Colusa County
Biographies
JOSEPH JOHNSTON MORRIS
JOSEPH JOHNSTON MORRIS. On the Dry slough road four miles west of
Grimes stands one of the fine country homes of Colusa county. The modern residence, substantial farm
buildings, and the air of thrift pervading the entire place speak volumes for
the care and taste of the owners, Mr. and Mrs. Morris, who have made
this their home since 1897 and meanwhile have made valuable improvements in the
property. In addition to this farm,
which comprises four hundred and fifty acres, Mr. Morris owns two hundred
and forty acres of the old Watson farm five miles south of Grimes and also
cultivates about five hundred acres of the Farnsworth estate. A dairy of forty cows is one of his principal
industries, but he also makes a specialty of grain-raising. The grain is harvested with a combined
harvester, twenty-five foot cut, operated by a Best traction engine of
fifty-horse power, in which he owns one-half interest.
The Morris family descends from English
and Welsh ancestry. Jacob Shafer Morris
was the son of a shipbuilder at Baltimore and was born is[sic]
that city, where he learned his father’s business in youth. During 1849 he came via the Horn to San
Francisco and thence to the mines, but soon returned to San Francisco and took
up contracting and building. The demands
of the business took him throughout Colusa, Yolo, Glenn, Butte and Sutter
counties, where many buildings still stand to bear witness to the reliability
of his workmanship. In 1870-71 he built
the Balsdon ranch house at Grand Island and also
erected the Baptist Church at Grimes.
Several times he returned to the east, once going across the plains,
once via Panama and again by the Horn, and on one of these voyages he suffered
shipwreck. At the age of seventy-nine
yeas he died in Oakland. His wife, who
bore the maiden name of Mary Frasier, was born in Maryland, descended from an
old family of that state of Scotch extraction; her death occurred in
Marysville, Cal. Of their ten children
all but two are still living, Joseph J. being the youngest son and next to
the youngest child. While the family were living near Prattville, Plumas county, Cal., he
was born January 10, 1864, and at an early age he was brought to Colusa county,
where from 1875 to 1891 he made his home on the Balsdon
ranch. Meanwhile he had received a
public-school education, supplemented by a course in the Pierce Christian
College at College City.
With the attainment of his majority
Mr. Morris took up farm pursuits independently, his first lease being for
a part of the ranch owned by James Balsdon. In 1891 he rented the old Hickok ranch from
Mr. Balsdon and in 1897 removed to the old
Gleason place, which he yet owns and operated.
October 14, 1891, he was united in marriage with Miss Hattie C.
Farnsworth, who was born at Grand Island and is a member of an honored pioneer
family of Colusa county. On another page of this volume in the sketch
of her father, Joseph Farnsworth, the family record may be found. Both Mr. and Mrs. Morris are
earnest members of the Dry Slough Christian Church, in which he officiates as
an elder, and they and their children, Carroll Elwood and Byrl
Marie, are regular attendants at the various services. Fraternally Mr. Morris affiliates with
the Independent Order of Foresters at Arbuckle (Mrs. Morris being a member
of Companion Court, the ladies’ auxiliary of that order), and Grand Island
Lodge No. 266, I. O. O. F., at Grimes. Since the organization of the Farmers
Warehouse Company at Grimes he has been interested in its success and has held
stock in the enterprise. Another
important movement aided by his support is the Grimes-Rochdale
Company, of which he acts as secretary and member of the board of
directors. Among the people of Colusa
county Mr. and Mrs. Morris are held in the highest esteem, having won
high and assured positions in society, agriculture and commerce thorough their
refinement, culture, thoughtful consideration of others and generous aid of
worthy philanthropies.
[Inserted by D.
Toole.]
Joseph Johnston
Morris
1902
Nov 18, San Francisco Chronicle, P12, San Francisco, California
Morris
– In Oakland, November 16, Jacob S. Morris, beloved father of T. R., J. S., A.
V. and J. J. Morris, Mrs. Cora Courtney, Mrs. W. B. Phipps, Miss Florence Morris
and Mrs. Rosa Gray, a native of Baltimore, Md., aged 78 years 9 months and 23
days. (Baltimore and Colusa papers
please copy.) Friends and acquaintances
are respectfully invited to attend the funeral Wednesday, November 10, at 2
o’clock, from the First Methodist Episcopal church, corner of Fourteenth and
Clay streets, Oakland. Interment, Mountain View Cemetery.
1902
Nov 18, San Francisco Chronicle, P12, San Francisco, California
Deaths
<snipped>
Morris,
Jacob S. – 78.
<snipped>
1915
Jun 18, Oakland Tribune, P12, Oakland, California
Pioneer
Passes Out
Jacob
S. Morris, a pioneer resident of California, whose father, J. S. Morris, laid
out the town of Oroville, is dead at his home in Calaveras county
after an illness of several months. In
the early days Morris came around the Horn in the ship Cumberland, the voyage
from Baltimore to San Francisco taking seven months. Leaving the bay region the Morrises settled where Oroville now is. Brothers and sisters as well as a widow and
three children survive him. They are T.
C. Morris, Mrs. Cora Courtney, Mrs. May H. Phipps, Miss Florence Morris, A. V.
Morris, J. J. Morris and Mrs. Rose L. Dawn.
1930
Apr 30, Oakland Tribune, P25, Oakland, California
Monterey,
April 30 – Mr. and Mrs. E. R. Grimes and Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Morris enjoyed the
last week-end visiting Mr. and Mrs. Al Culson in
Hayward.
1930
May 29, Oakland Tribune, P9, Oakland, California
Colusa
Man Leaves Estate of $109,500
Colusa,
May 29 – An estate valued at $109,500 was left by the late Joseph Johnston
Morris, prominent land owner and resident of Grimes for 55 years, who died
Tuesday of last week. This is according
to petition for letters of administration filed here yesterday by the widow,
Mrs. Hattie C. Morris. Also heirs to the
estate are Carol E. Morris of Grimes, a son, and Mrs. Beryl Watson of Grimes, a
daughter.
1930
May 23, San Francisco Chronicle, P12, San Francisco,
California
Morris
– In Grimes, Colusa county, May 20, 1930, Joseph
Johnston Morris, beloved husband of Hattie C. Morris and father of Mrs. S. R.
Watson and Carroll E. Morris, both of Grimes, a native of Plumas county, aged
66 years. Funeral services will be held
Friday afternoon, May 23, at 2 o’clock at the late home near Grimes. Interment in Grand Island
Cemetery by J. D. McNary & Son.
Findagrave Memorial:
Joseph
Johnston Morris
Birth:
1864
Death:
1930
Burial: Grand Island Cemetery, Grimes, Colusa County,
California, USA
Created
by: Larry K
Record
added: Oct 12, 2008
Find A Grave
Memorial# 30518843
Transcribed by Donna Toole.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Page 444. The Chapman Publishing
Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2017 Donna Toole.
Golden Nugget Library's Colusa County Biographies