The legal profession is ably represented at Walter, Oklahoma, by Lon Morris, who is now serving in the office of county attorney of Cotton County. While he has been a resident of this city only since 1912, he is already recognized as a through, profound and conscientious lawyer, with a mastery of the principals and precedents of the law, and as a public official whose appreciation of the responsibilities principals and precedents of the law, and as a public official whose appreciation of the responsibilities of office make his service an especially valuable one.
Mr. Morris was born in Ellis County, Texas, June 27, 1872, and a son of B.W. and Julia (Craig) Morris. The family originated in Scotland and its progenitor in America came to this country prior to the Revolutionary war and settled in the Colony of Virginia. B.W. Morris was born in Texas in 1845, and became a pioneer of Ellis County, from whence, in 1872, he moved to Granbury, Hood County, Texas, where he was likewise one of the early settlers. He still resides in the community, being a retired farmer and stockman and owns considerable property. A democrat in his political views, Mr. Morris has been one of the prominent and influential men of his locality and at various times has been called upon to fill offices of importance. For twelve years he served as county assessor, for fourteen years was sheriff of Hood County, and on one occasion was sent to represent his district in the Texas State Legislature. During the period of the Civil war he served three years in the Army of the Confederacy as a member of an Arkansas regiment of infantry. Mr. Morris is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church. He married Miss Julia Craig, a native of Arkansas, and they have been the parents of the following children:
- · Lon of this notice;
· Samuel, who is a merchant of Abilene, Texas;
· Walter, who is engaged in the practice of law at Albany, Texas;
· Charles, the proprietor of a mercantile establishment at Stamford, Texas;
· Lucy, who is the wife of Fred Reichstetter, a traveling salesman of New Mexico;
· Misses Emma and Lottie, who are unmarried and reside with their parents; - · and Jacob, who is a showman, at present traveling in Europe.
Lon Morris was an infant when taken by his parents to Granbury, Texas, and there he received his early education in the public schools. Subsequently he was sent to Granbury Methodist College, from which he is graduated in 1891, and his literary training was completed in 1893 , when he left Add-Ran University, Thorp’s Spring, Texas. This was supplemented by a course at the Agricultural and Mechanical College, at Bryan, Texas, where he was graduated in 1896, following which he entered a law office at Granbury, being admitted to the bar two years later. With this excellent equipment, Mr. Morris started the practice of his chosen profession at Granbury, where he remained until 1905, then coming to Oklahoma and settling at Temple, where he engaged in the practice of law and in banking, and in the “Big Pasture,” until 1910. At that time Mr. Morris’ services were secured by a combination of business men to go to tropical Mexico and give his opinion as to the value of a land project. The unsettled conditions in that country, however, owing to the revolutionists, caused him to leave Mexico and in 1912 he came to Walters, which place has since continued as his home. He is now engaged in a general practice of his profession, having his office in the First National Bank Building. He has already been identified with a number of cases which have brought his name prominently and favorably before the public, and he is justly accounted one of Cotton County’s reliable and thoroughly learned practitioners. A democrat in politics, while a resident of Granbury Mr. Morris was elected on that party’s ticket to the county attorneyship [sic] of Hood County, and while there also served as assistant sergeant-at-arms of the Twenty-fourth Texas Legislature. In November, 1914, he was elected county attorney of Cotton County, taking office the first Monday in January, 1915, for a term of two years. He is a member of the official board of the Christian Church. Fraternally Mr. Morris is widely and favorably known, being affiliated with Granbury Lodge, No. 392, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Archer City Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Archer City, Texas, in which he is past grand as well as past deputy grand of the Grand Lodge; the Knights of Pythias, of Granbury, in which he is past chancellor; and the Granbury lodges of the Modern Woodmen of America, the Woodmen of the World, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Improved Order of Red Men. Mr. Morris was married at Granbury, Texas, in 1895, to Miss Ida Henderson, a native of Granbury, and daughter of J.F. Henderson, a pioneer into Texas from Missouri who now resides near Temple, Oklahoma, on his farm. Three children have been born to this union:
- · Guy, who is a blacksmith at Walter;
- · Toby, who is a sophomore at the Walters High School; and
- · Madden, a pupil in the sixth grade of the public school.
| Source: A Standard History of Oklahoma An Authentic Narrative of its Developments from the Date of the First European Exploration down to the Present Time, including Accounts of the Indian Tribes, both Civilized and Wild, of the Cattle Range, of the Land Openings and the Achievements of the most Recent Period Joseph B. Thoburn, The American Historical Society, Chicago and New York, 1916 |