MORRISANIA 13 



located iron mills. When the Dutch in 1673 were again masters 

 of New York, Colonel Lewis Morris was forced to surrender his 

 share of the Morrisania property to the victorious Hollanders on 

 the ground that he was an inhabitant of Barbados; but, upon 

 the recapture of New Amsterdam by the English in 1765, it was 

 restored to its rightful owner. 



In 1676, Governor Andros granted to Colonel Morris a royal 

 patent to Broncksland and adjacent meadows to the extent of 

 about 1,920 acres, in consideration of which the Colonel was 

 required to pay to James the Duke of York an annuity of five 

 bushels of wheat. A deed confirming the grant was subsequently 

 presented to Colonel Lewis Morris by Shahash and five other Indian 

 sachems. 



Upon the death of Colonel Morris in 1691, the property was 

 inherited by Lewis Morris, his nephew, who by a royal patent 

 issued on May 8, 1697, by Governor Fletcher in the name of Wil- 

 liam III, became the first lord of the manor of Morrisania. 



Colonel Lewis Morris was a Quaker and he could not tolerate 

 what he termed his nephew's "many and great miscarryages" 

 toward him and his wife. He accused his nephew of "adhering 

 and advising with those of bad life and conversation." He con- 

 sequently made his "dearly beloved wife, Mary Morris," sole ex- 

 ecutrix of his last will and testament. But as the Colonel left 

 no issue, and as his wife died before him, the estate devolved 

 upon the disinherited nephew, Lewis Morris, Senior. 



Like most youngsters, past and present, who in their early 

 youth give promise of becoming the most wicked of men, but dur- 

 ing their maturity turn out to be virtuous and upright, Lewis 

 Morris became a model man. He achieved the distinction of being 

 the first governor of New Jersey and the first native-born Chief 

 Justice of New York. 



Chief Justice Morris upheld the rights of the people and 

 became the foe of tyrannical royal officials. In 1733 he rendered 

 a decision adverse to the interests of Governor Cosby. The 

 Governor accused the Chief Justice of having treated him "with 

 slight, rudeness, and impertinence." 



Whereupon Morris replied: 



"If judges are to be intimidated so as not to dare to give any opinion 

 but what is pleasing to a governor, and agreeable to his private views, the 

 people of this province — who are very much concerned both with respect to 



