1905 History of Crawford County Kansas

Charles F. Morris, mayor and postmaster of the town of Bruce in the south part of the county, is an old-time resident of Crawford county, having come here in 1873, and during the past thirty odd years he has made a most capable and successful record as a business man and participant in the general affairs of his community.

Born at Cincinnati, Ohio, February 22, 1844, he was brought up in that part of Ohio, and when eighteen years old became a soldier in the Civil war, in which he served for three years and four days as a cavalryman. He enlisted at Seneca, Hamilton county, Ohio, in August, 1862, in Company C, Fifth Ohio Cavalry, under Captain Owen and Colonel Taylor; was soon sent to Washington, and served first under the command of General Kilpatrick and then under General Wilson; was at the battles of White House Landing and Gettysburg, and in innumerable skirmishes and forays and scouting expeditions, and was also sent against Morgan when that rebel leader made his raid north of the Ohio. After a long and faithful service he received his honorable discharge.

Mr. Morris was a son of Christ and Christine (Ower) Morris. His father was born in Scotland, was reared there to the age of fifteen, name="028000">when he came to the United States, and for many years successfully followed the butcher's trade. He died in Indiana, while his wife, who was born in Germany, died in Ohio. They were the parents of four children.

Mr. Morris was reared and educated in Ohio, and early learned the butcher trade under the supervision of his father, and his subsequent life occupation has alternated between this trade and farming. He came to Crawford county in 1873 and settled on a farm near Bruce, where he continued for some years and then moved into Cherokee. Later he returned to the town of Bruce and went into the butcher business. He erected an excellent store of brick, twenty-five by fifty feet, and he has also put up several other buildings in the town, with whose interests he has been identified for many years, and in such a public-spirited manner that its best welfare has been conserved. He has been mayor of the town for a number of years, and has also been its efficient postmaster for some time. He is a stanch Republican in politics, and fraternally belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights and Ladies of Security.

Mr. Morris's wife was Miss Anna McColm, who was for some years engaged in the millinery business in Cherokee and was a capable business woman and very popular socially, as well as an able director of household affairs, so that her death in August, 1897, was a bereavement to the entire community. She left three children: Bertha B., who is married and living in Stone City, this state: Jessie and Roy C., both of Kansas City.