MORRIS.
Two persons named Morris obtained patents for land in
1743, Hugh on the lower Hardware, and Jacob on Totier
Creek. They were, as their names indicate, of Welsh origin,
and the strong probability is they were brothers. Jacob's
daughter Ann became the wife of Jacob Kinney, subsequently
a citizen of Staunton. Kinney owned the Stone
Tavern in Warren, and Lots Seven and Eight in Charlottesville.
His widow and daughter, Mrs. Matilda Stribling,
sold the property in Warren to William Brown in 1812, and
the lots to Twyman Wayt in 1815. It may be stated, that
the Kinney family were residents of Albemarle at an early
date. In 1779 the father, William Kinney, bought a tract of
land on the lower Hardware from William Moon Sr., which
his heirs, Chesley, Jacob, William and Nancy Whitesides,
then of Amherst, sold in 1795 to William Moon Jr.
Hugh Morris, sometime previous to 1769, purchased land
in the North Garden, contiguous to the Cross Roads. An
Episcopal Church was built on this land, on the hill south
of the village, and in the conveyance of the land to his son
in 1772, Hugh recites that he never gave the land the church
occupied, but invests his son with power to act as it seemed
best. He died in 1774. His son, Hugh Rice Morris, resided
on the land in North Garden, and died in 1820. It is said he
was an Episcopal clergyman. In the notice of his death it was
stated, that he was present at the first court held in the county,
and witnessed the proceedings attending its organization.
About 1817 he built the mill below the Cross Roads, now
known as Kidd's Mill. His wife's name was Ann, and his children
Henry, Samuel, Rice, William, Tandy and Elizabeth.
Rice removed to Augusta County, but returned to Albemarle,
and resided in the neighborhood of Scottsville; his daughter
Sarah became the wife of Robert Dyer. Tandy was a
physician, and practised in the vicinity of Warren. William
married Ann, daughter of Marshall Durrett, bought
from Howell Lewis the farm, with the large brick house, on
which Stephen Carpenter now resides, and died in 1832.
His son William married Helen, daughter of James Alexander,
and removed to Mississippi. Henry continued to live
near the Cross Roads. The old church, a wooden structure,
becoming dilapidated by the ravages of time, he gave the
ground in the village, on which the brick edifice was erected.
He departed this life in 1859.
