Julius L. Morris (1830–1909) and Morritz Morris (about 1836–1903) were two German-born brothers who settled in Los Angeles, California, in 1853 and became prominent retail merchants in the newly incorporated American city as well as community leaders. Julius was a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in 1861–63 and city treasurer in 1863–64;''Sixty Years in Southern California, 1853–1913''
Harris Newmark Morritz was a member of the

Los Angeles Common Council The Los Angeles Common Council was the predecessor of the Los Angeles, California, City Council. It was formed in 1850 under state law, when the city had only 1,610 residents, and it existed until 1889, when the city had about 50,400 residents an ...

, the governing body of the city, in 1866 for a partial term and in 1868 and 1869 for two one-year terms. Their original family name was Oberzinsky; they adopted the name Morris upon their arrival in the United States. After Morritz first arrived in 1843, he spent "a few years" in Mississippi, working as a peddler in Yazoo County and becoming a naturalized citizen in nearby Claiborne County, before returning to Germany for a while. He then settled in Los Angeles in the early 1850s. They had a brother, Herman Morris, a newspaper reporter. One report said that Morritz had once been "secretary of the

Vigilance Committee A vigilance committee is a group of private citizens who take it upon themselves to administer law and order or exercise power in places where they consider the governmental structures or actions inadequate. Prominent historical examples of vigi ...

of San Francisco." Morritz died on July 10, 1903, in his home at 903 South Broadway. He had earlier lived "for many years" in an adobe house which he built in 1859 in the midst of a

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

at Carr and Main streets."Morritz Morris Who Resided in Los Angeles for Forty Years Receives His Last Summons," ''Los Angeles Times,'' July 11, 1903, page A-3
/ref> He was predeceased in 1899 by another son, Sigmund, who was a journalist. Julius died on August 29, 1909, in Germany.Newmark misidentified Julius as "Jacob," so this information might be wrong. Both were Masons and among the founders of Temple B'nai B'rith (later the Wilshire Boulevard Temple).

References

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External links

Information on the Morris Adobe.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moritz, Julius L. and Morris Businesspeople from Los Angeles Los Angeles Common Council (1850–1889) members Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Emigrants from the German Confederation to the United States Business duos Brother duos 19th-century American businesspeople