Bio of MORRIS, William Richard (b.1859), Hennepin Co., MN
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EXTRACTED FROM: History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest; 
Chicago-Minneapolis, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923; Edited by: Rev. 
Marion Daniel Shutter, D.D., LL.D.; Volume I - Shutter (Historical); 
volume II - Biographical; volume III - Biographical
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Vol III, pg 816-817
WILLIAM RICHARD MORRIS
For a third of a century William R. Morris has engaged in the practice of law in
Minneapolis and he is conceded to be one of the most talented and one of the
most highly esteemed members of the bar of this city. A native of Fleming
county, Ken­tucky, he was born February 22, 1859, and his father, Hezekiah
Morris, was born in slavery in the south and was of three-fourths Negro blood.
His industry enabled him to purchase his freedom and he learned and followed the
trade of mattress making. He married Miss Elizabeth Hopkins, who was of half
Negro parentage, and his demise occurred in 1861, when the subject of this
review was but two years of age. Mrs. Morris remained in the Blue Grass state
until the termination of the Civil war and then came to the north, locating at
New Richmond. Ohio.
There William R. Morris attended the public schools and also a private school,
afterward becoming a pupil in a Catholic school at Chicago, Illinois. Realizing
the value of a good education, he entered Fisk University at Nashville,
Tennessee, in 1876. choosing the classical course, and in 1884 he was graduated
from that institution with high honors. He attended the university for eight
years and was noted for his ability as a debater and orator, excelling in all of
his studies. After his graduation Mr. Morris accepted a position as instructor
of mathematics, languages and sciences at his Alma Mater and was the only
Afro-American member of the faculty. He continued to act in that capacity for
five years and during that time devoted his leisure hours to the study of law.
In 1887 he completed his course and two years later he resigned his position at
Fisk, since which time he has devoted his attention to his profession. He was
admitted to the bar by the supreme court of Illinois and then came to
Minneapolis, where he has since engaged in practice, building up a large and
representative clientele. He has successfully handled many important cases, one
of the most notable being his defense of Thomas Lyons in the Harris murder
trial, which attracted widespread attention. He displays keen discernment in the
solution of intricate problems of the law and few lawyers have made a more
lasting impression upon the bar of the city, both for legal ability of a high
order and for an individuality or personal character which impresses itself upon
the community.
Mr. Morris has always been keenly interested in all movements for the
advance­ment of his race and to this end has contributed liberally of his time
and energy. In 1885 he represented the Afro-Americans of the south at the
meeting of the American Missionary Association at Madison, Wisconsin, delivering
an address on "The Negro at Present." The following year he held institutes in
Tennessee for the Afro-American teachers of the state, under the auspices of the
superintendent of education, and in 1891 he was elected president of the
Minnesota State League of Afro-Americans. He is well informed concerning the
vital questions of government and for some time has been the political leader of
the Negroes of the state republican party.
On the 14th of July, 1896, Mr. Morris was united in marriage to Miss Anna M. La
Force and they have become the parents of a son and a daughter: Richard Edward,
who was born April 2, 1900; and Elizabeth Zellouise, born February 7, 1915. Mr.
Morris has gained an enviable reputation in a most exacting profession and in
every relation of life he measures up to the full stature of upright, honorable
manhood.
Mr. Morris is a member of the Plymouth Congregational church of Minneapolis, and
in the colored Masonic order he has gained high standing, the honorary
thirty-third degree having been conferred upon him in recognition of his
services to the order. He has held important offices in that body, being a past
grand master and past grand secretary, and he is also a past most venerable
patriarch of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows. He is likewise prominently
identified with the Knights of Pythias, of which he is a past grand chancellor
and deputy supreme chancellor, and is now also brigadier general for Minnesota.
He is also a member of the Charter Commission.