BIOGRAPHY: David A. Morrison; Newburgh, Orange co., NY
surname: Morrison, Mould, Lipsett, Beemer, Winfield, Thayer, Hart, Faulkner

submitted by Michelle L. McKenzie 
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Source: NEWBURGH, Her Institutions, Industries and Leading  Citizens,
Historical, Descriptive and Biographical. Compiled by John J. Nutt, Published
by Ritchie & Hull, Proprietors Newburgh Journal, Newburgh, N.Y., 1891, page
211

     DAVID A. MORRISON is of Scotch, Irish and Dutch ancestry. His paternal
great-great-grandfather, John Morrison, was born in 1700, emigrated from the
north of Ireland prior to the Revolution, and settled on what is now known as 
the Morrison homestead farm in the Town of Montgomery, Orange County; he died
in 2783. Hamilton, the father of David A., inherited the homestead, and
married Maria Mould, daughter of Jonathan Mould, of Montgomery, who was a
lineal descendant of Christoffel Mould, one of the earliest Dutch settlers of
the Wallkill Valley. He was one of the twelve who organized the Orange County
Agricultural Society in 1842, was its President twice, Vice-President many
years, and Corresponding Secretary several times.

     David A., one of a family of seven children, was born September 20, 1830,
at the homestead. He attended the district schools and the Montgomery Academy,
and at the age of seventeen became a teacher, He continued for a number of
years to work on his father's farm In Summer and teach school in Winter. He
taught in the villages of Walden and Montgomery, and in district schools in
the Towns of Montgomery and Blooming Grove. In politics, originally a Whig, he
joined the Republican party at its organization in 1856, and was an active
supporter of the Union cause. During Grant's second term he became identified
with the Democratic party.

     In 1867 he was elected School Commissioner for the First District of
Orange County; was again elected in 1881, and now is serving his fifth term,
an event without a parallel in the State. He has been the Secretary of the
Orange County Agricultural Society for thirty-three years, and has attended
every fair held by the society since its organization. He is one of the
main-stays of the society, a painstaking and tireless worker, gentle yet firm,
and a man of education and ability. His long continuance in the office of
commissioner and secretary is sufficient evidence of his qualification 
therefor. He still resides on the homestead farm. He married Mary R. Lipsett,
daughter of Robert Lipsett, of Montgomery.

[Note the original article contained a portrait.]
                   
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Source: Portrait and Biographical Record of Orange County, New York by the
Chapman Publishing Company (1895) pages 1523-1525:

     David A. Morrison belongs to one of the old and representative families
of Orange County, where his entire life has been passed.  He is of
Scotch-Irish and Dutch ancestry.

     His paternal ancestors emigrated from Scotland to the North of Ireland
during the seventeenth century.  His great-great-grandfather, John Morrison,
was born near Belfast, Ireland, in the 1700, and came to this country prior to
the Revolutionary War.  He died in 1783.  His son John, the founder of the
family in America, had preceded him several years, and settled on what is now
known as the Morrison Homestead in the town of Montgomery.  He married
Elizabeth Scott and had nine children: John, Joseph, Jane, James, Hamilton,
William, Robert, Gwyn and Prudence, all born in Ireland except Prudence.

     Hamilton, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born near
Belfast, Ireland, November 4, 1759, and accompanied his father to the New
World.  Arriving at manhood, he married Lydia Beemer, whose ancestors were of
Dutch descent and came from Beemerville, N.J.  He occupied the homestead farm
and engaged in agricultural pursuits and tanning.  He was one of the
projectors of the Newburgh & Cochecton Turnpike, and was Justice of the Peace
for several years.  Diligent in business, he accumulated property rapidly,
and, although he died in the prime of life, owned several farms at the time of
his death, which occurred in 1808.  His widow lived to the advanced age of one
hundred and three years.  They had eight children:  Bathsheba, who died
unmarried; Lydia, who married William Stewart, of Newburgh; Prudence, who died
in infancy; John A., who became a prominent physician and large land-holder of
Wurtsboro, N.Y.; Prudence, who married Hon. Stephen Rapalje, of Walden, N.Y.;
Elizabeth, who died young; Hamilton; and Eliza, the wife of the late Dr.
Andrew King.

     Hamilton Morrison, the father of David, was born August 24, 1804, and
inherited the old homestead, on which he was reared.  His education was
obtained in the Montgomery Academy, after which he taught school for some
time, but later gave his entire attention to the management of his farm, which
comprised nearly three hundred acres.  He was a prominent man and a leading
agriculturist, and one of the original founders of the Orange County
Agricultural Society, of which he was ever an active member.  For many years
he was a member of the Board of Directors, twice served as President, and for
a quarter of a century was Vice-President.  With the Reformed (Dutch) Church
he held membership.  In politics he was first a Whig, and later a supporter of
the Democratic part.  Prudent in investments, he amassed a large fortune, and
died in 1881, at the age of seventy-seven.  in 1827 he married Maria Mould,
the mother of our subject, and a most estimable woman, who departed this life
in 1868, at the age of sixty-two years.  She was the daughter of Jonathan
Mould, an influential farmer of the town of Montgomery, and a pillar in the
Dutch Reformed Church.  His father, Johannes, and grandfather, Christopher
Mould, were both born in Orange County, where they followed the occupation of
farming.  The latter was a son of Christoffel Mould, one of the earliest Dutch
settlers in the Wallkill Valley.

     David A. Morrison is the second in a family of seven children.  Jonathan
M., who married Margaret Winfield, is engaged in the insurance business, and
is also a civil engineer in the village of Montgomery; he is an amateur
florist, and takes an active interest in church work.  David A. is the next;
George H., who is a prominent farmer, resides on the old homestead; Mary J. is
the widow of Elijah C. Thayer, and is a resident of the town of Hamptonburgh;
John G., an intelligent agriculturist, is part owner of the home farm, on
which he resides; William H. H., who is a successful and progressive farmer,
married Miss Agnes Horton, and lives on a farm adjoining the old homestead; 
and Elizabeth M. is the wife of William C. Hart, who resides near Walden, this
county.

     On leaving the district schools Mr. Morrison entered the Montgomery
Academy, and at the age of seventeen began teaching, being thus employed
during the winter, while in the summer months he assisted his father in the
labors of the farm.  For about thirty terms he followed the profession of
teaching, being Principle of schools in Walden and Montgomery; also taught in
district schools in the towns of Montgomery, Hamptonburgh and Blooming Grove.

     Mr. Morrison has ever taken an active part in educational affairs, being
elected School Commissioner for the First District of Orange County in 1867,
and re-elected in 1881, 1884, 1887 and 1890, serving until 1894, in all five
terms, or fifteen years, an event without parallel in the state.  The last
four times the election was in a district where Republicans usually had a
majority of from eight hundred to one thousand, but each time he was elected
on the Democratic ticket with an increasing majority, thus showing his
popularity.  During his term of office educational progress was marked.  He
resurrected several school districts and placed them in a good condition.  The
following shows the advancement in the schools in his district between the
first and last terms:  Increase in number of teachers employed, sixty-eight
percent; in average length of school terms, thirteen percent; number of
children of school age, twelve percent; average daily attendance, fifty-three
percent; aggregate number of days' attendance, fifty-seven percent; value of
schoolhouses and sites, three hundred and sixteen percent; assessed valuation
of districts, forty-five percent; amount of public money received; one hundred
and twenty-two percent; and amount of teachers' wages, one hundred and fifteen
percent.  In his reports Mr. Morrison made many useful suggestions, which have
been embodied in the school laws of the state.

     In 1880 Mr. Morrison was married to Miss Mary R. Lipsett, who was born in
the town of Montgomery, and is a daughter of Robert Lipsett, who was one of
its leading farmers, and a great-granddaughter of Col. William Faulkner, of 
Revolutionary fame.  For many years Mr. Morrison continued to live on the old
homestead, but in 1893 located in Newburgh, where he now makes his home.

     Since 1858 he has been Secretary of the Orange County Agricultural
Society.  He has attended every fair held by the society since its
organization in 1841, and is one of its mainstays.  He is a painstaking and
tireless worker, gentle yet firm, and a man of education and ability.  His
long continuance in the office of School Commissioner and Secretary of the
Agricultural Society is sufficient evidence of his qualifications therefor. 
In politics, originally a Whig, he joined the Republican party at its
organization in 1856, and was an active supporter of the Union cause, but
during Grant’s second term he became identified with the Democratic party, of
which he has since been an honored member.