My Genealogy Hound

William H. Morris, a farmer, residing at Newport, and one of the pioneers of Jackson County, was born in Pennsylvania on the 6th of January, 1834. He is a son of William H. and Eliza (Proctor) Morris, of New York City and Boston, Mass., respectively. The Morris family are of French descent. William H. Morris, Sr., was married in New York State, and a few years after removed with his bride to Dayton, Ohio, which was almost nothing but a wilderness at that period, and owned a portion of the land upon which the city now stands. In 1838 he moved to Little Rock, Ark., where he entered into commercial life and carried on a successful business until 1840, when he moved to Austin, in Prairie County. Mr. Morris, remained in that county for one year, and then removed to what is now Jackson County, bringing with him his stock of merchandise and locating at Elizabeth, then the county seat of this county. He continued in business at that point until 1854, when he changed his business to Jacksonport, where he remained until his death, in 1855, the mother dying at Little Rock, while residing in that city. They were the parents of six children, of whom two still live, and after the mother’s death, the father married a second time, this union giving him three children: Robert, John and Anna. During the early days of his settlement he was postmaster at Elizabeth. At that time coon skins and beeswax were legal tenders for postage. William H. Morris was quite young on his arrival in Jackson County, and was given the best education to be had at that time. He was early in life instructed in commercial affairs, and was taught to look upon it as being marked out for his after career. He remained with his father until almost of age, and was then associated with several prominent firms in Jacksonport and Newport. In 1869 he purchased his present farm and commenced cultivating the land, and now has 175 acres, out of 500, under a good state of cultivation. In 1857 he was married to Miss Amelia C. Hamilton, of Alabama, by whom he has had five children, three of them now living: Marguerite E., wife of Stephen Brundidge, Jr., of White County, Ark.; Savannah H. and Charles M. Mr. Morris is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and one of the first settlers of Jackson County, having witnessed a great many changes from the time of his arrival to the present day.