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OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. 



brother, the late Lot M. Merrill, were given a 

 common-school education, and Anson then de- 

 voted himself to mercantile pursuits in Bel- 

 grade. In 1833 he was elected to the State 

 Legislature as a Democrat. His next office 

 was that of sheriff of Somerset County, to 

 which he was appointed in 1839, holding it 

 one year. In 1850 he was made land agent. 

 The Democratic Convention in 1853 hud a for- 

 midable struggle over the subject of prohibi- 

 tion, and the opponents of prohibitory legisla- 

 tion prevailed. Believing that the leaders of 

 his party were about making an alliance with 

 the liquor-dealers at home and the slaveholders 

 at the South, Mr. Morrill withdrew from the 

 party and became the candidate on the Prohi- 

 bition and Free-soil tickets for Governor, but 

 failed of election. In the following year he 

 was again a candidate; there was no choice by 

 the people, and be was chosen by the Legislat- 

 ure. He served the term of 1855 as the first 

 Republican Governor of Maine, his supporters 

 having adopted the party name that year, and 

 was a candidate for re election, but was de- 

 feated in the Legislature (there being no choice 

 by the people) by a combination of the Whig 

 and Democratic members. In 1860 he was 

 elected a Representative in Congress, but served 

 only one term, declining a re-election through 

 aversion to congressional labor. In his stead, 

 the Republicans elected James G. Blaine. On 

 his retirement from Congress, Gov. Morrill 

 became interested in railroad work. He re- 

 moved to Augusta in 1876, making that city 

 his home until death. In 1881 he was elected 

 a member of the State Legislature, and with 

 that term closed his public career, though he 

 maintained his interest in temperance, prohibi- 

 tion, and the success of the Republican party. 



Morrison, Pitcairn, an American soldier, born 

 in New York city in 1795 ; died in Baltimore, 

 Md., Oct. 5, 1887. He was appointed a second 

 lieutenant in the artillery corps of the regular 

 army in 1820, transferred to the Fourth Regi- 

 ment of Artillery June 1, 1821, promoted to 

 first lieutenant in 1826, and captain in 1836. 

 He was actively engaged through the Mexican 

 War, winning the brevet of major by his gal- 

 lantry in the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca 

 de la Palma, May 8, 9, 1846, and being pro- 

 moted to the full rank of major and assigned 

 to the Eighth United States Infantry in 1847. 

 In 1853 he became lieutenant-colonel of the 

 Seventh Infantry, in June, 1861, colonel of 

 the Eighth, and on Oct. 20, 1863, was retired 

 with the brevet rank of brigadier-general for 

 long and faithful services. 



Morrison, Robert Francis, an American lawyer, 

 born in Illinois in 1826; died in San Fran- 

 cisco, Cal., March 2, 1887. He was educated 

 in the public schools of his n.-itive State. 

 When the Mexican War broke out he joined 

 the regiment commanded by his brother, Col. 

 Don Morrison, of St. Louis, Mo., as n non- 

 commissioned officer, distinguishing himself 

 at the battle of Biuna Vista. In 1852 he 



went to California, studied law, and was ad- 

 mitted to the bar. After practicing for several 

 years in Sacramento he removed to San Fran- 

 cisco, where he became associated with James 

 T. Boyd. Again returning to Sacramento, ho 

 was elected and served one term as district 

 attorney. Subsequently, he again removed to 

 San Francisco, where he formed a partnership 

 with Judge Delos Lake. When the latter was 

 appointed United States Attorney Mr. Morrison 

 accepted the office of assistant. In 1869 he 

 was elected district judge of the Fourth Dis- 

 trict ot' the State, embracing a portion of the 

 city of San Francisco, and after serving a term 

 of six years was re-elected in 1875. In 1879 

 he was elected Chief-Justice of the Supreme 

 Court of California, when he resigned his dis- 

 trict appointment. 



Morse, Charles Walker, an American civil en- 

 gineer, born in New Haven, Conn., March 17, 

 1823 ; died in Saybrook, Conn., April 16, 1887. 

 He was the eldest son of Prof. Samuel Finley 

 Breese Morse, received a collegiate education, 

 and in early life assisted his father in his nu- 

 merous experiments with the electric tele- 

 graph. His father was the first to introduce 

 photography into the United States, and he 

 was the first to sit for a picture, the operation 

 requiring an exposure ot' thirty minutes in a 

 glare of sunlight. He crossed the plains in 

 1857, and spent several years on the frontier 

 as a civil engineer, laying out a large part of 

 Georgetown, Central City, and other Colorado 

 settlements. While pursuing this profession 

 he rendered valuable service to the Federal 

 Government in the protection of its property 

 on the Upper Minnesota river during the trou- 

 ble with the Sioux Indians at the Spirit Lake 

 massacre. Mr. Morse was attached to the 

 United States Navy during the civil war, and 

 during Commodore Paulding's administration 

 at the Brooklyn Navy-yard was his private 

 secretary. In 1883 the decoration of the " Bust 

 of the Liberator " was conferred upon him by 

 the Venezuelan Government in appreciation of 

 his services in furthering the advance of the 

 Morse system of telegraphy in that country. 

 During the last few years of his life he was 

 connected with the Western Union Telegraph 

 Company, in New York. 



Mnllany, James Robert Madison, an American 

 naval officer, born in New York city Oct. 26, 

 1818; died in Bryn Mawr, Pa., Sept. 17, 1887. 

 Heenteredthe United States Navy asamidship- 

 man Jnn. 7, 1832, and was promoted to passed 

 midshipman in June, 1838, lieutenant in Feb- 

 ruary, 1844, commander in October, 1861, cap- 

 tain in July, 1866, commodore in August, 1870, 

 and rear-admiral in June, 1874. He served 

 throughout the Mexican War, distinguishing 

 himself in the capture of Tabasco. During the 

 civil war he commanded the sailing-ship "Sup- 

 ply " and the steamers "Wyandotte," "Onei- 

 da," and "Bienville." While in command of 

 the " Bienville," off Charleston, S. C., in 1862, 

 he captured eleven heavily-laden blockade-run- 



