A.T. Morris
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A.T.
Morris, a livery man of Bastrop, was born in Platte county, Missouri, June
16, 1859, a son of Jesse P. and Sarah M. (Pumphrey) Morris, natives of
Illinois and Kentucky, respectively.
The parents were married in Missouri.
The father, a farmer by occupation, served in the war with Mexico,
came to Texas in 1877, locating in Bastrop county, and was disabled from
active duty in the late war on account of sickness, caused from exposure
in the war with Mexico.
He died in 1885, in his sixty-second year, and his wife departed
this life in 1879.
Four of their children lived to years of maturity;
A.T. , our subject; Mollie, wife of A.S. Dyer, of Mountain Home,
Idaho; D.M. , of this county; and Lucy A., also of Idaho. A.T.
Morris attended the Commercial College of St. Joseph, Missouri, and
remained with his father until twenty years of age.
He then farmed on rental land one year, when he purchased 360 acres
of land in Hill County, Texas, with 120 acres of cultivated, and while
there followed farming, milling and ginning.
He next sold his farm and embarked in the livery business in
Bastrop , one year later traded his stable for 970 acres of wild land in
San Saba and Brown Counties, and engaged in the livery and stage line
business in McDade, Bastrop County, but that venture proved unsuccessful.
Mr. Morris next traded his wild land for a cotton gin
on Elm Creek, sold the same in 1883, and from 1884 to 1890 was
engaged in freighting.
He was then elected Constable of Bastrop township, later appointed
deputy sheriff, filling that office three years.
Since 1893 he has conducted his livery, feed and sale stable, and
also has a large blacksmith shop in Bastrop. In 1886, Mr. Morris was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. Hutchinson, a daughter of Edward Hutchison, a native of England. The latter’s mother, Jean Hutchison, had three children: Edward Packenham, father of Mrs. Morris; Henry, who is suposed to have died in Australia; William went on a visit to his mother in England, and while returning to America died at sea; and Mabel, who died unmarried. Edward Hutchinson, the father of Mrs. Morris, came to America in a very early day, locating in Bastrop, Texas, where he become a prominent teacher. He served for a time in the war of 1864-“65. His wife, nee Susan Highsmith, is a sister of Captain Andrew W. Highsmith, of this city. Mr. and Mrs. Hutchinson were the parents of one child, Mary, now the wife of our subject. The father was a relative of General Packenham, for whom he was named. His death occurred in 1865, and the mother now resides with her daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Morris have three sons: Edwin T, born Feburary 12, 1887; Earl L. in 1880; and Jesse H., in 1892. Both Mr. and Mrs. Morris are members of the Baptist Church. The former also affiliates with the A.F.& A.M.,Bastrop Lodge, no. 244, and was the youngest member of his lodge for two years.
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