Jesse J. Morris was born on December 28, 1844, in Pennsylvania to Benjamin and Sarah Morris. His father was a river pilot who owned $200 of real estate and $125 of personal property. He grew up and attended school in Fredericktown, Pennsylvania.

 

He enlisted in the Union army on September 4, 1862, and mustered in as a musician in Company K of the 140^th Pennsylvania Infantry later that day. The regiment took part in the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg, the Overland Campaign, and the siege of Petersburg. He was promoted to principal musician on December 22, 1864, and he mustered out in Washington, D.C., on May 31, 1865.

 

Morris returned to Pennsylvania after the war, and he married Nancy Elizabeth Sharpnack in the 1870s. They had at least three children: Catherine, born around 1878; Olive, born around 1881; and Duncan, born around 1884. By 1880, they were living in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, and Morris was working as a miner. They moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the late 1800s, and by 1900, he was a “commercial traveler” selling cutlery. He died in Pittsburgh on June 1, 1917.

SOURCES