George Upham Morris (1830-1875) was born in Massachusetts. He entered the United States Navy in 1847 and graduated from the Naval Academy in 1852. He then served on the Princeton, the Dolphin, the Decatur, the Cyane and the Cumberland, until it was sunk in 1862. During the battle with the C.S.S. Virginia (the ironclad constructed on the hull of the U.S.S. Merrimack), Morris was acting commander of the Cumberland. Later Morris was given command of the gunboat U.S.S. Port Royal.
In love letters written on board Morris relates his boredom and anxieties as well as dramatic naval action, including capturing blockade runners, taking refugees aboard, guarding the approaches to the mouth of the Mississippi and being fired upon by enemy ship and shore batteries. Morris was later attached to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron under Rear Admiral J. A. Dahlgren, and was commanding officer of the U.S.S. Chenango at Charleston, South Carolina. He was made a Commander in the U.S. Navy on July 25, 1866. Morris's first wife had died on February 18, 1858, without issue. He married Mary Chase Steele in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 7, 1864. About ten years after the war he was serving as commanding officer at the Navy Yard in Pensacola, Florida, when the Yard caught fire in very cold weather. He led the fight to quench the fire, but succumbed afterwards to a respiratory infection which contributed to his death from consumption (phthisis pulmonalis) in 1875 at Jordan Alum Springs, VA. His widow, Mary, never remarried and died on June 25, 1930, leaving no heirs.
From the description of George U. Morris collection 1861-1930 (Berea College). WorldCat record id: 489041685
