Faces and Places: Photos from the Papers

From Margaret:

One particular pleasure in processing late-nineteenth and early twentieth century family papers is studying the photographs of the subjects. Morris family members, like their peers, sat for professional portraits, exchanged them with one another, and kept them for future generations. We now have the privilege of seeing them throughout their lives.

Elliston Perot Morris (1831-1914), who lived in the Deshler-Morris House with his wife Martha Canby (1836-1919), posed for a studio portrait in 1876. The result showing a confident, relaxed man in his prime:

Elliston Perot Morris, 1876

A professional photographer probably took the wedding picture of his son Marriott with his bride, Jane Rhoads, at the House in 1897 although this image has a somewhat informal air:

Marriott Morris and Jane Rhoads Morris, 1897

Elizabeth, Marriott’s sister, was so taken with her exotic appearance in a peasant costume that she posed for a commercial photographer:

Elizabeth Morris, 1909

Rapid advances in negative and print production made possible snapshots taken by family members themselves. Marriott Canby Morris (1863-1948) is responsible for the majority of the photographic materials in the Independence National Historical Park collection, but his mother, sister, and son Elliston Perot (1899-1980), were also avid amateur photographers. Marriott commemorated his mother Martha’s love of photographing her grandchildren in this vivid blue cyanotype:

Martha Canby Morris, photographing her grandchildren

And in this gelatin silver print:

Martha Canby Morris

Note Martha intently looking at the viewfinder at the top of her camera. Elliston “Junior,” Marriott’s son, photographed his parents, siblings, grandmother, and aunt in 1916 outside the Deshler-Morris House. L to R standing: Marriott Jr., Jane (Rhoads), Elizabeth, Marriott Sr.; seated Martha Canby and young Janet (b. 1907).

The Morris Family, 1916

Marriott (or possibly Elliston) gave a gift to future preservationists when he photographed the back of the House in January 1926:

The Deshler-Morris House, 1926

 From Dana:

We certainly are lucky to have these photographs to offer us a glimpse into the lives of the Morris family.  As you noted, this would not have been possible without important advances in photographic technology. 

According to Dr. Robert Leggat, (www.rleggat.com/photohistory) the art of photography reached an important turning point in 1878, with the invention of the dry-plate process.  Like the digital camera in recent years, the dry-plate process revolutionized photography.  This new process greatly increased the quality of photographs, eliminated the need for portable darkrooms, and allowed for faster shutter speeds—photographs could now be taken in only a few seconds.  Previously, people who were photographed had to sit still and hold their facial expressions for long periods of time, resulting in the distant (and sometimes eerie) facial expressions common in Civil War-era photos.  Now, more spontaneous and realistic photographs could be captured.  Within just a few years, amateur and professional photographers were springing up around the world. 

The Morris family would have had no problem contracting with a professional photographer in Philadelphia around the turn of the century.  Photographers frequently advertised their services and even offered discount deals.  For example, in March of 1891, a photographer ran the following ad in The Philadelphia Inquirer:

“Photographs!  Photographs!
E.S. Dunshee, photographer, 1330 Chestnut Street, opposite U.S. Mint (forty-nine years’ experience) will make his best cabinet photographs for $2 and $3 per dozen, the same style as heretofore $3 and $4—$1 saved on either style.  Come see our work and judge accordingly.  We guarantee finer work cannot be produced.”

Newspaper searches also show that amateur photography, like that practiced by Marriott C. Morris and his family, was also on the rise.  For example, an advertisement placed by Wanamaker’s, a large Philadelphia department store, on Friday, August 29, 1891, noted that:

“There is now so little trouble in making photographs that you can come up with as little as $10 (or as much as $50) and go away a photographer, with a complete outfit.  Kodaks, $25 to $50; Hawkeyes, Premiers, and Waterburys for less.”

Family photographs were no longer a luxury available only to the very wealthy.  What I love about these images is how they humanize the Morris family.  Sometimes figures from so long ago can seem to be a world apart, separated from us somehow.  When we view these pictures, we are reminded that despite the differences in clothing, culture, and customs, the Morrises were simply a family—no more and no less.

Musings on why the Morrises kept so much stuff!

From Margaret:

My survey of the fifty-five boxes composing the Morris Family Papers at Independence Historical Park has certainly proved to be an interesting project!  I was initially struck by the diversity of formats and genres including land deeds, greeting cards, incomplete tax records, almanacs, and pocket diaries.  My second reaction, closely related to the first, was that family members retained much of what their parents created. The Morrises were definitely a group of keepers and collectors!

Samuel Buckley Morris (1791-1859) was the first member of the Morris family to live at the residence later referred to as the Deshler-Morris House and now known as the Germantown White House located at 5442 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia.  His son, Elliston Perot Morris (1831-1914) who inherited the house, kept his father’s letters, receipts, and estate documents.  Martha Canby Morris (1836-1919), his wife, kept her father’s almanacs.  Their children, in turn, retained their parents’ records so, when another Elliston Perot Morris (1899-1980), the first Elliston’s grandson, donated the house and grounds to the National Park Service after his father’s 1948 death, he could also offer documents from generations of the house’s inhabitants.

Photographs taken by family members and professional photographers document the house and grounds.  A contract specifies the construction of the two-story brick barn and carriage house built around 1891.  Inventories of Elliston’s and Martha’s possessions indicate the house’s contents.  The family actively collected literature describing the house’s history celebrating George Washington’s stay such as the article “Historic Germantown” in the February 1884 issue of Lippincott’s:

From the door-way of this respectable dwelling it was the President’s habit to issue regularly twice a day during his residence in Germantown, once for a walk and again for a ride, or, when the roads were sufficiently good, an airing with Mrs. Washington in her phaeton. (p. 122)

The Morris home featured in Lippincott's Magazine.

It does not surprise me that the Morrises would keep letters and diaries of their eighteenth-century ancestors because many families were becoming involved in their colonial heritage in post-Centennial United States.   What intrigues me is the special emphasis in the Quaker tradition of “filial piety.”  Elliston wrote a memorial of his father to be published in a Quaker journal out of his “filial affection” and belief that broadcasting such a good life benefits others in their “feeble endeavors after holiness of life.”    Is it possible that the respect for parents contributed to the high retention of documents?  

The documents the Morris family collected and created have informed the rehabilitation of the Germantown White House and grounds, and NPS staff and contractors have and will continue to study this collection for that specific purpose.  The papers, incorporating extensive local photography, may hold interest for those researching nineteenth- and early twentieth-century material culture and the visual imagery of the Philadelphia region.  For example, someone might solve the apparent mystery of Martha Canby Morris owning eleven cream pitchers noted in the inventory of her silverware!

Silverware Inventory

 From Dana:

The Morrises certainly were keepers!  I made some inquiries at several Philadelphia museums and archives, and it turns out that six other area repositories, including the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the Germantown Historical Society, also hold Morris family information.  Much of the information overlaps with what is in the Park Service’s collection.  As the years passed, family members from different generations made donations to archives or museums of their choosing, spreading family materials amongst several collections.  Clearly, the Morris family had a long history of preserving their family records and memorabilia.

Margaret, I found your point about Quaker filial piety fascinating and decided to look a little further into the subject.  After doing a little digging, most of the references I found for the term “filial piety” in fact referred to Chinese subjects.  The concept of filial piety seems to have originated in ancient China and remains one of the highest ideal of Confucianism.  Loosely understood, filial piety was defined as a veneration and respect of one’s ancestors, but could also provide a link to the spiritual world.  In a 1998 article called “The Place of Filial Piety in Ancient China,” Donald Holzman wrote that “the worship of the supreme diety…could only be carried out through the worship of one’s own ancestors,” (Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 118, page 186). 

While the Quaker ideal of filial piety certainly invoked the idea of respect for one’s ancestors, Quakers did not adhere to the ancient idea of reaching God through family intercessors.  Instead, they believed in the idea of an “Inner Light,” which taught that there was a part of God in every human soul.  I wonder if this idea of Inner Light may have also contributed to the high retention of documents?  If every individual soul is Godly in some way, might that be a reason to revere and preserve their memory?  We may never know!

Why the Morrises?

The Morrises are a wonderful family for this kind of project because they are both exceptional and representative.  The Morrises settled in America when family patriarch Anthony Morris (1654-1721) moved his family from London to Burlington, New Jersey in 1682 and then to the growing city of Philadelphia three years later.  Anthony Morris was a well-known Quaker, brewer, judge, and eventual mayor of Philadelphia.  As the years passed, the Morrises became one of the wealthiest and most respectable families in the city. 

Perhaps the Morrises are best known as the owners of the Deshler-Morris House, or “Germantown White House,”  which is located in the Germantown section of Philadelphia.  The house, which is the oldest surviving presidential residence, served as a refuge for President Washington during the yellow fever epidemics of 1793 and 1794.  Though the Morrises owned the house after Washington’s stay there, they did recognize the value of the building and preserved it well.  It was donated to the National Park Service in 1948 and became part of the Independence National Historical Park.  The house museum is now a popular historical site for Philadelphians and visitors. 

In addition to being an important part of Philadelphia history, the Morris family and the materials they left behind provide a window into the broader world of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.  Their letters and journals provide insight into family dynamics and culture, their business materials show us the inner-workings of the economy, and their religious materials provide access to the teachings of the Quaker faith.  And this is only the beginning—examining the wealth of materials contained in the Morris Family Papers can help us understand a great deal about what it was like to live in Philadelphia during this time period.

Welcome to the National Park Service’s Morris Family Papers Blog!

This blog will document the processing of the National Park Service’s Morris Family Papers collection, a large and varied collection that encompasses approximately thirty linear feet of materials.  From diaries, letters, and photographs to contracts, wills, and business papers, this collection gives insight into nearly every aspect of daily life of this interesting and dynamic family. 

 Housed in the Independence National Historical Park Archives, the materials in the Morris Family Papers collection span more than three centuries, from 1726 through 1973.  The bulk of the materials were donated to the Independence National Historical Park Archives by three generations of the Morris Family—the families of Samuel Buckley Morris (1791-1859), of Elliston Perot Morris (1831-1914), and of Marriott Canby Morris (1863-1948). 

 Two voices will contribute to this blog—Margaret Welch, an archivist with the National Park Service who is processing the Morris Family materials, and Dana Kellogg Repash, an intern and research assistant on the project at the Independence National Historical Park Archives.  Margaret will provide insight into the wealth of materials that she is processing, and Dana will assist and provide background information for some of Margaret’s findings.  Through this collaboration, we hope to expose readers to the fascinating world of the Morris family.