Edward Joy Morris (July 16, 1815December 31, 1881) was an American politician and diplomat. He served as a Whig member of the

U.S. House of Representatives 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 ...

for Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district from 1843 to 1845 and as a Republican member for Pennsylvania's 2nd congressional district from 1857 to 1861. He served as a member of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

from 1841 to 1842 and again in 1856. He served as United States

Chargé d'affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

to the

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies () was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1861 under the control of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, Bourbons. The kingdom was the largest sovereign state by popula ...

from 1850 to 1853 and as Minister Resident to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

from 1861 to 1870.

Early life and education

Morris was born on July 16, 1815, in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. He attended the common schools and the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. He left the University of Pennsylvania in his freshman year and graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1836. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1842 and practiced in Philadelphia.

Career

He was a member of the

from 1841 to 1843. He was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-eighth Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in

1844 In the Philippines, 1844 had only 365 days, when Tuesday, December 31 was skipped as Monday, December 30 was immediately followed by Wednesday, January 1, 1845, the next day after. The change also applied to Caroline Islands, Guam, Marian ...

. He was appointed Chargé d'affaires to the

on January 20, 1850, and served from April 4, 1850 to August 26, 1853. He was a member of the board of directors of Girard College in Philadelphia, and served a second time as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1856. Morris was elected as a Republican to the Thirty-fifth, Thirty-sixth, and Thirty-seventh Congresses and served until his resignation. He was appointed Minister Resident to the

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

and served from June 8, 1861, to October 25, 1870. He wrote several books on his travels including ''Notes of a Tour through Turkey, Greece, Egypt, Arabia Petræa, to the Holy Land'' in 1842. He was fluent in French, German and Italian, and translated several books from German including Alfred De Besse's ''The Turkish Empire, Social and Political'' (1854); Theodor Mügge's ''Afraja, or Life and Love in Norway'' (1854); and

Ferdinand Gregorovius Ferdinand Gregorovius (; 19 January 1821 – 1 May 1891) was a German historian who specialized in the medieval history of Rome. Biography Gregorovius was the son of Neidenburg district justice council Ferdinand Timotheus Gregorovius and his wi ...

' ''Corsica, Picturesque, Historical, and Social'' (1856). He died on December 31, 1881, in Philadelphia and was interred in

Laurel Hill Cemetery Laurel Hill Cemetery, also called Laurel Hill East to distinguish it from the affiliated West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, Bala Cynwyd, is a historic rural cemetery in the East Falls, Philadelphia, East Falls neighborhood ...

Publications

Speech of Hon. Edward Joy Morris, of Philadelphia, in Defence of the American Navy, Delivered in the House of Representatives of the United States, December 28, 1843.
', Washington: Jno. T. Towers, 1844 *
Notes of a Tour Through Turkey, Greece, Egypt, and Arabia Petraea, to the Holy Land: Including A Visit to Athens, Sparta, Delphi, Cairo, Thebes, Mount Sinai, Petra, &c.
', Aberdeen: George Clark & Son, 1847 *
Corsica: Picturesque, Historical and Social: with a Sketch of the Early Life of Napoleon, and an Account of the Bonaparte, Paoli, Pozzo Di Borgo, and Other Principal Families. Suggested by a Tour in the Island in 1852. Translated from the German of Ferdinand Gregorovius by Edward Joy Morris.
' Philadelphia: Parry and McMillan, 1855 *
The Turkish Empire, Embracing the Religion, Manners, and Customs of the People. With a Memoir of the Reigning Sultan and Omer Pacha.
', Philadelphia: Lindsay and Blakiston, 1855 *
Speech of Hon. E. Joy Morris, of Pennsylvania, on the Election of Speaker and in Defense of the North; Delivered in the House of Representatives, December 8, 1859.
', Washington: Congressional Globe Office, 1859 *
Afraja; or Life and Love in Norway. From the German of Theodore Mügge.
', Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, 1860

References

Citations Sources

External links

Laurel Hill Cemetery

Library of Congress - Speech of Hon. E. Joy Morris, of Pennsylvania, on the election of speaker, and in defense of the North
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Edmund J. 1815 births 1881 deaths 19th-century American diplomats 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century American male writers Ambassadors of the United States to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Ambassadors of the United States to the Ottoman Empire Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia) Harvard University alumni Lawyers from Philadelphia Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Politicians from Philadelphia Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania University of Pennsylvania alumni Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania 19th-century people from Pennsylvania 19th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives