John Albert Morris (July 29, 1836 – May 25, 1895) was an American businessman widely known as the "Lottery King" and a prominent figure in the sport of

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

. A native of

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, he benefited from a large inheritance and added substantially to his fortune through a majority interest in the Louisiana State Lottery Company.

Early life

Morris was born in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

, on July 29, 1836. He was the son of Francis Morris and Mary Elizabeth Valentine. As a boy, he traveled to England, under the charge of Richard Ten Broeck, when he put

Prior The term prior may refer to: * Prior (ecclesiastical), the head of a priory (monastery) * Prior convictions, the life history and previous convictions of a suspect or defendant in a criminal case * Prior probability, in Bayesian statistics * Prio ...

and other horses on the English turf.

Thoroughbred racing

His father was also involved in horse racing, and notably owned Ruthless, the winner of the 1867 Belmont and

Travers Stakes The Travers Stakes is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is nicknamed the "Midsummer Derby" and is the third-ranked race for American three-year-olds accor ...

. Morris inherited his father's ranch in Gillespie County, Texas, from the town of Kerrville, where he established a

horse breeding Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given Horse breed, breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired chara ...

operation. John Morris owned a large racing stable in the United States and another in Europe. With Leonard W. Jerome as his minority partner, in 1889 he opened

Morris Park Racecourse Morris Park Racecourse was an American thoroughbred horse racing facility from 1889 to 1904. It was located in a part of Westchester County, New York that was annexed into the Bronx in 1895 and later developed as the neighborhood of Morris Park. ...

in what was then

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The c ...

. The racetrack hosted the

Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over the worldwide classic distance of . Colt (horseracing), Colt ...

from 1890 through 1904 as well as the

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held annually on Armed Forces Day, the third Saturday in May at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland (except in 2026 when it will move to Laurel Park (race track), Laurel Park dur ...

in 1890. A few days before he died in May 1895, he leased the racecourse, with an option to purchase, to the Westchester Racing Association.

Properties

At one point in time, Morris owned nine "superbly equipped establishments in America and Europe," including in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

Throggs Neck Throggs Neck (also known as Throgs Neck) is a neighborhood and peninsula in the south-eastern portion of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. It is bounded by the East River and Long Island Sound to the south and east, Westchester Creek o ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, three properties in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Bar Harbor, Maine Bar Harbor () is a resort town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population is 5,089. The town is home to the College of the Atlantic, Jackson Laboratory, and MDI Biological Laborat ...

, Gillespie County,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, and in

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The Morris heirs later sold the property to real estate developers in 1905.

Personal life

In 1857, he married Cora Hennen, the daughter of Alfred Hennen, a wealthy and prominent judge in

. The couple had four children: * Francis Morris (c. 1864–1880) * Alfred Hennen Morris (1864–1959), a vice-chairman and steward of

The Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs and both the Rowley Mile and July Course in Newmarket, among ...

Dave Hennen Morris Dave Hennen Morris (April 24, 1872 – May 4, 1944) was an American lawyer, diplomat, and Thoroughbred racehorse owner who co-founded the International Auxiliary Language Association (IALA). Early life Morris was born in New Orleans, Louisian ...

(1872–1944), lawyer, diplomat, Ambassador to Belgium, and co-founder of the

International Auxiliary Language Association The International Auxiliary Language Association, Inc. (IALA) was an American organisation founded in 1924 to "promote widespread study, discussion and publicity of all questions involved in the establishment of an auxiliary language, together wi ...

* Frances Isabel Morris, who first married Thurlow Weed Barnes, brother of photographer Catharine Weed Barnes and grandson of publisher

Thurlow Weed Edward Thurlow Weed (November 15, 1797 – November 22, 1882) was an American printer, newspaper publisher, and Whig Party (United States), Whig and Republican Party (United States), Republican politician. He was the principal political advisor t ...

. After their divorce, she married

Lewis Cass Ledyard Lewis Cass Ledyard (April 4, 1851 – January 27, 1932) was a New York City lawyer. He was a partner at the firm Carter Ledyard & Milburn, personal counsel to J.P. Morgan, and a president of the New York City Bar Association. Early life Lewis Ca ...

(1851–1932), a grandson of

Lewis Cass Lewis Cass (October 9, 1782June 17, 1866) was a United States Army officer and politician. He represented Michigan in the United States Senate and served in the Cabinets of two U.S. Presidents, Andrew Jackson and James Buchanan. He was also the 1 ...

, governor of the Michigan Territory and a

United States senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

. John Albert Morris suffered a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

and died, at age 59, in 1895 while at his Texas Ranch. His remains were sent by train to New Orleans where he was interred in the

Metairie Cemetery Metairie Cemetery is a historic cemetery in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, founded in 1872. The name has caused some people to mistakenly presume it is located in Metairie, Louisiana, but it is located within the New Orleans city limits ...

. At the time of his death, his wealth was estimated at between $25,000,000 and $30,000,000.

Legacy

The neighborhood of Morris Park in the

Bronx, New York The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, a large part of which covers the site of Morris Park Racecourse, is named in his memory.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, John A. 1836 births 1895 deaths Businesspeople from New Orleans Businesspeople from New York City American horse racing industry executives American racehorse owners and breeders Businesspeople from Jersey City, New Jersey People from Throggs Neck, Bronx 19th-century American businesspeople