Scope and Content Note
The papers of the Morris-Popham families span the years 1669-1892, with the bulk from 1750 to 1850. Family members include Lewis Morris (1671-1746), owner of most of the land now known as the Bronx, chief justice of the province of New York, and governor of the province of New Jersey; Lewis Morris (1698-1762), judge of the Vice Admiralty Court of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey; Richard Morris (1730-1801), chief justice of New York State; Robert Hunter Morris (1700-1764), governor of Pennsylvania; major William Popham (1752-1847), president-general of the Society of the Cincinnati and Richard Morris’ son-in-law; and William Popham’s son, William S. Popham, a leading member of the New York State Society of the Cincinnati.
The collection consists of correspondence, notebooks, account books, and legal papers. Included are the papers of Lewis Morris (1671-1746), Lewis Morris (1698-1762), Richard Morris, Robert Hunter Morris, and Major William Popham. Also included is a record of the court martial of Colonel Moses Hazen in 1780. Among the correspondents are Peter Stephen Du Ponceau John Taylor of Caroline, and James Tilton (1745-1822). Most of the letters after 1849 are addressed to William S. Popham.