Dorilus Morrison (December 27, 1814 – June 26, 1897) was an American banker, businessman, and Republican politician. He was the first and third

Mayor of Minneapolis This is a list of mayors of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The current mayor is Jacob Frey (DFL). Minneapolis From 1867 to 1878 mayors were elected for a 1-year term. Beginning in 1878 the term was extended to 2 years. As the city became larger and mo ...

and was a member of the

Minnesota Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any U.S. state legislature. Floor sessions are h ...

Life and career

Morrison was born in

Livermore, Maine Livermore is a town in Androscoggin County, Maine, United States. Formerly in Oxford County, Maine. The population was 2,127 at the 2020 United States Census. It is included in both the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area and ...

. His first business was as a merchant supporting the lumber industry near

Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Penobscot County. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's 3rd-largest settlement, behind Portland (68,408) and Lewiston (37,121). Modern Bangor ...

. In 1854, Morrison visited Minnesota to investigate potential lumber interests. He was sufficiently impressed that he sold his businesses in Maine and moved to St. Anthony, Minnesota within a year. He became involved in the local lumber and milling industries (along with his fellow Mainer

William D. Washburn William Drew "W.D." Washburn, Sr. (January 14, 1831 – July 29, 1912) was an American politician. He served in both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate as a Republican from Minnesota. Three of his seven b ...

) and became an early investor in the Minneapolis Milling Company (forerunner of today's

General Mills General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company ori ...

). In 1863, Morrison was elected to represent the 5th district in the Minnesota State Senate and served from 1864 to 1865. When the city of Minneapolis was formally incorporated in 1867, Morrison was elected as its first mayor. He was re-elected to a second term in 1869 and ran unsuccessfully for a third in 1872. Morrison supported the initial construction of the

Northern Pacific Railroad The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly of land grants, wh ...

along with William Washburn,

George A. Brackett George Augustus Brackett (September 16, 1836 – May 17, 1921) was a businessman and Republican politician who served as the sixth mayor of Minneapolis. He was also involved in the development of the White Pass wagon road during the Klondike ...

William S. King William Smith King (December 16, 1828 – February 24, 1900) was a Republican Party (United States), Republican United States Representative, U.S. Representative for Minnesota from March 4, 1875 to March 3, 1877. He was a journalist and bu ...

and others. When the Northwestern National Bank of Minneapolis was chartered in 1872, Morrison was its first president. Around that same time, he began building a

streetcar line A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...

in the city. He joined with other businessmen, and eventually hired Thomas Lowry, who got the line up and running in 1875. The line eventually merged with a line in neighboring St. Paul to become Twin City Rapid Transit. Morrison died in 1897. He is buried at Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis.

Electoral history

*Minneapolis Mayoral Election, 1867 **Dorilus Morrison *Minneapolis Mayoral Election, 1869 **Dorilus Morrison 859 **Henry G. Sidle 756 *Minneapolis Mayoral Election, 1872 ** Eugene McLanahan Wilson 2,208 **Dorilus Morrison 1,534

Notes

:No specific record of the vote exists, only the result.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, Dorilus 1814 births 1897 deaths Mayors of Minneapolis Republican Party Minnesota state senators People from Livermore, Maine Politicians from Bangor, Maine Washburn family Burials at Lakewood Cemetery 19th-century American politicians