DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA - NEWSPAPERS - Senator Justin Smith Morrill Honored
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Washington Post April 4, 1910 Vt. Senator Morrill Page 14

MORRILL CENTENARY

Entire Nation Will Honor Memory of Famous Senator.

BENEFACTOR OF EDUCATION

Was Author of Land Grant Act Through Which Appropriations Are Granted to 67 
Institutions — Served Longest Continuous Term in Congress — Started Movement 
for Library Building.

 On April 14, in all parts of the country, especially in the schools of 
agriculture and the mechanic arts, the centenary of the birth of Senator 
Justin Smith Morrill, of Vermont, will be celebrated.
 Senator Morrill was the author of the original land grant act of 1862 and 
of supplementary legislation through which appropriations are made by which 
at the present time no less than 67 educational institutions are assisted. 
During the last few months frequent mention has been made in the District of 
the Morrill land acts in connection with the campaign waged to procure an 
appropriation to be administered through George Washington University. 
Senator Morrill has a claim on the gratitude of all Washingtonians for his 
conspicuous services as chairman of the committee on public buildings, in 
which capacity he did a large work in beautifying the Capital.
 Senator Morrill was a prime mover in the completion of the Washington 
monument, after more than a quarter of a century of neglect; in the erection 
of the great building in which is housed the State, War, and Navy 
departments; in the practical reconstruction of the Capitol by a system of 
marble terracing, which has restored the west front to something like 
artistic proportions; in having the old hall of the House of Representatives 
set apart as statuary hall. and above and beyond all these was his 
contribution is the erection of the great building for the Library of 
Congress.

Father of Congressional Library.

 In 1875 Senator Morrill went to work to obtain a new home for the Library 
of Congress and bent his energies to the purchase of the land where the 
building now stands.
 In Vermont the Morrill centenary will be celebrated in Montpelier, where a 
big gathering will be held in the house of representatives, at the capitol, 
April 14. At the University of Vermont, where Senator Morrill's name is 
honored in a building, the gift of his native State to the cause of 
agriculture, the centenary will be observed in connection with the annual 
commencement in June.
 Senator Morrill was born in Strafford, Vt., April 14, 1810. He received 
only meager advantages of education, and engaged in mercantile pursuits and 
in farming. Until he was 44 years old he had neither sought office nor held 
any public position other than justice of the peace in his home town, 8 
miles from a railroad. Without solicitation on his part, he was nominated 
for the House of Representatives by the Second Vermont congressional 
district. He was elected and took his seat December 3, 1855, commencing the 
longest continuous service on record in the annals of Congress. Thereafter, 
for almost half a century, Vermont spoke through him in the national 
council. From the House he was transfered to the Senate in 1866 and took his 
seat with a national fame as a statesman.

Helped Form G. 0. P.

 He was elected as a Whig, but the Whig party was in the throes of 
dissolution, and when he appeared in Washington it was as the representative 
of the new Republican party; in the organization of which in Vermont he had 
taken part.
 His sixth election to the United States Senate, in October, 1896, at the 
age of 86 years, was an event without a precedent, which will probably 
remain without a parallel. The longest previous continuous term of service 
in Congress was that of Thomas H. Benton, of Missouri, which was 30 years.
 In 1851 Senator Morrill married Ruth Swan, daughter of Dr. Caleb Swan, of 
Easton, Mass. Senator Morrill died December 28, 1898. Mrs. Morrill died the 
preceding May. Their son, James S. Morrill, now resides in the family home, 
1 Thomas circle, with his aunt, Miss Louise Swan.