Benjamin Morris

b. 27 September 1748, d. 2 April 1833
Benjamin Morris|b. 27 Sep 1748\nd. 2 Apr 1833|p1989.htm|Morris Morris|b. 1712\nd. 11 Nov 1767|p2017.htm|Gwently Thomas|b. c 1716\nd. Apr 1785|p2018.htm|Cadwalader Morris|b. s 1686|p2084.htm|Elizabeth Morgan||p2085.htm|Reverend William Thomas|b. 1678\nd. 6 Oct 1757|p2402.htm|Ann Griffith|b. 1680\nd. 5 Nov 1752|p2403.htm|

2nd great-grandfather of Louise Underwood.
4th great-grandfather of Laura Jane Munson.
Family Background:
Underwood and Allied Families
Appears on charts:
Pedigree for Louise Underwood
     Benjamin Morris was born on 27 September 1748 in Hilltown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.4 He was the son of Morris Morris and Gwently Thomas.1,2,3 He married Mary Mason, daughter of Jonathan Mason and Mary Crocket, on 7 April 1770 (license date) in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.5,6,7 He died on 2 April 1833 at his residence in Hilltown at age 84.4,5,8 He was buried in Lower Hilltown Baptist Church Cemetery.4 Click to view thumbnails
     
     Benjamin Morris was a famous clockmaker who is credited with making over 300 tallcase clocks (grandfather clocks) of the two story variety. They can be identified by his initials which he engraved on the face.9,5 The following quote is from an article by Joseph J. and Diane S. Devanney found on the Internet and dated Friday, Jan. 1, 2010 [sic], about the Yellow Springs Antiques Show in Chester County, Pennsylvania:
Dealer Eric Chandlee Wilson of Thorndale, Pa. is a well-known specialist in tall case clocks. Among the numerous examples in his booth was a rare c.1785 walnut Chippendale clock by Benjamin Morris of Hillstown [sic], Bucks County, Pa. The clock with signed case stood 7' 10" tall, and, with provenance, cost $42,500. Wilson described it as 'important.'
     In his journal in 1831, Reverend Joseph Mathias wrote:
Mary the wife of Benjamin Morris died January 7th 1813. He has remained a widower ever since. He has been a very healthy man; and active in his domestic concerns; he is now in his 83 year has grown feeble, but is cheerful in the society of his friends.10
Additional Data
Benjamin Morris served as a private in Captain Nathan Evan's Hilltown Division Bucks County Pennsylvania militia in the American Revolution. An American flag beside his headstone was placed there by the American Legion. The flag holder indicates that Benjamin was a Revolutionary War veteran.11

Benjamin Morris witnessed Reverend John Thomas' will dated 31 May 1788 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.12 Click to view image

Children of Benjamin Morris and Mary Mason

Citations

  1. [S348] Morris Morris tombstone, Lower Hilltown Baptist Church Cemetery, Hilltown, Pennsylvania; photographed by Roland Morris October 1999.
  2. [S354] William Henry Egle, ed., Notes and Queries Historical and Genealogical Chiefly Relating to Interior Pennsylvania, Annual Volume 1899, vol. IV (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: n.pub., 1900; reprint Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1970), 201.
  3. [S348] Gwently Thomas Wife of Morris Morris tombstone, Lower Hilltown Baptist Church Cemetery, Hilltown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
  4. [S348] Benjamin Morris tombstone, Lower Hilltown Baptist Church Cemetery, Hilltown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
  5. [S329] "A Memorandum Containing some account of the birth, life and Ministry of Joseph Mathias. With a diary of his Exercises and various events which came under his notice. Together with an account of his Progenitors and Connexions. Likewise a short notice of the First settlement of the part of the Country, which gave him birth, and where he still resides," (MS, 1831-1851; Bucks County, Pennsylvania), 47, The Bucks County Historical Society; Doylestown, Pennsylvania.
  6. [S349] John B. Linn and William H. Egle, comp., Names of Persons for whom Marriage Licenses Were Issued in the Province of Pennsylvania Previous to 1790 (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Volume II, Second Series, Pennsylvania Archives, 1890), 180.
  7. [S385] John B. Linn and Wm. H. Egle, ed., Pennsylvania Archives Second Series, vol. II (Harrisburg: B F Meyers, State Printer, 1876), 211.
  8. [S356] Howard Malcolm Jenkins, Historical collections relating to Gwynedd, a township of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, settled, 1696, by immigrants from Wales, with some data referring to the adjoining township, of Montgomery, also settled by Welsh (Philadelphia: Howard Malcolm Jenkins, 1897), Chapter 12, online. <http://www.gwyneddfriends.org/jenkinschapter12.htm
  9. [S328] Ruth Bennett, "Morris Family," e-mail message from <e-mail address> (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) to Laura M. Cooper, 1 May 1999.
  10. [S329] "Mathias Journal", 51.
  11. [S350] DAR, comp., Lineage Book, National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, 165 (Washington, D.C.: Press of Judd & Detweiler, Inc., 1938), 55.
  12. [S391] John Thomas, online <http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~akagln/…>.
  13. [S329] "Mathias Journal", 47-48.
  14. [S330] Interview with William H. Morris (William H. Morris; Leesburg, Florida), by Laura Munson Cooper, 1999. Transcript held in 2004 by Cooper (1804 Holm Oak St.; Arlington, TX 76012-5608).
  15. [S329] "Mathias Journal", 50.
  16. [S348] Jehu Morris tombstone, Lower Hilltown Baptist Church Cemetery, Hilltown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.