Margaret Hill Morris (November 2, 1737 – ) was a Colonial American

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

medical practitioner and diarist. Her journal provides a first hand account of events of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

in and around

Burlington, New Jersey Burlington is a city in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 9,743. Burlington was first incorporated on October 24, 1693, and was r ...

, including the 1776

Battle of Trenton The Battle of Trenton was a small but pivotal American Revolutionary War battle on the morning of December 26, 1776, in Trenton, New Jersey. After General George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American m ...

Life

Margaret Hill was born on November 2, 1737 in South River, Maryland. She was the daughter of Richard Hill, a Quaker doctor, merchant, amateur botanist, and slaveholder, and Deborah Moore, granddaughter of Lieutenant Governor Thomas Lloyd. She had eleven siblings, including poet

Milcah Martha Moore Milcah Martha Moore (1740–1829) was an 18th-century American Quaker poet, the creator of a manuscript commonplace book featuring the work of women writers of her circle and compiler of a printed book of prose and poetry. Early years Milcah ...

. In 1739, Hill's business ventures failed and he and his wife fled to

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to avoid creditors. They left Margaret and three of her siblings in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

with their eldest daughter, Hannah Hill Moore. In 1758, she married William Morris, Jr., a Philadelphia dry goods merchant from a prominent Quaker family. He died in 1766, leaving her a widow with four children. In 1770, she relocated to Burlington, New Jersey near her sister, Sarah Hill Dillwyn, purchasing a house on the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

formerly belonging to Governor

William Franklin William Franklin (22 February 1730 – 17 November 1813) was an American-born attorney, soldier, politician, and colonial administrator. He was the acknowledged illegitimate son of Benjamin Franklin. William Franklin was the last colonial Gov ...

. Though she had wealthy relations she could seek assistance from, Morris desired self-sufficiency and planned "getting into a little business", opening a medical and apothecary practice in 1779. She had a wealthy of knowledge to draw on as many of the women in her family were experienced healers and her father and brothers-in-law were physicians. As pacifists Quakers, Morris and her family refused to participate in the Revolutionary War. In her journal, she lamented "What sad havoc will this dreadful war make in our land!" Morris treated soldiers on both sides of the conflict Morris' original journal is at

Haverford College Haverford College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), began accepting non-Quakers in 1849, and became coeducational ...

. Copies were published in 1836, and again in 1854 by her grandson, John Jay Smith. After the war, Morris returned to Philadelphia. She treated patients during the

1793 Philadelphia yellow fever epidemic During the 1793 yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia, 5,000 or more people were listed in the official register of deaths between August 1 and November 9. The vast majority of them died of yellow fever, making the epidemic in the city of 50,000 ...

. Margaret Hill Morris died in Burlington on October 10, 1816.

Family

Margaret Hill Morris had six children, four of whom lived to adulthood: * Richard Morris (September 28, 1759 – September 29, 1760) - Richard and John were twins, but Richard died at one year old. * John Morris (September 28, 1759 – September 8, 1793) - became a physician and died of yellow fever. * Deborah Morris Smith Collins (November 29, 1760 – March 15, 1822) * Richard Hill Morris (September 5, 1762 – December 6, 1841) * Mary Morris (June 19, 1764 – February 14, 1765) * Gulielma Maria Morris Smith (August 18, 1766 – September 9, 1826)

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Margaret Hill Created via preloaddraft 1737 births 1816 deaths American Revolutionary War diarists American diarists Quaker writers People from Anne Arundel County, Maryland People from colonial Pennsylvania People from colonial New Jersey American women nurses