Thomas Morris (Ohio politician)

Thomas Morris
Thomas Morris
United States Senator; from Ohio
	In office; March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1839
Preceded by	Benjamin Ruggles
Succeeded by	Benjamin Tappan
Personal details
Born	January 3, 1776; Berks County, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	December 7, 1844 (aged 68); Bethel, Ohio, U.S.
Political party	Democratic-Republican (Before 1825); Jacksonian (1825–1838); Democratic (1838–1844); Liberty (1844)

Thomas Morris (January 3, 1776 – December 7, 1844) was an American politician from Ohio who served in the United States Senate and was a member of the Democratic Party. In the 1844 presidential election, he was the vice presidential nominee of the anti-slavery Liberty Party.

Biography

Morris was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania, and enlisted as a Ranger to fight the Indians in 1793. He settled in western Ohio two years later. Morris began practicing law in Bethel, Ohio in 1804.

Career

On May 12, 1806, shortly after the beginning of the 1806–1807 term of the Ohio House of Representatives, Morris contested the election of David C. Bryan and was awarded the seat from Clermont County.^[1]

Morris served in the Ohio State House of Representatives for Clermont County in 1806–1807, 1808–1809, 1810–1811, and 1820–1821.^[2] He served as Justice of the Ohio State Supreme Court in 1809. He was then a member of the Ohio State Senate for Clermont County in 1813–1815, 1821–1823, 1825–1829 and 1831–1833.

He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1833, and served a single term.^[3] He did not seek re-election. He was nominated to the Vice Presidency by the Liberty Party in 1844 under James G. Birney. The ticket came in third after Democratic candidate James Knox Polk and Whig Party candidate Henry Clay.

Family life

Morris was the father of Isaac Newton Morris and Jonathan David Morris.^[4]

Death

He died December 7, 1844.

Legacy

Author and prominent American Civil War historian Eric Foner argues in his seminal book Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men that Sen. Morris is one of the most significant figures in the anti-slavery movement and the "first political martyr of the anti-slavery cause when he was denied re-election to the Senate because of his abolitionist convictions."^[5] He also argues that Morris "awakened (Salmon Chase) to the character of the Slave Power and to the need for political organization to combat its influences," leading the way for the term Slave Power to enter the American political jargon and paving the way for the creation of the Republican Party.^[5]

References

^ Taylor, William A. (1899). Ohio Statesmen and Annals of Progress, from the Year 1788 to the Year 1900. Columbus, Ohio: Westbote. pp. v. 1, p. 50.
^ Gilkey, Elliot Howard (1901). The Ohio Hundred Year Book. Columbus, Ohio: Fred J. Heer. pp. 186–192.
^ "Sen. Thomas Morris". Civic Impulse, LLC. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
^ "Tolleson, Arizona". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
^ ^a ^b Foner, Eric; Frank and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana (Mississippi State University. Libraries) (1970). Free soil, free labor, free men: the ideology of the Republican Party before the Civil War. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195013528. OCLC 67628.

External links

Ohio House of Representatives
Preceded by David Bryan	Member of the Ohio House of Representatives from Clermont County 1806–1807	Succeeded by John Pollock
Preceded by John Pollock	Member of the Ohio House of Representatives from Clermont County 1808–1809 Served alongside: William Fee	Succeeded by Amos Ellis John Pollock
Preceded by Amos Ellis John Pollock	Member of the Ohio House of Representatives from Clermont County 1810–1811 Served alongside: John Pollock	Succeeded by John Pollock
Preceded by Alexander Campbell David Morris	Member of the Ohio House of Representatives from Clermont County 1820–1821	Succeeded by Gideon Minor
Ohio Senate
Preceded by Levi Rodgers	Member of the Ohio Senate from Clermont County 1813–1815	Succeeded by John Bogges
Preceded by John Pollock	Member of the Ohio Senate from Clermont County 1821–1823	Succeeded by Owen T. Fishback
Preceded by Owen T. Fishback	Member of the Ohio Senate from Clermont County 1825–1829	Succeeded by William Wayland
Preceded by William Wayland	Member of the Ohio Senate from Clermont County 1831–1833	Succeeded by William Doan
U.S. Senate
Preceded by Benjamin Ruggles	U.S. Senator (Class 1) from Ohio 1833–1839 Served alongside: Thomas Ewing, William Allen	Succeeded by Benjamin Tappan
Party political offices
Preceded by Thomas Earle	Liberty nominee for Vice President of the United States 1844	Succeeded by Leicester King Withdrew

[1] Taylor, William A. (1899). Ohio Statesmen and Annals of Progress, from the Year 1788 to the Year 1900. Columbus, Ohio: Westbote. pp. v. 1, p. 50.

[2] Gilkey, Elliot Howard (1901). The Ohio Hundred Year Book. Columbus, Ohio: Fred J. Heer. pp. 186–192.

[3] "Sen. Thomas Morris". Civic Impulse, LLC. Retrieved August 24, 2012.

[4] "Tolleson, Arizona". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved August 24, 2012.

[:0-5] Foner, Eric; Frank and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana (Mississippi State University. Libraries) (1970). Free soil, free labor, free men: the ideology of the Republican Party before the Civil War. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195013528. OCLC 67628.

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v t e United States senators from Ohio
Class 1	Smith Meigs Worthington Kerr Ruggles Morris Tappan Corwin Ewing Wade Thurman Sherman Hanna Dick Pomerene Fess Donahey H. Burton Huffman K. Taft Bricker Young R. Taft Jr. Metzenbaum DeWine S. Brown
Class 3	Worthington Tiffin Griswold Campbell Morrow Trimble E. Brown Harrison Burnet Ewing Allen Chase Pugh Chase Sherman Matthews Pendleton Payne Brice Foraker T. Burton Harding Willis Locher T. Burton McCulloch Bulkley R. Taft Sr. Burke Bender Lausche Saxbe Metzenbaum Glenn Voinovich Portman Vance

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