DR. JONATHAN MORRIS
Biographical Sketch
From: Ohio Biographical Sketches
Dr. Jonathan Morris was born on December 1st, 1824, in Morgan county, Ohio. He was the sixth of seven children, whose parents were Abraham and Sophia (Kughn) Morris. His father–of Scotch-Irish extraction–was a native of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and followed through life in the carpenter trade. He moved to Ohio about 1818, settling in Guernsey county, whence he moved in 1822 to Morgan county, where he lived till his death in 1835.
He was a soldier in the war of 1812. Jonathan’s mother was from a German family but was born in Greene county, Pennsylvania. The lad was taught early moral and industrious habits. He worked on a farm as a boy, attending school in the winter. His education was liberal and obtained by his exertions. Left fatherless at the age of eleven, he worked for an uncle for eighteen months; and then for about a year on a farm at five dollars a month. In 1838 he entered a store in Washington county and clerked for about two years.
Thereafter he pursued the same calling in Gallipolis for about five years, studying medicine and for a year law, which he abandoned from conscientious scruples. In 1845 he gave his whole attention to medicine, under the direction of Dr. James M. Cromley, of Gallipolis, reading assiduously for about two years and attending lectures at Cleveland Medical College, where he graduated in 1847. He at once began practice in Burlington, Ohio. A year later, he moved to Powellsville, Scioto county, but in five months started merchandising at Harrisonville, continuing for about two years.
In 1850 he sold out his store and resumed practice for three years in Ironton. In 1853 he passed five months speculating at Gallipolis, whence he moved to Ashland, Kentucky, and practiced for three years, editing a newspaper and carrying on a store. In 1856 he moved on to a farm near Burlington, Ohio, and stayed there for one year. Then he returned to Ironton, where he has since resided and enjoyed an extensive medical practice, except during the war.
In 1861 he entered the army as Surgeon of the 9th Virginia Regiment and served with it till the spring of 1865, mainly with the 8th Army Corps in Virginia, part of the time as Brigade Surgeon and part as Division Surgeon. Captured at Guyandotte, Virginia, on November 10th, 1861, he was confined in Libby prison for four months, then paroled and exchanged. He is a Republican but has never sought political office. In 1873 he was elected to the Legislature and served two years. He is a member of the Methodist Church and is remarkable for his high character, untiring energy, and industry. In 1848 he was married to Emily J. Wilson, a native of Cabell county, Virginia.
Ironton Register, Thursday, January 2, 1896
This esteemed and prominent citizen died at the residence of his brother-in-law, Dr. D. C. Wilson, last Friday evening. The news of his death was not sudden, for he had been lying unconscious from an attack of apoplexy three weeks before. Still, the intelligence spread universal sorrow in this community, where he was well-known for forty years.
We give the biographical sketch read by his pastor Rev. Geo. H. Geyer, at the funeral service:
On December 1st, 1823, Dr. Jonathan Morris was born in Morgan county, Ohio. His father, Abraham Morris, a soldier in the war of 1812, was of Scotch-Irish descent, and his mother came from a German family. Left an orphan at the early age of eleven years, he began the conflicts of life, ultimately gaining, by his exertions, a broad and liberal education. In 1847 he graduated from the Cleveland Medical College and began the practice of medicine in Burlington, Ohio. He met Miss Emily J. Wilson, who became his wife in 1849.
In 1861 Dr. Morris entered the army as a surgeon of the 9th Virginia regiment and served in that capacity for four years. During that time, he was confined in Libby prison for four months. At the close of the war, he resumed the practice of medicine in Ironton, where he has since been known as one of our city’s most respected and successful physicians. A man of deep convictions, whether as a citizen or a member of an order or of his church, Dr. Morris was ever most conscientious.
He was a member of Ironton Commandery No. 45 Knights Templar and Dick Lambert Post G. A. R.
About ten years ago, he untied with Spencer M. E. church during the pastorate of Rev. James Hill, and ever since that time. He has been one of Spencer’s most devoted and substantial members. He was president of the Board of Trustees at the time of the new church’s dedication and contributed most largely towards the expense of its erection. He was a faithful member of the official board and attended its last meeting taking much interest in the welfare of the church. Spencer has lost one of its most spiritual and faithful members. Seldom absent from any church services, he will be especially missed in the prayer meeting where his presence and ready testimony were ever a benediction.
For him, there was—
“One God, one law, one element,
And one far-off divine event
To which the whole creation moves.
A little more than two weeks ago, he was stricken with paralysis at the home of Dr. and Mrs. D. C. Wilson. His faithful wife was constantly at his side, and his only child, Mr. S. W. Morris, of Washington, D. C., was with him the last. About 5 o’clock on the afternoon of December 26th, after a patient endurance of his suffering, trusting ever in Christ, his face lighted up with a divine halo, and
“So softly death
succeeded life in him.
He did but dream of heaven, and he was there.”
The funeral took place at Spencer church last Sunday afternoon. It was attended by the Knight-Templars, the Masons, and the Grand Army of the Republic, commanded by Sir Knight V. Newman, Mr. S. S. Littlejohn, and Capt. Merrill. These societies joined the cortege from the residence. The church was crowded. The choir sang Nearer my God to Thee, an adaptation of Home Sweet Home and an appropriate anthem. Rev. Geo. H. Geyer delivered a beautiful and thoughtful discourse from II Timothy, 4th chapter, 6th, 7th, and 8th verses—”For I am now ready to be offered” &c. Then followed a portion of the impressive ritual of the Knight Templars.
Preceded by the societies, the funeral procession formed and moved to Woodland, where the final ceremonies of the Knight Templars took place. The day was beautiful, and the assemblage about the grave was large.
Dr. Morris’s life has been a busy one. He has pursued his purposes quietly and honorably. His manners were gentle and kind. He stood up for his opinions stoutly but respected others for doing the same with their own. He faithfully performed his duties as he saw them. In the army, there was no braver, no more devoted surgeon. He went where he was needed, regardless of danger. The writer remembers, on a battlefield near Winchester, that E. B. Willard, Brady Steece, and himself were shot and had pulled themselves together, in some cluster of trees, among the wounded and dying.
The shells and balls were still flying about. They espied a man hurrying among the wounded, giving medicine, applying plasters, and binding up wounds. He was the only able-bodied man in sight. He worked like a hero among the bleeding and mangled soldiers. As he approached the trio referred to, they saw it was Dr. Morris. They called to him. He soon worked toward them and was by their sides, giving them surgical attention, comfort, and hope. An old friend in an emergency like that is as sweet as a benediction from heaven. A moment there and then off, he rushed to other needs—the clamorous frightful duties of a battlefield. Such was Dr. Morris in the army. The old soldiers of his regiment and brigade as long as they live.
For over forty years, Dr. Morris has dwelt among us, pursuing his calling as a physician, and now that he has gone, many pleasant thoughts cluster about his memory, and happy, too, the thought that the sunset of his life was in a serene sky.
0 Comments