“ MORRIS, GOUVERNEUR (1752–1816) , American statesman, was born in the old Morrisania manor house, in what is now the city of New York, on the 31st of January 1752. He graduated at King’s College (now Columbia University) in 1768, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1771. New York, then in the midst of the political disturbances which preceded the outbreak of the War of American Independence, offered a good opportunity for a public career, and Morris had the aristocratic Connexions which tradition required. ”

“ The struggle which the frontier settlers of Pennsylvania had made in the state legislature to secure unlimited issues of paper money and the enactment of laws favourable to the debtor class prejudiced him against the West, and he tried to introduce into the constitution a clause guaranteeing forever the political supremacy of the states east of the Alleghanies. ”

“ He returned to New York in 1798, resumed the practice of his profession, re-entered politics, and sat in the United States Senate as a Federalist from 1800 to 1803. As early as 1801 Morris became interested in projects for improving the communication between the Hudson river and Lake Erie, and from 1810 to 1816 he was chairman of the board of canal commissioners, which after exploring the country prepared plans for the Erie Canal. ”