1901 personal census, Gosfield North, Essex Co., ON, F1-4:
Morris Thomas, M, Married, 6 Feb 1836, 64, born England, immigrated 1840, origin: English, Can, Meth, Farmer;
Jullia, F, wife, Married, 10 Aug 1842, 58, born Ont, origin: English, Can, Meth;
Wesley H., M, son, Single, 17 Aug 1880, 20, born Ont, origin: English, Can, Meth, Farmer's Son.
Commemorative Biographical Record of the County of Essex, J. H. Beers & Co., Toronto, 1905, p. 468-469:
Thomas Morris, the owner of a large stock farm in Gosfield North, Lot 296, in the County of Essex, is one of the many good citizens whom the mother country has sent to Canada, and who by their study integrity and well-directed industry have not only acquired a competence for themselves, but have contributed so much to the development of Canadian resources. Mr. Morris was born in Lincolnshire, England, Feb. 6, 1837.
John Morris, father of Thomas, was a native of Yorkshire, born in 1806, and his wife, Mary (Brimfield) Morris, was ten years younger. They left England in 1840, and after nine weeks on a sailing vessel landed at New York. They made their way to Canada at once, purchased wild land from Col. Talbot, and settled down to farming life in that new country in Tilbury West. John Morris died in 1863, but his wife lived on in the old home until she, too, passed away in 1883. They were the parents of thirteen children, three of whom died in infancy. All but one were born before the family left England.
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Thomas Morris grew up on his father's farm, and received his early education in Tilbury West. While still quite young he began sailing on the lakes, and during his six years of sea-faring life earned enough to buy land and start as a farmer. In 1860 he purchased the property which has ever since been his home, and which he himself has redeemed from the wilderness and developed into a fine farm. The house in which the family now lives was erected in 1885, and is a handsome brick residence with all modern improvements. Mr. Morris' property is principally used as a stock farm, and for the past twenty-five years he has been one of the largest buyers and shippers of cattle in the county, an occupation which has netted him handsome returns.
In 1862 Mr. Morris was joined in the bonds of matrimony with Miss Julia Williams, born in Gosfield, Aug. 10, 1842, daughter of Thomas and Isabella (Wigle) Williams, who were among the earliest pioneers in the county, and had a farm on the Talbot Road. Mr. and Mrs. Morris are the parents of the following five children: (1) Gordon F., born in 1864, who married Miss Lizzie Hopgood, of Gosfield, resides on a part of his father's homestead, and has six children. (2) Louella, born in 1867, married Robert Shavalier, a farmer in Muskegon County, Michigan, and has four children, Sadie, Bertha, Jessie and Gordon. (3) Sadie, born in 1870, is the wife of John Millen, son of William Millen, and clerk of the county court, residing in Sandwich,and is the mother of Arthur, Edith, James and Carrie. (4) Allan, born in 1874, who married Miss Maggie Archibald, and lives on his farm in Gosfield North, with his wife and three children, Clayton, Annie and Myrtle. (5) Wesley H., born in 1898, is unmarried and manager of his father's farm.
The Morris family as a whole are members of the Methodist Church, and earnest supporters of its work. In politics Thomas Morris has always been very active, and for years was a stanch supporter of the old Liberal party. For a number of years he served as a member of the council, and was deputy reeve of the township of Gosfield. In the sixties he saw military service, and was one of the noted North Ridge Rifles. Thomas Morris is one of the leading citizens of Gosfield, wealthy, public-spirited, always lending his influence in the right direction, of the most upright conduct in every phase of life, and of so kindly a disposition that he is regarded with sincere affection by all who know him.
Wesley H.
Morris
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