Rev. John Gottlieb Morris Papers

Collection

Identifier: ULS-MS-095

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection contains correspondence, scrapbooks and written histories of the Reverend Doctor John Gottlieb Morris. Especially prominent is correspondence related to the formation and development of Gettysburg Seminary and the organization of the Lutheran Diets in 1877 and 1878. Krauth lived and served congregations in Baltimore, traveled to Gettysburg to lecture, and held the Lutheran Diets in Philadelphia. Excluding a biographical sketch of Morris by Charles Glatfelter (1973), this collection in 1 box ranges covers Morris’s life from 1831 to 1884.

Dates

Existence: 1831-1884, 1973

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research

Biographical / Historical

Rev. John Gottlieb Morris was born in York, Pennsylvania on November 13, 1803 to John and Barbara Morris. His impressive academic career included study with Samuel Simon Schmucker (1823-1824), Princeton Seminary (1825-1826), Gettysburg Seminary (1826-1827), and the completion at Gettysburg College of a Doctor of Divinity degree in 1839 and a Doctor of Law degree in 1875.

He was licensed and ordained in the Maryland and Virginia Synod in 1826 and 1827, respectively. Morris served as pastor in Baltimore, Maryland (full-time and part-time) for nearly 50 years, beginning with over thirty years at First English Lutheran Church. He presided at the Lutheran Diet of 1877 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was president of numerous organizations including the Maryland Academy of Science and the Lutheran Historical Society. He founded and edited the Lutheran Observer (1831-1833).

He was a highly influential figure in the development of both Gettysburg Seminary and Gettysburg College as a member of their boards for decades. He served in positions as varied as the Librarian of the Peabody Institute (1860-1865) and lecturer on zoology at Gettysburg College (1834-1895). He also wrote countless books and articles, especially Catherine von Bora (1956) and Fifty Years in Lutheran Ministry (1878).

He married Eliza Hay on November 21, 1827; only four of their ten children survived to adulthood. The Reverend Doctor John Gottlieb Morris died on October 10, 1895.