Staats Long Morris

Staats Long Morris (27 August 1728 – 28 January 1800) was an American colonist who served as a major general in the British army during the American Revolution.

Early life

He was born in Morrisiana, New York on 27 August 1728. He was a son of Speaker of the New York General Assembly Lewis Morris and, his first wife, Katrintje "Catherine" Staats (1697–1731). Among his siblings were brothers Lewis Morris, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and Richard Morris, a New York judge, and half-brother Gouverneur Morris, an author of the United States Constitution.

He was a grandson of the first colonial governor of New Jersey Lewis Morris and Isabella (née Graham) Morris (a daughter of Speaker James Graham). His paternal uncle was Robert Hunter Morris, the Deputy governor of New Jersey. His maternal grandfather was New York surgeon, Dr. Samuel Staats.

He studied at Yale College.

Career

On 31 May 1756, he joined the British army, and became captain of the 36th Regiment of Foot. He was quickly promoted lieutenant-colonel in the 89th (Highland) Regiment of Foot, with which he served at the siege of the French colony of Pondicherry, India in 1761. On 7 July 1763, he was made brigadier-general and in 1777 was promoted major-general. In 1778 he was appointed Colonel of the 61st Foot for life and on 3 May 1796 made a full general. He was appointed to succeed James Johnston as governor of the garrison at Quebec in 1797, holding the office until his death.

In 1769, he took out a patent of some 30,000 acres, at Butternuts Creek, near Otsego Lake (New York), and developed a settlement. In 1785, the patent was reassigned to Lewis Morris, and Richard Morris. He inherited Morrisania, which he sold to Gouverneur Morris in 1787. On 1 June 1769, he purchased 967.37 acres, for £2,902 near Morristown, New Jersey. On 28 August 1790, he sold land in New Jersey to John Ramsey, John Dickson, and Thomas Coyle.

Morris became a member of the British Parliament, representing Elgin Burghs from 1774 to 1784.

Personal life

In March 1756, Morris married the widowed Lady Catherine Gordon (1718–1779), a daughter of William Gordon, 2nd Earl of Aberdeen and Lady Susan Murray (a daughter of John Murray, 1st Duke of Atholl). Lady Catherine was the Dowager Duchess of Gordon after the death of her first husband Cosmo Gordon, 3rd Duke of Gordon in August 1752. Among her children from her first marriage were Alexander, 4th Duke of Gordon, Lord William Gordon, and Lord George Gordon. Lady Catherine died on 10 December 1779.

Around December 1780, he remarried to Jane Urquhart (1749–1801), a daughter of Capt. John Urquhart of Craigston and Joanna (née Urquhart) Urquhart. Her older sister, Mary Urquhart, was the wife of Robert Arbuthnot of Haddo and the mother of Sir William Arbuthnot, 1st Baronet and Elizabeth Arbuthnot (wife of Consul-General John Hunter).

He died in Quebec, Canada on 28 January 1800, aged 71. He was buried in an unmarked grave in the nave of Westminster Abbey in 1800. His widow died the following year on 15 March 1801.

Sources

• WOLLASTON, JOHN; Portrait of General Staats Long Morris; ca.1749-52 (115374)
• Data-Wales: The Morris family of Tintern and Piercefield in south Wales
• Virtualology: Lewis Morris, Signer of the Declaration of Independence
• WikiSource: Francis Whiting Halsey, The Old New York Frontier, Part 3 Chapter 2, p. 104
• James J. Kirschke, Gouverneur Morris: Author, Statesman, and Man of the World, p. 158
• American links with Westminster Abbey and St Margaret's Church