Morrison (William A.)

William Arthur Morrison (1909-1980) was born in Cameron, Texas, where his father was an attorney and his mother a teacher. After a year at Texas A&M, he transferred to the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned a law degree in 1933. That same year he was admitted to the Texas bar, returned to Cameron, and was elected county attorney for Milam County in 1933. In 1934, Gov. Miriam "Ma" Ferguson appointed him district attorney of the Twentieth Judicial District of Texas and 1938 he was elected to the position.

Morrison resigned his position as district attorney in March 1942 to serve in the U.S. Army during World War II. While in the European theatre, he worked as a special agent in counter-intelligence and was at Normandy on D-Day and in Paris on the day of liberation. Following the war Morrison testified in the trials of seventeen Nazi collaborators that each resulted in the death penalty.

Following his discharge from the Army in 1945, Morrison practiced law in New York City for a year before returning to Texas. In 1948 he was again elected judge of the Twentieth Judicial District of Texas, a position he held until 1950. That year he became a judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, until his retirement in 1976. At age 41, he became the court's youngest presiding judge in 1955, serving to 1961. During his 26 years on the criminal appellate court, it is estimated that he heard more than 26,000 cases.

Morrison served as president of the Texas District and in County Attorneys Association and in leadership positions of the state bar. Off the bench, he enjoyed woodcutting, and was involved in the American Legion Boys' State. In 1938 he was married to Elizabeth Tinker who was on vacation from Little Rock, Arkansas. After a four-hour date, he asked her to marry him - and she said yes; his new bride became his secretary. After his divorce from his first wife, Morrison married Bess Clifton Sheppard, niece of U. S. Senator Morris Sheppard. Morrison died in Austin on November 11, 1980, at the age of seventy-one, and was buried in the Texas State Cemetery.

Sources:

Jamil Center for Legal Research. “Justices of Texas, 1836-1986: William Arthur Morrison (1909-1980).” Tarlton Law Library, The University of Texas at Austin. http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/justices/ctca/morrison.html (accessed June 7, 2010).

Texas State Cemetery. “William Morrison.” The State of Texas. http://www.cemetery.state.tx.us/pub/user_form.asp?pers_id=2460 (accessed June 7, 2010).

From the guide to the Morrison (William A. ) Papers 82-77, 82-310, 83-124, 83-243, 85-151., 1923-1924; 1948-1981, (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin)