lewis morris

Lewis Morris (1726-1798), signer of the Declaration of Independence, married Mary Walton of New York. Their son Colonel Lewis Morris (1754-1824) married Ann Elliott of Charleston.

This corrects an error in the blog Harlem To Charleston And Back: The Southern Connections Of An Elite New York Family, which apparently results from confusion about the numbering of the generations of Lewis Morrises. The blog’s Lewis Morris 1 is the brother of Richard Morris, the founder of Morrisania, New York. When Richard and his wife died, Lewis Morris 1 became the guardian of their infant son Lewis Morris, future governor of New Jersey. In the blog’s numbering, Governor Lewis Morris is Lewis Morris 2, whereas Governor Lewis Morris is usually called Lewis Morris I. Thus the signer Lewis Morris III, grandson of Lewis Morris I, is the blog’s Lewis Morris 4, who is confused in the blog with his son Lewis Morris IV.

The usual numbering of generations is reflected in the wikipedia entry for the signer Lewis Morris, where it is stated that he was the third Lewis Morris in the Morris family. He was at least the fifth in the family, but the third in direct succession.