CHARLES LEE MORRIS
The following bio was taken from page 314 of the book
entitled “Rusk County History” compiled and edited and used with permission
of the Rusk County Historical Commission.
Transcribed by Claudia Schuster
Submitted by Gloria
Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator
Charles Lee Morris
was born in Bowden, Georgia in 1869, the eldest son of Confederate Captain and
Mrs. James Calvin Morris. As a
young boy, he came to Texas with his parents in 1872. The family settled in Rusk County about eight miles south of
Henderson in the Bethel Community. Charles
grew up on the family farm with his brothers, John Walter and James Allister,
and his sisters – Sarah Cornelia, Ada, and Nettie.
Captain J.C. Morris died in 1879, leaving his widow as well as Charles
and his young brothers and sisters to manage the family farm.
Although the children spent long hours working on the farm, they managed
to educate themselves by reading and by attending school at Bethel.
As
a young adult, Charles began to attend local social functions with Annie Minerva
Hays, daughter of John Hays. The
couple became engaged and were married on October 29, 1892. They lived with the groom’s mother temporarily until
Charles, with the help of his two brothers, built a home near the north banks of
Barnhart Creek. It was in this
house that all of their children were born.
The
untimely death of Charles in 1913 left Annie and the children to run the family
farm. In 1915 the boys of the
family succeeded in building a new seven-room home less than one hundred yards
from the original home site. The
house they built is still standing today. Annie
Morris was a steadfast person who insisted that all of her children seek the
highest educational goals possible. Before she died, her six children had
already become successful adults with families of their own.
James
Otho Morris, the first son of Charles and Annie, was known throughout Rusk
County for his progressive farming techniques.
His son, Dr. A.E. Morris, is a prominent physician currently practicing
in Henderson.
Ada
Belle, the only Morris daughter, was a teacher in the Minden Schools for many
years.
The
other sons of Charles Lee and Annie Morris are: Joel Carter, a surgeon who
practiced in Knoxville, Tennessee; Oscar Neal, who practiced law in Houston and
Henderson and who is now retired and living in Rusk County; Allister Kelly, is a
surgeon, who practiced for many years in Knoxville, Tennessee and currently
practices in Baytown, Texas, and Charles Lee Morris, Jr., who is employed by the
Veteran’s Administration in Austin, Texas.
Submitted by Ned C. Morris