha Morris. He attended the same Quaker schools as his father had and worked with his father in his real estate business. After his 1885 Haverford graduation and before his 1897 marriage, he lived with his parents but travelled to Europe and Bermuda on his own. He and Jane, his wife, raised three children -- Elliston Perot III, Marriott Canby Jr., and Janet ("Jay") -- and lived in Germantown throughout their lives. He continued his father's civic interests by serving in many organizations including the Germantown Savings Fund, the Provident Mutual Life Insurance Company, the Friends' Freedmen Association, and the Germantown Friends School. Marriott was heavily involved in the Germantown Boys' Club from its early days as the Boys' Parlor and in 1947 was given an award commemorating his 60 years of service from the National Association of Boys' Clubs.

Marriott Canby Morris Jr. (December 29, 1900 – February 9, 1992) was born in Philadelphia in December, 1900, the son of Marriott Canby Morris and Jane Rhoads Morris. Marriott attended Westtown School and Haverford College. He helped in building operations at a Native American school in the summer of 1917 and in 1919 went to France as a American Friends Service Committee volunteer. He spent 1923 and 1924 in Russia. He became a professor of German at Beloit College. Marriott married Elizabeth ("Libby") Haines. He died in 1992.

Janet ("Jay") Morris Butler (April 7, 1907 - August 28, 2010) was born in Philadelphia in 1907, the daughter of Marriott C. Morris and Jane Rhoads Morris. Janet attended Germantown Friends' School and Connecticut College. She died in 2010.

Source: Morris Family Papers, 1741-1989 finding aid, by the Northeast Museum Services Center for Independence National Historical Park

Extent

3.25 Linear Feet (54 volumes)

Language

English

Overview

The Morris family financial records include account books, trustee accounts, and receipt books. Volumes generally record deposits, withdrawals for payments for goods and services, and account balances.

Acquisition

Unknown.

Related Materials

  • HC.MC.950 Cope - Collins - Morris family papers
  • HC.MC.1008 Morris Family papers
  • HC.MC.1191 Morris-Shinn-Maier collection
  • HC.MC.1147 Perot family papers
  • HC.MC.950.131 Morris family papers
  • HC.MC.975.02.030 Morris family letterbook

Processing Information

Processed by Kara Flynn; completed November, 2015.

Title
Morris family financial records, 1794-1943
Author
Kara Flynn
Date
November, 2015
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Find It at the Library

Most of the materials in this catalog are not digitized and can only be accessed in person. Please see our website for more information about visiting or requesting reproductions from Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections Library

Contact:
370 Lancaster Ave
Haverford PA 19041 USA US