Biographical Note
William Sylvanus Morris was born on May 5, 1888, in Lynchburg, Virginia. He was the son of John Speed Morris and Pattie Cary Kean. He was a direct descendent of Thomas Jefferson through his mother’s side of the family. His third great-grandmother was Martha Jefferson, the eldest daughter of Thomas Jefferson and Martha Wayles. Morris lived in Duluth, Minnesota, when he joined the United States Army at the age of 29.
On May 15, 1917, Morris reported to the Engineers Officers training camp at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. Along with the rest of the engineer company, he transferred to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, on June 22, 1917. On July 3, 1917, Morris was commissioned as a First Lieutenant. He remained at Fort Leavenworth until August 27, 1917, when he was ordered to report to Hoboken, New Jersey for embarkation. He sailed on the SS St. Paul from Hoboken for Europe, arriving on September 25, 1917, at Liverpool, England. Soon after, he arrived at Le Havre, France, for duty. His duties included designing water systems for camps, hospitals, and training centers. In early December 1917, he was reassigned to work as a construction engineer. He was designated camp engineer and camp commander of Beau Desert Hospital. His duties consisted of building twenty 1000-bed units and auxiliary buildings. Beau Desert Hospital also saw the construction of 15 miles of railroad, a saw mill, a planing mill, and a concrete block factory. Construction of these facilities began on January 1, 1918. By June 1, 1918, the first two units were occupied. In August, Miller took a ten-day leave, traveling to Monte Carlo and Nice. Soon after his return, he was sent to Base Hospital No. 6 in Bordeaux due to illness. On September 1, 1918, he was designated construction engineer on the railroad water supply in Mussidan, Coutras, and Libourne, France. His duties included building water tanks and installing pumps at different railroad stations. He sailed back to the United States on December 24, 1918, and arrived on January 3, 1919. Miller was discharged at Camp Dodge, Iowa, on February 3, 1919, as a First Lieutenant.
Morris returned to Minnesota following his service. He married Pearl Oberg in May 1922. They had one daughter, Mary Elizabeth Morris, born on February 18, 1924. Pearl died on May 22, 1934. Morris remained in Minnesota for the rest of his life. William Sylvanus Morris died on September 6, 1947.