Yolo
County
Biographies
FRANK L. MORRIS
One
of the outstanding cattle and dairy men of the Pacific coast is Frank L.
Morris, whose fine farm of eight hundred and eighty acres lies near Woodland,
Yolo County. He is a national figure
among breeders and raisers of Holstein-Friesian cattle and success is crowning
his life work. Mr. Morris was born on
the Morris ranch, seven miles northwest of Woodland, Yolo County, on the 28th
of June, 1880, and is a son of Asa W. and Mary E. (Call) Morris. His father, who is deceased, was a well known
breeder of pure bred registered Holstein-Friesian cattle. He was born in Waynesburg, Greene County,
Pennsylvania, May 8, 1857, and soon after his marriage, in 1879, came to
California, settling in Yolo County, there engaging in farming. For some time he operated rented land, but
later bought three hundred and twenty acres, to which he added until he owned
eight hundred and eighty acres in the home place. He also later brought one thousand and twenty
acres four miles northeast of Woodland, and on this land he had a herd of two
hundred and fifty pure bred Holstein-Friesian cows. He owned “Riverside Sadie De Kol Burke,” which held the world’s record from seven days
to six months for amount of milk produced; “Aralia De
Kol,” that held two world’s milk record for one year,
one of which was that of twenty-eight thousand and sixty-five and nine-tenths
pounds of milk in one year; and “Tilly Alcartra,” a world’s record long distance cow for milk and
also butter fat. This was regarded as
one of the best herd of Holsteins in the United States. Mr. Morris was a member of the
Holstein-Friesian Association of America.
In
September, 1879, in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, Asa W. Morris was married to Miss
Cary E. Call, and to them was born four sons, Frank L., Charles C., Harry V.
and Asa J., and a daughter Zella. Mrs.
Morris died in 1905, and in March, 1911, in Washington, D. C., he married Mrs.
Cassia Black, of Pennsylvania. Asa W.
Morris was a member of the Christian Church and lived a life that earned for
him the sincere respect and confidence of all who were in any way associated
with him.
Frank
L. Morris received his elementary education in the district schools and took a
commercial course in the Stockton Business College. For three years he was with the Wagner
Leather Company, of Stockton, after which he returned to Yolo County, where he
has since been engaged in the raising of pure bred Holstein-Friesian cattle. In 1908 the A. W. Morris Corporation was organized,
of which he has always been a member. He
started in the dairy business and he now has about two hundred cows, which are
divided into two herds. He also has one
hundred other cattle, and his ranch is in every way adapted to the business to
which it is devoted.
Mr.
Morris has long been active in cattle breeding organizations, and has served as
a director of the National Holstein-Friesian Association. He is one of the nine inspectors for the
national association and in the performance of his duties makes many trips to
the eastern states, where he judges for the classification of herds. He has also judged herds at various state
fairs and other stock exhibitions and is regarded as an expert in his line. He is a director of the California Holstein-Friesian
Association, a director of the California Breeders Association and stands in
the front rank of the cattle breeders of this part of the country. His own dairy business is run under the name
of The Sanitary Dairy and for the past sixteen years he has maintained a
modernly equipped retail store at 604 Main Street, Woodland. The output of his dairy herd averages one
hundred and seventy-five thousand gallons of milk annually.
Mr.
Morris was united in marriage to Miss Miriam Smith, who is a native of Yolo
County and a member of one of its pioneer families. They have three children, namely: Madeline, the wife of S. A. Higgins; Erline,
the wife of James R. Killkeny; and Frank L., Jr., who is a member of Woodland
Lodge, No. 1299, B. P. O. E., and the Woodland Rotary Club. Mr. Morris takes a keen interest in local
civic and public affairs and is a trustee of the Woodland Library. He and his family are members of the
Christian Church and give their support to all causes aiming for the betterment
of the community in which they live.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 2 Pages 337-339. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010 Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Yolo County
Biographies