Gouverneur Morris II (February 9, 1813 – August 20, 1888) was an American railroad executive and the son of a founding father of the United States, Gouverneur Morris.

Early life

Gouverneur Morris was born on February 9, 1813,

Morrisania, Bronx Morrisania ( ) is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern Bronx, New York City, New York. Its boundaries are the Cross-Bronx Expressway to the north, Crotona-Prospect Avenue to the east, East 161st Street to the south, and Webster Avenue ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. He was the son of a founding father of the United States, Gouverneur Morris (1752–1816) and his wife, Ann Cary Randolph (1774–1837), nicknamed "Nancy".

Career

Morris was one of the major entrepreneurs of the 19th century

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

. As Vice President of the New York and Harlem River Railroad, he built the railroad now running along

Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenu ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In 1840, he donated St. Ann's Church as a family memorial. He promoted Port Morris as a commercial port, and donated land to skilled workers in 1848, to create an ideal workingman’s village if it were called Morrisania. That is today’s Morrisania neighborhood. He spent much of the later part of his career in

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

, as president of the

Vermont Valley Railroad The Vermont Valley Railroad was a line in Vermont and New Hampshire, running from Brattleboro to the Vermont-New Hampshire line at Windsor, now part of the Connecticut River Line. Hugh H. Henry (1814-1869) of Chester, Vermont was an original in ...

. He wasn't as active in politics as his famous father, but he was a founder of the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

and attended its opening convention in 1854.

Personal life

He married his first cousin Martha Jefferson Cary, daughter of writer Virginia Randolph Cary (1786–1852).Louise Pecquet du Bellet, ''Some Prominent Virginia Families'', p. 81,2
/ref> Together they had three children: Gouverneur Morris III (1842–1897); Anne Cary Morris (1847–1926), who married

Alfred Percival Maudslay Alfred Percival Maudslay FRAI (18 March 1850 – 22 January 1931) was a British diplomat, explorer, and archaeologist. He was one of the first Europeans to study Maya ruins. He also fully translated and annotated the best version of Bernal ...

(1850–1931), the British diplomat, explorer and

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

; and Peter Randolph Morris (1865–1934), who helped to establish the

Overland Stage Line The Overland Trail (also known as the Overland Stage Line) was a stagecoach and wagon trail in the American West during the 19th century. While portions of the route had been used by explorers and trappers since the 1820s, the Overland Trail was ...

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. After his death on August 20, 1888 in Bartow-on-the-Sound, Pelham, New York, Morris was buried at St. Ann's Episcopal Church in the Bronx.

Descendants

His grandson, Gouverneur Morris IV (1876–1953), was an author of pulp novels and short stories during the early twentieth century. Several of his works were adapted into films, including the famous Lon Chaney film, '' The Penalty'' in

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...

. His granddaughter, Henrietta Fairfax Morris, married

Stephen Bonsal Stephen Bonsal (March 29, 1865 – June 8, 1951) was an American journalist, war correspondent, author, diplomat, and translator, who won the 1945 Pulitzer Prize for History. Early life Bonsal was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1865. He was ...

(1865–1951) a journalist and war correspondent who won the 1945 Pulitzer Prize for History.Leonard, John William et al. (1906). "Bonsal, Stephen" in His great-grandson, Philip Bonsal (1903–1995), was a diplomat with the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

who served as the

United States Ambassador to Cuba The United States ambassador to the Republic of Cuba is the official representative of the president of the United States to the head of state of Cuba, and serves as the head of the Embassy of the United States in Havana. Direct bilateral diploma ...

from February 1959 until October 1960.

References

External links