Edmund Needham Morrill (February 12, 1834 – March 14, 1909) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

and the 13th

governor of Kansas A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

Biography

Edmund Needham Morrill was born in

Westbrook, Maine Westbrook is a city in Cumberland County, Maine, United States and a suburb of Portland, Maine, Portland. The population was 20,400 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the fastest-growing city in Maine between 2010 and 2020. ...

, to Rufus and Mary (Webb) Morrill. He attended the common schools at Westbrook Academy and learned the trade of tanning from his father. At the age of 23, he moved to Kansas. In 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company C, 7th Kansas Cavalry. Within a year, he was a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, and by 1865 he was a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

. After the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, he entered the banking business and remained in that business for the rest of his life. Morrill married twice, first to Elizabeth A. Brettum whom he married on November 27, 1862. Elizabeth died November 1868 at

Hiawatha, Kansas Hiawatha (Chiwere language, Ioway: ''Hári Wáta'' pronounced ) is the largest city and county seat of Brown County, Kansas, Brown County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was ...

. Morrill's second wife was Caroline Jenkins Nash, whom he married December 25, 1869. They had three children, all born at Hiawatha. In 1866, he was elected clerk of the district court. In 1872, he was elected to the

Kansas Senate The Kansas Senate is the upper house of the Kansas Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. State of Kansas. It is composed of 40 senators elected from single-member districts, each with a population of about 73,000 inhabitants. Members o ...

. He was elected to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

in 1882, serving four two-year terms before declining another, announcing instead his retirement from politics. Nevertheless, at the urging of his friends, he accepted the nomination for governor of Kansas in 1894 and served one term, being defeated in 1896. In 1894, The Advocate newspaper exposed several questionable land deals that Morrill orchestrated in connection with the Denver City railroad company. Morrill's tax records show he purposely misrepresented his assessment on property to avoided paying taxes that he had taken from victims of his land schemes. He was called, "the most cold-blooded schemer that ever posed for public favors". Morrill died March 14, 1909, in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, Texas, and is buried in Hiawatha's Mount Hope Cemetery.

References

* Blackmar, Frank W. ''Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Embracing Events, Institutions, Industries, Counties, Cities, Towns, Prominent Persons, Etc.'' (Chicago: Standard Publishing Company), 1912. * Morrill, E. N. ''History and Statistics of Brown County, Kansas'' (Hiawatha, KS: s.n.), 1876.

External links

*
Publications concerning Kansas Governor Morrill's administration available via the KGI Online LibraryHistory of Brown County, Kansas compiled by Maj. E.N. Morrill
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrill, Edmund Needham Republican Party governors of Kansas Republican Party Kansas state senators 1834 births 1909 deaths Politicians from Westbrook, Maine People from Hiawatha, Kansas American Congregationalists Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kansas 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Kansas Legislature