COMPENDIUMOF BIOGRAPHY
OfHenry County, Indiana
B.F.Bowen
1920
Surnamesin this biography are: Morris, Bundy, Scovell, Heritage,
Leone
JOHN MONTFORT MORRIS
Long before the dawn of the Christian era, when man first began
to recognize his right to property either devised to him or acquired by his
personal efforts, his title there to was frequentlybrought into dispute and
nefarious means often used by which he might be dispossessed of his holdings
of either portable effects or realty, and it became necessary to create
protective statutes in order to conserve such rights, many of the precepts of
Lycurgus, the Spartan, being approved at the present day and covering a
period of about three thousand years. All modern nations, however,have made
more lucid theprecepts of the ancients, and law making and the interpretation
and administration of laws have become an exact science and every political
section or district throughout the world has its practitioners of this
science, which is now designated as one of the learned professions, and of
which the gentleman whose name opens this biographical sketch is a
conspicuous member.
John Montfort Morris, of Bundy & Morris, one of the leading law firms of
NewCastle. Henry County, Indiana, was born in this county, near the present
village of Snyder in Wayne Township, April 22, 1857, and is a son of John and
Hannah (Scovell) Morris. He passed his early life on a farm on Buck creek
untileighteen years of age, when he entered upon the study of the law while
clerking for a year at Knightstown, and when nineteen years old came to New
Castle andcontinued to study in the office and under the preceptor ship of
Forkner & Bundy until he was fully prepared for admission to the bar, which
gratifying event took place April 22. 1878 the twenty-first anniversary of
his birth. He then began practice alone and at once achieved a marked
success, his legal talent being universally recognized and consequently his
patronage very large and satisfactory. He continued to practice on his sole
account until November 1896 when, Judge Bundy having retired from the bench,
the presentco-partner-ship was formed and lucrative general practice in the
state andfederal courts has since been theirs to their mutual satisfaction
and profit,the firm standing in the front rank of the legal practitioners of
law in HenryCounty. In politics Mr. Morris is anactive and leading
Republican and has been a hard worker in his party's rankssince he has been
entitled to vote. He is very popular, and has been a delegateto almost every
Republican convention county, state and congressional, that hasbeen in his
county and district since attaining manhood, in 1878 being adelegate to the
Republican congressional convention. In 1898 Mr. Morris waselected to the
state legislature, in which dignified body he served with markedability on
the judiciary committee and the committee on drains and drainage,although
during that session the Republicans were in a minority. Later, inFebruary
1902, Mr. Morris was nominated in the Republican primary election asits
candidate for circuit judge. Mr. Morris enjoyed the full confidence of his
clients and has beenadministrator of several estates, has had several other
important trusts placed in his hands, and hasbeen consulted by and been
connected with nearly all the lawyers in the countyin adjudicating real
estate cases for the past twenty years. He isvice-president of and a director
in the Citizens Bank and a stockholder in thegas company and the electric
light plant, and has taken an active part inpromoting every industry in the
city of New Castle. He owns an interest in two farms, of which seven hundred
and fifty acres are under cultivation in theaggregate, cut up into five
tracts, two of which have been under his personal supervision at all times.
Mr.Morris was joined in marriage, January 15, 1879, with Miss Cora Heritage,
adaughter of Dayton L. Heritage, of Knightstown, and a graduate from
the Knightstown public schools, but bornin Cambridge City, Wayne County. To
this felicitous union have been born three children, viz:Bessie J., John
Heritage and Susan Leone. Mr. and Mrs. Morris are leading members of the
Presbyterian Church, in which Mr. Morris is an elder, and was a delegate to
the Indiana synod in 1899 and a representative to the presbytery. Fraternally
he is aKnight of Pythias, a Red Man and an Elk, but at present takes no
active part inthe proceedings of these orders. The career of Mr. Morris
through life has beenan extraordinary one. Only now in the prime of life, he
has reached the acme of every height that a justifiable ambition has caused
him to ascend and there are but few men of his age that have had the courage,
the nerve and the ability to successfully make the attempt. His reading of
professional literature has been exhaustive and profound, and in history and
in the better class of fiction he has kept pace with the best authors. For
fifteen years or longer he has been a subscriber to and a reader of the North
American Review, than which no better was ever published on the western
continent. Mr. Morris has made hosts of friends, as he is one of the most
cultured and affable of men, as well as one of the most practical in all
things,especially in such undertakings as require his personal care
orsupervision. As an instance of the deep interest Mr. And Mrs. Morris feel
in the church of which they have so long been devoted members, the following
extract from a recent local news-paper gives ample evidence:This morning it
was announced that Mrs. John M. Morris had generously decided to present to
the Presbyterian church a fine pipe organ as a memorial of her father and
mother. Mrs. Morris's gift was unexpected and she has the heart felt thanks
of the members of the church and of the public in general. The instrument
will be constructed by the Barckhoff Church Organ Company, ofPomeroy, Ohio.
This firm builds most of the Carnegie gift organs and theirinstruments are
not excelled. The organ will be ready for use by ThanksgivingDay and on that
evening an organ recital will be given in the church and the performer at the
organ will be one of the most noted organists in the country.Mrs. Morris
conceived the idea of her gift several weeks ago and she concludedto carry
out one of her greatest desires, to do something for her church. She
immediately began corresponding with the organ manufacturers and this week
a'representative of the firm was here conferring with Mrs. Morris and the
deal was closed.