Cyrenius E. Morris, merchant of Coon Rapids, established his business in 1880, but has been a resident of Union Township since 1870. He was born in New York City in 1842, and came West with his parents in 1854, the family settling near Galena, Illinois, where the parents still live. The father, Crowell Morris, is of Scotch ancestry. During the late war Mr. Morris enlisted in the Independent Battalion of Fremont Rangers, at Galena, September 4, 1861, and joined Fremont at St. Louis. The battalion was commanded by Colonel H. A. Galop, and the Captain of his company was T. M. Wilcox, who is now assistant librarian in the Government Library at Washington. He remained in General Fremont’s command until the latter was superseded on account of the course he pursued with the negroes. His battalion was then attached to the Third Missouri Cavalry. His full term of service in the army was three years and four months, operating in the trans-Mississippi department. He participated in several engagements, and received a sabre wound in a cavalry charge, during General Banks’ Red River expedition. After the war Mr. Morris was engaged in the insurance business, also in farming near Galena. He personally knew General Grant at Galena before the war. He is a member of Jo Daviess County Monumental Association, and has a certificate of membership signed by General Grant, when the latter was president of the association. He was commander of the Perry Wright Post, G.A.R., at Coon Rapids, for three years, and is the present adjutant. The parents of our subject have three sons and one daughter. The mother is of Holland ancestry, her people being among the early settlers of Eastern New York. Mr. Morris has been twice married. His first wife was Julia F. Winship, of Evansville, Rock County, Wisconsin, and a native of Vermont. She died at Coon Rapids, April 16, 1884. His present wife was Miss Ettie D. Dodge, a native of Burnham, Maine. Her grandmother was reared in the family of General Warren, who was killed at Bunker Hill. Her grandfather was General Mark Trafton, of Revolutionary fame. Mr. Morris is a direct descendant of Governor Morris, one of the early Governors of New York, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

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