Lewis Gouverneur Morris II (June 4, 1882 – August 14, 1967) was a banker and prominent social figure in New York and Newport Society.

Early life

Morris was born on June 4, 1882 in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

. He was the son of Francis Morris (1845–1883) and Harriet Hall (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Bedlow) Morris (1849–1923). After his father's death, his mother married John Rex Guelph-Norman (1861–1932), who claimed to be the son of King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

and rightful heir to the throne, in 1898. They divorced after she discovered he had a wife in India. His paternal grandparents were Lewis Gouverneur Morris, for whom he was named, and Emily (née Lorillard) Morris (1819–1850). His maternal grandparents were Henry Bedlow (1821–1914) and Josephine Maria DeWolf (née Homer) Bedlow (1831–1896). He was first cousin of Emily Lorillard Morris (b. 1873), who married Rolaz Horace Gallatin (d. 1948), a cousin of

Albert Eugene Gallatin Albert Eugene Gallatin (July 23, 1881 – June 15, 1952) was an American artist. He wrote about, collected, exhibited, and created works of art. Called "one of the great figures in early 20th-century American culture," he was a leading proponent ...

and nephew of Commodore

Elbridge Thomas Gerry Elbridge Thomas Gerry (December 25, 1837 – February 18, 1927), usually called "Commodore" Gerry due to the office he held with the New York Yacht Club from 1886 to 1892, was an American lawyer and reformer who was the grandson of U.S. Vice P ...

, in April 1896. Morris graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1906.

Career

He was a former member of the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...

. In 1915, Morris organized Morris & Pope, an investment firm. In the spring of 1917, the firm failed which left Morris heavily in debt. He was imprisoned in

Westchester County Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...

, from June 18, 1921 until October 5, 1921, as a debtor. He was eventually discharged as an honest insolvent debtor. New York directory listings indicate that, after his failure in 1917, Morris did not re-entered the business world. Morris served as a trustee of the

Museum of the City of New York A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these i ...

Residences

In 1913, Morris bought the southeast corner of 85th Street and

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 ...

from

Amos Pinchot Amos Richards Eno Pinchot (December 6, 1873 – February 18, 1944) was an American lawyer and reformist. He never held public office but managed to exert considerable influence in reformist circles and did much to keep Progressivism, progres ...

. Morris and his wife hired

Ernest Flagg Ernest Flagg (February 6, 1857 – April 10, 1947) was an American architect in the Beaux-Arts style. He was also an advocate for urban reform and architecture's social responsibility. Early life and education Flagg was born in Brooklyn, New ...

who designed and built their home, which was completed in 1914. The home is in a "

Federal style Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the newly founded United States between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was heavily based on the works of Andrea Palladio with several inn ...

, in trim proportions with leaded glass windows of unusual shape and a roof balustrade and square cupola." In 1904, Morris bought the former summer home of his maternal grandfather in

. The large villa in the Gothic Revival style known as "

Malbone Malbone is one of the oldest mansions in Newport, Rhode Island. The original mid-18th century estate was the country residence of Col. Godfrey Malbone of Virginia and Connecticut. The main house burned down during a dinner party in 1766 and th ...

". Malbone was designed by American architect

Alexander Jackson Davis Alexander Jackson Davis, or A. J. Davis (July 24, 1803 – January 14, 1892), was an American architect, known particularly for his association with the Gothic Revival style. Education Davis was born in New York City and studied at t ...

in 1848-1850. The house's interiors had been remodeled in 1875 under the supervision of noted local architect

Dudley Newton Dudley Newton (1845-1907) was an American architect from Newport, Rhode Island. Newton was born in Newport in 1845. After an education in the Newport public schools until the age of 15, Newton began to study with George C. Mason, Newport' ...

who added a "massive carved oak staircase."

Personal life

In 1908, he married Alletta Nathalie Lorillard Bailey (1883–1935), an amateur architectural historian and photographer. She was the daughter of James Muhlenberg Bailey (1839–1897) and Alletta Remsen (

Lynch) Bailey (1870–1930), and a granddaughter of

Nathaniel Platt Bailey Nathaniel Platt Bailey (June 7, 1809 – October 12, 1891) was an American merchant and philanthropist. Early life Bailey was born on June 7, 1809, at Chateangay near Plattsburgh, New York. He was the son of William Bailey (1763–1840) and h ...

. She was also a descendant of Robert Livingston, first Lord of

Livingston Manor Livingston Manor was a tract of land in the Province of New York granted to Robert Livingston the Elder during the reign of George I of Great Britain. History Livingston Manor was a tract of land in the colonial Province of New York granted ...

Robert R. Livingston Robert Robert Livingston (November 27, 1746 (Old Style November 16) – February 26, 1813) was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat from New York, as well as a Founding Father of the United States. He was known as "The Chancellor", afte ...

of Clermont. They were actually distant cousins, both being great-grandchildren of Jacob Lorillard, the son of

Pierre Abraham Lorillard Pierre Abraham Lorillard (1742 – 1776) was a French-American tobacconist who founded the business which developed into the Lorillard Tobacco Company, which claimed to be the oldest tobacco firm in the United States and in the world. His name is ...

, founder of the

Lorillard Tobacco Company Lorillard Tobacco Company was an American tobacco company that marketed cigarettes under the brand names Newport, Maverick, Old Gold, Kent, True, Satin, and Max. The company had two operating segments: cigarettes and electronic cigarettes. The ...

. Together, they were the parents of: * Alletta Nathalie Lorillard Morris (1912–1986), who was married to Byrnes MacDonald, an investor, in 1935. After his death, she married Peter McBean (1910–1997). * Frances Elizabeth Morris (1915–1994), who married Morton W. Smith, a breeder of thoroughbred horses, in 1954. In 1946, Morris married Anita Rhinelander (née Stewart) Braganza (1886–1977) in New York City. She was the daughter of Annie McKee Armstrong (1864–1925) and

William Rhinelander Stewart William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

(1852–1929), the niece of

State Senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

Lispenard Stewart Lispenard Stewart Jr. (June 19, 1855 – October 15, 1927) was an American lawyer who served as New York State Senator. Early life Stewart was born on June 19, 1855, in Hudson, New York. He was the son of Lispenard Stewart (1809–1867 ...

, and the widow of

Prince Miguel, Duke of Viseu Prince Miguel of Braganza, Duke of Viseu (22 September 1878 – 21 February 1923) was a member of the exiled branch of the House of Braganza. The eldest son of the Miguelist pretender to the throne of Portugal he married an American heiress in ...

(1878–1923). She was the mother of three children from her first marriage, Nadejda de Braganza (1910–1946), John de Braganza (1912–1991), and Miguel de Braganza (1915–1996). Morris died at the age of 85, on August 14, 1967 at his home in

. His widow also died at their home in Newport in 1977.

Descendants

Through his daughter Elizabeth, he was the grandfather of Alletta Morris Smith, who married William J. Cooper Jr. in 1981.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morris Jr., Lewis Gouverneur 1882 births 1967 deaths Morris family (Morrisania and New Jersey) Harvard University alumni