Morrisania 363 



Europe, and was received everywhere with honor and consider- 

 ation. In Austria, he tried to secure the release of Lafay- 

 ette; but though unsuccessful, he procured for the Marquis 

 many privileges that tended to mitigate the tedium of his 

 confinement. 



In 1786, he bought from his half-brother Staats, the British 

 general, the property Staats had inherited from their common 

 father; and this, with the property inherited from his mother 

 at her death, made a large estate at Morrisania. Morris 

 returned to the United States in October, 1798, and soon after- 

 ward erected the mansion which stood below East 133d Street, 

 abreast of Cypress Avenue. In 1809, at the age of fifty-eight, 

 he married Anne Cary Randolph, a sister of John Randolph 

 of Roanoke, and a lineal descendant of the Indian Princess 

 Pocahontas. He settled down at last to a life of middle-aged 

 marital happiness. His family consisted of one son, Gouvern- 

 eur, and several daughters. 



He once more interested himself in politics, and was United 

 States Senator from the State of New York from 1799 to 

 1 803 ; but upon the defeat of the Federalists by the Democratic- 

 Republicans under Jefferson, he withdrew from politics, taking 

 an exceedingly pessimistic view of the future of the country, 

 which he considered had been turned over to the mercies of 

 an ignorant mob. With his aristocratic birth and training, he 

 could not take the same view of "the common people" that 

 distinguished Lincoln and McKinley, themselves sprung 

 from that source. Morris was probably the first one to ad- 

 vance the idea of connecting the harbor of New York with 

 the great inland seas by means of an artificial waterway, and 

 he foresaw the immense trade that would accrue to the city 

 as a result. He was opposed to Governor George Clinton 

 politically, but the governor appointed Morris one of the 



