Morrisania (pronounced /mɒrɨˈseɪniə/ morr-ə-say-nee-ə) is the historical name for the South Bronx and derives from the powerful and aristocratic Morris family, who at one time owned all of the Manor of Morrisania. Today the name is most commonly associated with the village of Morrisania, which is only a small corner of the original Morrisania. It is mostly a low income residential neighborhood geographically located in the southwestern Bronx, New York City. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 3. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: the Cross-Bronx Expressway to the north, Crotona-Prospect Avenue to the east, East 161st Street to the south, and Webster Avenue to the west. Third Avenue is the primary thoroughfare through Morrisania. ZIP codes include 10456, 10457, and 10459. The area is patrolled by the 42nd Precinct located at 830 Washington Avenue. NYCHA property in the area is patrolled by P.S.A. 7 at 737 Melrose Avenue in the Melrose section of the Bronx.

Morrisania has a population over 35,000. The majority of residents in the area are of African American, Puerto Rican, or Dominican descent. The vast majority of households are in public housing.

Morrisania is dominated by public housing complexes of various types, vacant lots, and tenement buildings. Most of the original housing stock which consisted of older multi-unit homes and tenements were structurally damaged by arson and eventually razed by the city. The total land area is over a square mile. The terrain is somewhat hilly.

The landmarked Morris High School Historic District is located adjacent the Forest Houses. Two square blocks between Boston Road, Forest Avenue, and East 166th Street. The district consist of Morris High School and adjacent brownstones, most of which have been converted into S.R.O.'s (Single Room Occupancy).

The Morrises of the Manor of Morrisania were by birth, breeding, position and wealth, aristocrats of the aristocrats, by predilection intensely democratic up to a certain point, but always upholders of the law, in which they were unusually well versed. All were men of great natural gifts heightened by education, positive characters, men of affairs, able administrators, born leaders, dignified, grave, cultivated men of letters, whom it would have been a delight to know. The Morrises, however, were generally men of superb physique, Governeur Morris resembling General Washington so closely in stature that he sat to Houdin, the sculptor, for the figure of Washington. (28) They were amusing, having an inexhaustible fund of humor, bon raconteurs, acute debaters, uncompromisingly truthful, with a shrewd insight and a keen knowledge of men, and of such marked originality of thought and action, that they were ever creators, never followers of precedent. Note that their careers were all political, to serve the state was to them as the breath of life. When they believed a certain course right they followed it, flinging caution and expediency to the winds. They all had a certain Welsh whimsicality of nature, and were sometimes brusque, hot headed and passionate.

A certain Col. Lewis Morris commanded a Troop of Horse under Cromwell, visited the West Indies as early as 1633, according to the English State Papers, served under Admiral Penn in 1654-55, and took part in the attack on the Island of Jamaica, having been sent thither to gain the mastery of the adjacent waters. Colonel Morris acquired a magnificent estate in Barbados where he had a nephew living, and also owned part of the beautiful Island of Santa Lucia.(1) His youngest brother, Capt. Richard Morris, who had served with distinction in the Parliamentary Army, not deeming it wise to continue in England after the Restoration, went to Barbadoes disguised as a Quaker, and shortly after came to New Amsterdam while it was still in the possession of the Dutch.” (2) Capt. Richard Morris purchased for himself and his brother Col. Lewis Morris, land granted by the Dutch in 1639 to Jonas Broncks, the first White settler of Westchester County. The title reads: “William or Wilhelm Kieft, the Dutch Governor, by patent Oct. 20, 1644, granted to Arent Van Curlear the land formerly in the tenure of Jonas Bronx, called by the Indians Ranachque, and by the English Bronckx Land, lying on the main to the East, over against Harlem Town near Hell Gate, and a greater creek or river which divides it from Manhattan Island, containing about 500 acres, or 250 morgens of land.” … Marty deeds follow, one in Dutch, which was in the possession of the late Mr. Gouverneur Morris, with a confirmation of title to Col. Lewis Morris, February, 1684, signed by six Indians in the presence of six witnesses.(4) Samuel Edsall and his wife conveyed the same to Richard Morris, 4 June, 1668, for (BP) 140. This was the nucleus of the splendid domain afterwards called Morrisania. (5) Richard Morris had married in Barbadoes, 17 August, 1669, Sarah Pole, of distinguished birth, gentle breeding and ample fortune. Their only child Lewis was born 15 October, 1671. (6) He had the misfortune to lose his mother when about six months old, and his father not long after. On 10 August, 1670, Richard Morris was styled “a merchant of the City of New York, and his brother Lewis, “a merchant of Barbadoes.” The infant Lewis Morris became the ward of the Dutch Government, who appears to have dispossessed his uncle, though the latter eventually became sole owner of the property, returned to Barbadoes, wound up his affairs, and settled in Bronxland, “where he lived in a handsome house, and dispensed liberal hospitality.” He received a patent from Governor Andros 25 March, 1676, with additions to the original estate, the whole amounting to 1920 acres.(9)

On 25 October, the same year, he had granted to him and his associates in the iron works at Navesinck, N. J., 3840 acres, between Swimming River and Falls River, with 60 acres south of the larger tract, the whole to be called Tinturn Manor. He purchased a section of land from the Indians for a barrel of cider. (10) After many legal difficulties the whole Morris estate, both in New York and in New Jersey was granted to Lewis, son of Richard Morris, afterwards Governor, whose titles were con-firmed 14 June, 1701, and 10 December, 1702. (13) Colonel Lewis Morris, although a man of ample fortune, had never taken any steps to have his estate made into a manor. When it passed to his nephew the Calendar of Council Minutes, 1668-1783, (Bulletin 58,p. 102, in the New York State Library), declares that “the plantation of Lewis Morris at Harlem, was erected into a manor, 9 December, 1694, to be called Morrisania.”

Lewis Morris received a patent for it 8 May, 1697, from Governor Fletcher, with ancient privileges, such as “the “authority to hold a court in leet andcourt baron, to exercise jurisdiction over all waifs, estrays, wrecks deodands goods or felons happening and being within the manor limits, and to enjoy the advows on and patronage over all the churches of the “Manor.”(14) The full text of the patent is given in. De Lancey’s Manors of New York and Westchester County. The six Westchester Manors were respectively erected: Fordham, November 1671; Pelham, October, 1687; Philipseburgh, June, 1693; Morrisania, May, 1697; Van Cortlandt, June, 1697; and Scarsdale, March, 1701.

These manors were patents granted to existing owners of land. ”The New York Manors were all erected after the statute of King Charles II in 1660, which abolished military tenures, and made them into free and common socage, and never possessed, nor were they ever invested with the powers, rights, privileges, duties and burdens of the old feudal manors.” The title Lord of the Manor was synonymous with owner, but Lord, as a prefix to the possessor’s name, was never used either in England or in New York.

Much of the life of the younger Lewis was passed in New Jersey where he began, and ended, his career being one of the judges of the Court of Common Right in East Jersey in 1692, under Gov. Andrew Hamilton, with a seat in his Council. He was a member of the Council (and after its President), in 1698, 1721-29, Chief Justice of New York 1702-28, and the first Governor of Nova Cesarra, or New Jersey, as separate from New York, from .1738 till his death, 21 May, 1746, at his residence, Kingsbury, N. J., near Trenton.(30) He is also remembered as the profounder of Kings College (Columbia University). He was a commanding figure in our Colonial history, few, if any, exerted a stronger influence in the Councils of the Province or among the people, with whom he- was extremely popular, being their champion to uphold their just rights and privileges, against the arbitrary course of most of the Royal Governors of New York. He refused to recognize the unconstitutional appointment of Governor Basse in 1698, for which he was proud to have been expelled from the Council. The best summary of his character is in Spooner’s Historic Families of America: “Governor Morris was excessively fond of the society of “cultivated men, and no one equaled him in knowledge of the law.” Governor Morris, the third proprietor of Morrisania, left his New York lands to his son and heir, Judge Lewis Morris, and his New Jersey property to his son Robert Hunter Morris.(36) The latter, born in 1700, died at Shrewsbury, N. J., 27 January 1764. “He was comely, graceful, imposing, with the judicial “Morris mind.” He was Chief Justice of New Jersey, Member of the Council, and Governor of Pennsylvania, 1754-56. (37)

Lewis Morris, fourth proprietor, second Lord of the Manor of Morrisania, generally known as Lewis Morris, Jr., was born 23 September, 1698, and died 3 July, 1762. “Much of his career was contemporary with that of his father, whose political principles he shared. He was one of the foremost men before the Revolution. His principal offices were Judge of the High Court of the Admiralty of New York, with jurisdiction over New jersey and Connecticut, and Judge of the Court of Ayer and Termine. Judge Lewis Morris married first Tryntje Staats, second Sarah Gouverneur. His will among other heirs named four sons, all of whom were distinguished in public life, Lewis, the “Signer,” Staats Long, Richard and Gouverneur.

The land west of Mill Brook was left to his heir, Lewis, the last Lord of the Manor of Morrisania, born, 8 April, 1726, died 22 January, 1798. The land east of Mill Brook was to go to the widow of Judge Morris, etc., who directs that his body is to be interred in the family vault at Morrisania, next to hisfather and mother, with as little pomp as possible. He 1eaves the portraits of his parents to his brother Robert Hunter Morris, and that of himself and of his wife, to his daughter Isabella, and mentions a silver tankard given the testator by the Colony of Rhode Island. (39) The remains of most of the Morris family were afterwards removed to St. Ann’s Church, Morrisania. Morrisania eventually included part of the manors of Fordham and Scarsdale, having been greatly added to. It descended in the family with varioussub-divisions but few alienations of land till the end of the nineteenth century. (Westchester County Deeds.) The whole of the original Manor with the adjacent portions of Westchester County, were in 1774 , annexed to the City of New York, some of it still owned by descendants, and who have proved themselves worthy of their illustrious ancestry.

Early in his career, Lewis Morris, fifth proprietor and third Lord of the Manor, resisted as unconstitutional an act to enforce additional supplies for the Kings Troops. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1776, was on the Committee of Ways and Means to obtain ammunition, and was sent West to detach the Indians from the British. With his entire worldly possessions at stake he did not hesitate to champion the American cause. On receiving a letter from his brother Staats, bidding him to “consider the consequences,” as he was about to sign the Declaration of Independence, he said, “damn the consequences. Give me the pen,” and appended his name to the document knowing that the British fleet was within a few miles of his great estate, and his Manor within cannon shot of their ships. True to his forebears, like Admiral Nelson “He did not know fear.”(40) Lewis Morris was Brigadier General of Westchester County Militia in 1776. He, and his three elder sons, Col. Lewis Morris, before mentioned, Gen. Jacob Morris, and Lieut. William Walton Morris, on the Staff of General Wayne, were all in the Continental Army at the same time and received the thanks of Congress for gallantry in the field.(41) All paid the price for their splendid patriotism, being forced to flee from Morrisania, and take refuge on their New Jersey lands. The Manor house and more than 1000 acres of wood-land on navigable waters were burnt, and for more than six years the family were exiled from their home, while the entire property was laid waste and ruined. Morrisania was sparsely settled during the Revolution, its forests abounded in wolves and formed a secure hiding place for Loyalist refugees. About 1790 Lewis Morris memorialized Congress that Morrisania would make an ideal spot for the seat of the Federal government, but they preferred thebanks of the Potomac.

Staats Long Morris, second son of Judge Lewis Morris, was a Loyalist, residing in England, who rather than take up arms against his native land tendered his army commission to the King, who returned it, saying General Morris would not be required to fight against America, and sent him to India instead. According to the British Army List he went through every grade of the English Army, save that of Field Marshal. He was born in 1728, and died Governor of Quebec, in 1800, and is buried in St. Giles Church Edinburgh, in the vault of the Gordon family, beside his first wife, the Dowager Duchess of Gordon.(42) On the death of his Loyalist step-mother, Mrs. Sarah Gouverneur Morris, he became possessed of part of Morrisania, which he sold to his hall-brother, Gouverneur Morris. (43)

Richard Morris, third son of Judge Lewis Morris, Judge of the High Court of British Admiralty till 1776, was Chief Justice of New York. His residence, Mount Fordham, was burnt by the British during the Revolution. To the writer the most-fascinating of all the wonderful family portraits that used to hang in modern Mount Fordham, was that of this same Richard Morris, with the hilt of his sword wired onto the frame, as he had snapped his blade of office in renouncing allegiance to the enemies of his country. (44) Judge Richard Morris was born 15 August, 1730, and died at Scarsdale, 11 April, 1810.

Gouverneur Morris, his youngest brother, was versatile, many sided, brilliant and gifted. We owe to him the wording of the Federal Constitution as well as a sound system of Revolutionary finance. He was like-wise a projector of the Erie Canal. His Letters, edited by his granddaughter, Miss Annie Cary Morris, present a vivid, invaluable picture of life at the Parisian capital. He was Minister Plenipotentiary to France in 1792, being the only foreigner who remained at his post through the Reign of Terror, scorning the hourly danger to which he was exposed. He lost a leg in an accident, and many amusing stories are told of it. Once when pursued by a blood-thirsty French mob, who, on account of his strong likeness to Louis XVI, believed him to be the King trying to escape, he suddenly thrust his wooden leg out of the carriage window and shouted: “An aristocrat, yes, one who lost his leg in the service of his native America.” His fearlessness and wit quickly changed the jeers to applause. He was born 30 January, 1752, and died 6 November, 1816. No one interested in the family should fail to read Theodore Roosevelt’s charmingly written, terse biography of Gouverneur Morris (45).

There is no known connection between the Morrises of Morrisania and several other well known Morris families in America, as that of Robert Morris, the financier of the American Revolution, of Anthony Morris, of Philadelphia, of Col. Roger Morris of the British Army, and the so-called, Jumel Mansion.

In the 1950s along with changing demographics, Robert Moses destroyed various tenements in favor of a colony of public housing. After the construction of the Cross-Bronx Expressway, the poverty that East Tremont suffered spread into Morrisania. As a result, the Third Avenue El closed in 1973. During this time period a wave of arson destroyed or damaged many of the residential, commercial, and industrial structures in the area.

Many social problems associated with poverty, from crime to drug addiction, have plagued the area for some time. Despite crime declines versus their peaks during the crack and heroin epidemics, violent crime continues to be a serious problem in the community. Morrisania has significantly higher drop-out rates and incidents of violence in its schools. Other problems in local schools include low test scores and high truancy rates. Drug addiction is also a serious problem in the community. Due to the lucrative drug trade in the area, many addicts reside in the community. Peer pressure among children who come from broken homes contributes to the high rate of usage. Many households in the area are headed by a single mother, which contributes to the high poverty rate. Single parent homes often have a harder time providing at the same level as two-parent homes. Many of the families living in Morrisania have been in poverty for generations. The incarceration rate in the area is also very high. Morrisania is home to a significant number of inmates currently held in New York state prison and jail facilities.

After a wave of arson ravaged the low income communities of New York City throughout the 1970s, most of the residential structures in Morrisania were left seriously damaged or destroyed. The city began to rehabilitate many formally abandoned tenement style apartment buildings and designate them low income housing beginning in the late 1970s. Also many subsidized attached multi-unit townhouses and newly constructed apartment buildings have been or are being built on vacant lots across the neighborhood.

P.S.463-Urban Scholars Community School

Allerton  Baychester  Bedford Park  Belden Point  Belmont (Arthur Avenue)  Castle Hill  City Island  Clason Point  Concourse  Co-op City  Country Club  East Bronx  Eastchester  East Morrisania  East Tremont  Edenwald  Ferry Point Park  Fieldston  Fordham  Harding Park  Highbridge  Hudson Hill  Hunts Point  The Hub  Kingsbridge  Kingsbridge Heights  Locust Point  Longwood  Marble Hill  Melrose  Morrisania  Morris Heights  Morris Park  Mott Haven  North Bronx  North Riverdale  Norwood  Olinville  Parkchester  Pelham Bay  Pelham Gardens  Pelham Parkway  Port Morris  Riverdale  Silver Beach  Soundview  South Bronx  Spuyten Duyvil  Throggs Neck  Tremont  University Heights  Van Cortlandt Village  Van Nest  Wakefield  West Bronx  West Farms  Williamsbridge  Woodlawn

[{Manor of Morrisania and the Early Morrises; Westchester co., NY submitted by W. David Samuelsen-http://www.usgwarchives.org/copyright.htm-http://www.usgwarchives.org/ny/nyfiles.htm}]

Baychester - Bedford Park - Belmont - Castle Hill - City Island - Clason Point - Concourse - Eastchester - East Tremont - Edenwald - Fordham - Fordham Bedford - Fort Apache - Highbridge - Hunts Point - Kingsbridge - Marble Hill - Melrose - Morrisania - Morris Heights - Morris Park - Mott Haven - Mount Hope - Norwood - Parkchester - Pelham Bay - Pelham Gardens - Pelham Parkway - Riverdale - The Hub - Throgs Neck - University Heights - Wakefield - Westchester Heights - West Farms - Williamsbridge - Woodlawn -