Morris, Lewis Richard (1760-1825)

Vermont polititian; signer of the Declaration of Independence.

First secretary under Robert R. Livingston in the department of foreign affairs (1781-83).

Moved to Springfield, Windsor County, Vermont. Selectman (1788). Tax collector (1786-87). Town treasurer (1790-94). Clerk of the county court (1789-96). Clerk (1790, 1791) and member (1795-97; 1803-08) of the Vermont state House of Representatives.

Member of the Bennington Convention to ratify the federal Constitution (1791). Secretary of the constitutional convention at Windsor (1793). The first United States marshal in the Vermont district (1791-1801). Brigadier general (1793) and major general (1795-1817) of the state militia. Elected as a Federalist to the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Congress (1797- 1803).

Born at Scarsdale, New York. Nephew of Lewis Morris.