Lewis Morris

I am Lewis Morris, eldest son of a colonial lord, Yale graduate, farmer, and signer of the Declaration of Independence. I was born at Morisania, my family's estate in Westchester County. I inherited the land and expanded it, acquiring farms in New York and New Jersey. I married Mary Walton. We raised 10 children together, but no amount of land or family could keep me quiet when liberty was threatened. Britain's trade restrictions began choking our livelihood. While the other colonies debated independence, New York's merchants and politicians still clung to the king, but not me. By the time New York joined the cause, I proudly added my name to the declaration. Then the British invaded. They ravaged Morisania, burning my fields, stealing my livestock, and nearly destroying my land. I left Congress to serve New York as a judge, a senator, a general in the militia. I fought conspiracies, hunted spies, and when peace finally came, I turned my eyes back to the land. I tested new crops, and rebuilt my farms. Liberty isn't just one on battlefields. It must be nurtured in daily life. I pushed for better schools, better roads, better laws. War had won us freedom. These things would help us keep it. I died where I was born at Morrisania. But what I left behind, that still remains.