Santa
Clara County
Biographies
JAMES
MORRISON
JAMES MORRISON. Transplanted form the center of romance and
tradition in the southland, James Morrison was one of the most cultured,
hospitable, and truly prominent capitalists of the Santa Clara valley, California. Born in Vicksburg, Miss., August 1,
1830, he was the son of a distinguished physician whose
ancestors settled in America in 1628, and were known in the early
colonial history of Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania. His family was known in the dim recesses of
English history, and the crest, Pretes Prudentia Praesiat (Prudence
excels reward), consisting of three Saracen heads in azure, conjoined on the
neck, was bestowed during the Crusades in the twelfth century, by
Richard I, surnamed Coeur de Lion.
James Morrison was a brilliant scholar
and linguist, a polished, keen witted man of the world, remarkable as a
raconteur and conversationalist, and possessing rare charm of manner. An A. M. of Cape Girardeau College, Mo.,
one of the most noted Catholic institutions of the ante-bellum days of the
South, he was also a graduate in law and medicine, but did not pursue the
practice of either profession. Giving
heed to the call from the great uncivilized west, he came to California in the
‘50s, and in San Francisco married Winifred, daughter of Thomas Bergin, a
prominent pioneer of the then small city near the Golden Gate, and sister of
Thomas I. Bergin, the
distinguished leader of the bar of California.
Establishing his home in San Jose, Mr. Morrison purchased from
Colonel Grayson, who was known as the Audubon of the Pacific, “Birds Nest,” one
of the finest homes in the Santa Clara valley, where he led a life of leisure
with his charming and cultured wife, his home being renowned for its
hospitality over the entire state.
In political affiliation
Mr. Morrison was a Democrat, but except as a citizen interested in the
welfare of the beautiful city he loved so well, he took no active part in the
deliberations of his party. The customs and
traditions of his family are in no danger of losing their significance, but are
on the contrary sustained by his accomplished daughters, the Misses Morrison,
who, since the death of their parents, represent the Morrison estate, holding a
prominent position in the social and financial world, and occupying their
delightful home on the northeast corner of Fifth and Julian streets.
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 505. The Chapman Publishing
Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Donna Toole.