Morris Ranch Cemetery

 Morris Ranch was an energetic community with a vibrant social life. Dances were held upstairs at the general store. The school hosted musicals. Mrs. Albert Morris organized a drama club and a Shakespeare club. There was a parade every July 4. The English miller served as Uncle Sam on the Liberty Float.  

The Morris Ranch Schoolhouse is a fine example of the quality of stonework produced by the German craftsmen in the Fredericksburg area in the 19th century. Stylistically, however, the structure clearly reflects the mainstream of American architecture in the 1880s and 1890s, in its use of Romanesque Revival detailing. The distinguished appearance of this building, with its heavy stone walls, stands in distinct contrast to the characteristic frame schoolhouses of late 19th-century Texas. The pretensions of the structure indicate a considerable expenditure of funds on the part of the Morris family and a strong interest in the education of the children of the ranch staff.

Alfred Giles, the architect for the schoolhouse, was very prominent in Central Texas, especially in San Antonio. Giles, an Englishman by birth, immigrated to the United States and settled in San Antonio in 1873. Giles' practice flourished, and he was responsible for the design of such notable San Antonio residences as those for Edward Steves and Carl Groos. Giles also received several commissions for the design of county courthouses, including the extant courthouses for Wilson, Kendall and Webb counties. Giles' finest surviving courthouse, that for Gillespie County, is located in Fredericksburg, approximately 13 miles northeast of the Morris Ranch.

What's left of Morris Ranch is located between Fredericksburg and Kerrville. Off of highway 16 is the remains of one of the most elaborate thoroughbred breeding and training facilities ever built.

The ranch began as a 23,040 acre land grant certificate issued to William Bryan in 1836 by Sam Houston, president of the Republic pf Texas. Bryan, a diplomat for the Texas government, sold or traded the certificate and it changed hands several times before the Leavitt Brothers of New York acquired it.

Not long after that the Leavitt's filed for bankruptcy, and on February 18, 1856 another New York businessman, Francis Morris, bought the property for 25 cents an acre. Morris sold 6,400 acres, but the remaining 16,640 acres in Gillespie and Kerr Counties remained intact until 1921.

Francis Morris had businesses to run in New York so he granted his nephew, Charles Morris, the power of attorney to manage "the Leavitt lands on the Pedernales River." And so began an interesting administrative arrangement. One branch of the family owned the ranch, and another branch managed it.

When Francis Morris died in 1886, his son John turned Morris Ranch from a traditional ranching operation into a facility for breeding and training thoroughbreds. John spent half a million dollars to transform the ranch into a state-of-the-art facility. 

Morris Ranch History - Charles Morris Line by Becca Morris Robertson 2024

Many memories of Morris Ranch begin flooding my mind as I sift through the memorabilia handed down to me from my father George Curtis Morris. George was the son of Otho Anderson Morris. Otho was the son of Charles Morris. 

I remember as a little girl visiting the big white ranch house, known to me at the time as “Ella’s house”. (Ella was the wife of my grandfather Otho’s first cousin Reginald.)   I must have felt very welcomed and at home because Ella told my mother that she enjoyed that I was flitting around the house like a butterfly!  I was amused by that because Ella had lost her eyesight and could not see me. I remember Ella as very sweet and joyful.  I remember learning about the interesting buildings which still existed.  I was especially intrigued by the old school house where my great-grandmother Jane Beall Morris taught and my grandfather Otho was a student.  

The following is a historical recounting by my dad in the late 1980s. 

“William Powell Morris was born in Milton, Bedfordshire England.  He came to America in 1823 with his wife and children and settled in New York before moving to Michigan.  His brother Francis, a businessman, stayed in New York. William’s children helped out on the farm in Burr Oak Michigan, raising corn, wheat, oats and rye as well as pigs and dairy cattle.  Later, Charles, one of William’s children, left the farm for New Mexico, where he became the foreman of a railroad construction crew.  It was while there that Charles received a letter from his Uncle Francis in New York asking him to go to Texas to scope out a big parcel of land and lay plans for what later became known as one of the best racehorse training facilities in the country.  On file in the Gillespie County Courthouse is a copy of the Power of Attorney granting Charles the authority to survey the large block of land which belonged to his Uncle Francis and to deal with poachers and trespassers, and to rent out portions until the race horse breeding enterprise became feasible. He knew from his uncle’s plans that it was to be a huge undertaking, so he asked his brothers and sisters if they would help.  At various times after that they came:  Frederick, Albert, George, Gilbert, Frank, Clayton, Ellen and Libby, as well as their father William, and their mother Marcia. William was in his 80s at this time.

“In time, Morris Ranch became such a thriving place that award winning thoroughbreds were shipped by rail from the terminal in Kerrville to New York and even on to England by ship.  Crops such as wheat, oats and cotton were grown on fertile farm lands on the ranch, and a large successful flour mill flourished for many years, producing three grades of fine flour known throughout the state.  One grade of flour was named “Cayuga” for one of the prize winning racehorses.  Another was named “Bell Extra” after Charles’ wife Jane Beall Anderson Morris.  The third grade of flour was named “Buster” for Charles’ and Jane’s oldest son Otho Anderson Morris.  Otho grew up helping his dad on the ranch and attending school there.

“In 1910 after Charles became quite disabled with rheumatoid arthritis, he retired from the ranch, and was succeeded by his brother Clayton.  Charles and his family left for Sutherland Springs, TX near San Antonio in search of healing waters and possibly a change of climate conducive to bringing back his health. Anti-racing laws passed a few years earlier in New York put a damper on the raising and training of horses on the ranch on a large scale.  From Sutherland Springs he was invited to go to Kerrville to stay with his brother George who managed the St. Charles Hotel there.

Otho married Ethel Hamilton in 1919.  Otho had some of his father’s entrepreneurial ways, though not on a large scale. He was very industrious, building a rock house in Kerrville mostly by himself, which still stands today.  

Otho and Ethel raised six children in that rock house - Everett, George, Stanton, Robert, Jeanne Beall, and Charles. Otho was always proud of his Morris Ranch heritage and kept in touch with his relatives near and far.  Otho helped with upkeep of the cemetery. He drew the initial plot map for it, and was the caretaker of the map for many years.  He also built the curb around the cemetery.

Like his father before him, when Otho became disabled, George took Otho to live with him and his wife Nancy Wyatt Morris in El Paso, TX.  Otho died in 1979.  George and Nancy moved to Kerrville after their retirement and lived in the rock house that Otho had built for about 35 years.  George was active in Hill Crest Cemetery meetings and was a director on the board for several years.  George was also very proud of the accomplishments of his ancestors and loved to tell the Morris Ranch stories to his children:  Wyatt Anderson Morris, Alan Morris, and Rebecca Morris Robertson as well as his grandchildren.

George died in 2015 at the age of 93.  His family had a beautiful celebration of his life at Hill Crest cemetery at Morris Ranch. His service in the Army Air Corp in WWII was commemorated by a military gun salute and the playing of Taps.  There was even a rainbow in the sky when the service was all done!  It was a very meaningful way for my dad to be put to rest, at Morris Ranch - a beautiful historic place that meant so much to him.