San Francisco County
Biographies
JOHN E.
MORRIS
John E. Morris, who is extensively known as one of the foremost men engaged in that branch of the investment business in San Francisco which finances a large part of the irrigated agricultural development of California, is a descendant of pioneer California stock in both the paternal and maternal lines of his family. He was born in Santa Clara, California, September 16, 1898, and is a son of the late John E. Morris and his wife, Jane (Woodward) Morris, the latter now surviving.
John W. Morris, the grandfather of John E. Morris, whose name titles this biography, was a native Pennsylvanian, and in the year 1850 crossed the plains by horseback and on foot to California. He first opened a blacksmith shop in Marysville and later was a superintendent of road construction on a division of the Southern Pacific Railroad, and so remained until the final rail was laid and secured with silver spikes. He first resided in San Francisco, but later moved to Oakland, where he died in 1920 at the extraordinary age of ninety-five. His son, John E. Morris, one of five children, was born in Oakland, California, in 1862, and in that community was reared and educated. During his career he was a banker by occupation, and head of the Western Union for a number of years. His death occurred June 9, 1907, when he was forty-five years old, and at which time he was president of the Standard Bank of San Francisco. His wife, Jane (Woodward) Morris, was born in San Francisco in 1867, and is a daughter of Gideon and Bridget (Dufficy) Woodward. She is a descendant of Revolutionary stock. Gideon Woodward was born in Vermont, and came to San Francisco by way of Cape Horn in 1849; his wife came by way of the Isthmus of Panama. He was a physician and surgeon by profession, and a graduate of Dartsmouth College. After coming to Marysville, he established the first large hotel in that community. This was known as the Woodward Hotel, and was later destroyed by fire, which was a complete financial loss to him. He then took up mining, and found wealth, which led him to return to Marysville and build another hotel, larger than the first one, named the Western Hotel (which stands today). This hotel he subsequently sold, after which transaction he moved to Gilroy, and there was associated with Henry Miller in land and banking activities. His next move was to Oakland, where he lived until his death, when he was seventy-four years of age. He was a thirty-second degree Mason, but twelve years prior to his death he withdrew from the Masonic fraternity on becoming a convert to the Catholic faith. He was the father of thirteen children. One of his sons, Michael Woodward was killed in a football game between the University of California and Hastings College, which was the first casualty of its kind at the university.
Jane (Woodward) Morris was reared in Oakland and there attended the public schools. She survives her husband, and makes her home in Alameda, California. By her marriage to Mr. Morris she is the mother of five children, namely: Raymond T., born July 31, 1892, who is a resident of Los Angeles; Austin W., deceased; Genevieve Lane, born July 16, 1897; John E., of this review, born September 16, 1898; and Bertram W., who was born in San Jose, California, July 21, 1901.
John E. Morris received his education in the public and the parochial schools of Alameda, and at the age of fifteen years he was faced with the necessity of earning his own livelihood. He found first employment on a United States Army transport ship, waiting on table. Life on shipboard did not appeal to him, however, and he next concluded to take up a mechanical vocation. He obtained a position with the Fageol Motor Company, and remained one year, after which he started to work for an eastern manufacturing concern, Landers, Frary & Clark, as office boy and later as a salesman from their San Francisco branch office. He eventually became assistant sales manager, and stayed with the firm until 1917. In that year his business career was interrupted by his war service, the details of which are noted in a later paragraph. After his discharge in 1919, he returned to his former position, which he retained for two more years. Next he became associated with the prominent investment securities firm of Schwabacher & Company, and after eighteen months in this connection he became a member of the firm of J. R. Mason & Company as a special partner. Later, in association with William H. Noble, he purchased the Mason interests and carried on the business under the title of Morris, Noble & Company. Finally, on February 16, 1930, he sold his share of this company, and after eighteen months’ foreign travel and study, formed with others a California corporation, John E. Morris & Company, to carry on a general investment business with a special department for irrigation district bonds, with offices at 315 Montgomery street. Mr. Morris has the reputation of being an authority on financial matters, and his integrity and keen judgment are recognized by the many clients who seek his advice.
Mr. Morris was married January 24, 1923, to Miss Thelma M. Toomey, who was born and reared in Stockton, and is the only child of John C. and Ann (McSweeney) Toomey, natives of Boston, Massachusetts, and New York, respectively. John C. Toomey came to California in a sailing vessel around the Horn. Mr. and Mrs. Morris are the parents of six children, as follows: J. Austin, born May 23, 1924; John Cornelius, born April 29, 1925; Donald Edward, born June 11, 1926; Nancy Jane, born June 2, 1927; Richard Bernard, born March 9, 1930; and William Joseph, born September 4, 1931. The family residence is situated at 123 Waldo avenue in Piedmont, and in his home and with his splendid family Mr. Morris finds his greatest pleasure. Good books and philosophical studies, which are natural accompaniments of a happy home, are also among his favorite diversions.
When the United States declared war upon Germany, Mr. Morris resigned his position with Landers, Frary & Clark, and on May 4, 1917, he enlisted in the United States Army. He was first assigned to the signal corps, then later was transferred to the air service. He progressed in rank to corporal, sergeant, sergeant first class, and then, after finishing the aeronautics course at the University of Illinois, to second lieutenant; his services were those of an instructor in advanced flying. He was stationed at various times at Brooks Field, San Antonio, Texas, at Selfridge Field near Detroit, and Mather Field at Sacramento. From the last named field, he was honorably discharged January 3, 1919, with the rank of second lieutenant.
Mr. Morris is a member of the Catholic Church, also is vice president of the Catholic Laymen’s Retreat Association and a director in the Catholic Federation of the East Bay. His political viewpoint is an independent one. He belongs to the Commercial Club of San Francisco, and has always assumed a public-spirited attitude toward important movements bearing upon the state of California and the nation at large.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Source: Byington, Lewis Francis, “History of
San Francisco 3 Vols”, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1931. Vol. 2 Pages 401-404.
© 2007 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
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