San Francisco County
HON. WILLIAM
W. MORROW
HON.
W. W. MORROW.--From one of the leading periodicals of the day we glean the
follow facts in regard to the life of one of the most prominent men on this
coast.
The
record shows that long prior to the settlement of Mr. Morrow’s ancestors in
this country they were noted for their devotion to civil and religious
liberty. In 1670 Eleanor Morrow fled
from Scotland, the original home of the family, and settled near Belfast,
Ireland, the cause leading to this being the sacrifice of her husband’s life
during the religious disturbances of that time.
She took with her her two children, John and
Thomas Morrow. Thomas was the
great-great-grandfather of William Morrow, the first to come to this
country. The latter, who was the father
of Hon. W. W. Morrow, was a man of broad education, a talented writer, and held
a notable place in the world of letters in his day. He came to the United States in 1835. In 1840 he was married to a lady of the Tilly family, a prominent family of North Carolina, living
at that time near Centerville, Wayne county,
Indiana. Mr. Morrow was born near Milton
in that State, July 15, 1843. In 1845
his parents removed to Adams county, Illinois, and in
1852 his father died. Mr. Morrow began
his struggle with the world at a very early age. In fact when only nine he bore his share in
work on the farm, attending school in winter.
His mother’s influence was around him in those years, however, and it
was from her wise counsels he early took his anti-slavery and free-soil
views. When he grew older and determined
to come to California it was by her advice he first passed a year as apprentice
to a mechanical trade, so as to be able to meet any emergency in the far West.
In
1859 he came to California and settled for a time at Santa Rosa, where he
followed his trade and continued his studies.
April,
1862, he started for the Salmon river mines in
Idaho. On a branch of the John Day river in Oregon placer mines were discovered by his party,
rich in prospect, and soon a lively rush was experienced there, and the town of
Canon city was organized. It was there
that Mr. Morrow earned his first lawyer’s fee in defending a squatter. In the fall of 1862 he returned to
California, and January of the next year went East to
complete his education. In Washington
Governor Low introduced him to Secretary Chase, who appointed him a place in
his office, and during the following two years he gained the friendship of
Secretaries Chase, Fessenden and McCullough.
He
emphasized his devotion to the Union there by joining the National Rifles
called into service in 1863-’64 to repel the Confederates, who were threatening
the invasion then of Maryland under General Early. In 1865 Secretary Fessenden
selected him for the important and responsible post in charge of over
$5,000,000 in funds sent to this city.
While in Washington Mr. Morrow devoted considerable of his time to the
study of law. In 1869 he was admitted by
the Supreme Court. In 1870 he was
appointed Assistant United States Attorney for California and served until
1874, when he resigned to enter partnership with Hon. L. D. Latimer.
As a
lawyer Mr. Morrow holds deservedly high position. Particularly in Federal matters he is
thoroughly well informed. He has had
long experience in such matters, gained as Assistant United States Attorney
here for four years, and afterward during his term in Congress.
Mr.
Morrow has ever been a staunch Republican.
In 1879 he was elected Chairman of the State Central Committee, holding
until 1882. In 1880 he was chosen
attorney for the State Board of Harbor Commissioners and remained so until
1883. At the Chicago Republican
Convention of 1884 he was chairman of the California delegation. He was a member of the Forty-ninth, Fiftieth
and Fifty-first Congresses, and as such won for himself a brilliant
record. He served on the Committee on
Commerce, Committee on Foreign Affairs and Committee on Appropriations, in the
House, and his speeches on the leading questions were published and circulated
by his party as campaign documents, and during the Fifty-first Congress he was
frequently selected Speaker pro tempore, the duties of which position he
discharged with dignity and courtesy.
In
acknowledgement of services rendered to the commercial interests of the San
Francisco Chamber of Commerce elected Mr. Morrow as honorary member July 9, 1889, and the Chamber ratified the election July 23,
1889. Prof. Davidson and Mr. Morrow are
the only ones who have ever received that compliment.
Mr. Morrow delivered the opening
address of the sixteenth Industrial Exposition of the Mehanics’
[sic] Institutute [sic] in 1881, and in 1889 secured
the designation of the institute as a depository of public documents. He was elected an honorary member of the
institute June 8, 1889. He and Senator
Booth are the only ones in political life who have been so honored. In recognition of Mr. Morrow’s acknowledged
legal ability and distinguished services to the country, the President, on
September 18, 1891, appointed him United States District Judge for the Northern
District of California, vice the late Hon. Ogden Hoffman, deceased.
Transcribed by Donna L.
Becker.
Source: “The Bay of San
Francisco,” Vol. 2, Pages 471-472, Lewis Publishing Co, 1892.
© 2006 Donna L.
Becker.