Political Formation and Topography 3 



township is not clear, unless it was by reason of the influ- 

 ence and prominence of its owner, Lewis Morris, the signer 

 of the Declaration of Independence. The new Constitutional 

 government had gone into effect in New York in 1789, but 

 the site of the permanent capital of the nation was a matter 

 of considerable discussion. Morris believed his manor to 

 be an ideal spot for it; hence, its formation into a township. 

 On October 1, 1790, the Congress in session at New York 

 was to determine the location of the new capital, and Morris 

 memorialized it in favor of Morrisania. 

 He states: 



"that the said manor is more advantageously situated for 

 their [Congress's] residence than any other place that has 

 hitherto been proposed to them, and much better accom- 

 modated with the necessary requisites of convenience of 

 access, health, and security"; "that vessels from the four 

 Eastern States may arrive at Morrisania through the Sound, 

 in the course of a few hours, and that ships from the Carolinas 

 and Georgia may perform voyages to Morrisania with much 

 more safety and dispatch than they can to the ports of Phila- 

 delphia and Annapolis, not being incommoded with tedious 

 passages of two hundred miles each up Bays and Rivers which 

 often consume a fortnight or three weeks — passages rendered 

 hazardous by rocks and shoals, and annually obstructed by 

 ice"; "that Morrisania is so situated that vessels may arrive 

 from, or proceed to sea, sometimes in six hours . . . and that 

 this passage, from the quantity and saltness of the water, has 

 never been totally impeded by ice"; "that Morrisania has 

 always been noted for this particular [health and salubrity], 

 that the fever and ague is unknown, and that persons from 

 other places, emaciated by sickness and disease, there shortly 

 recover and are speedily reinforced in health and vigor"; 

 and further, "that Morrisania is perfectly secure from any 

 dangers either from foreign invasion or internal insurrection"; 



