COL CHARLES A. MORRIS Kansas' 10th Adjutant General March 6, 1873 - March 2, 1876
	Charles A. Morris was born July 2, 1839, in Clinton County, Pennsylvania. The history of the Morris family in America extends back into the remote annals of colonial settlement, when the ancestors of the American branch emigrated from England, and settled in Pennsylvania. During the Revolution they were assisting their colonial brethren to throw off the British Government. Of this family was Robert Morris, one of the ablest financiers of the young republic, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and Stephen Morris, the grandfather of Charles A. Morris. Stephen Morris was born in Pennsylvania in 1763, subsequently settled in the Catskill Mountains in New York, and afterward removed to Allegany County, where he died in 1860. He was a soldier of the War of 1812, and a farmer during his entire life. William A. Morris, the father of Charles, was born in the Catskill Mountains in 1805. At the age of twenty-one he entered the United States marine service and cruised among the South Sea Islands for three years, settled in Clinton County, Pennsylvania, in 1831, moved to Allegany County, New York, in 1843, served in the 85th New York Infantry from 1861 to 1863, removed to Fort Scott, Kansas, in 1868, was a farmer during his business life, but has now retired from active duty, and is spending the evening of his life in Fort Scott. The mother of Charles was Elizabeth Quay, a descendant of Lord Bond of Ireland. Her grandfather immigrated to Pennsylvania prior to the Revolution, and was in the colonial army during that struggle. Her father, John Quay, was a Pennsylvania farmer. She intermarried with William A. Morris in 1831. Charles was the fourth of ten children. His early instructions were received in the common schools of Allegany County, which he attended when not employed on the farm. In 1854 he attended the Richburg Academy, and afterward that at Friendship, both in Allegany County. In 1858 he returned to his native county and was for three years employed in teaching. In September, 1861 he enlisted as a private in Co. E, 5th New York Cavalry, which joined the army in the Shenandoah Valley. He took part in the battles of New Market, second Winchester, and on August 2, 1862, the engagement at Orange Court House, where he was wounded [shot in the left arm] and disabled for duty. Having been discharged, he returned to Clinton County, Pennsylvania, and taught school. In the spring of 1863 he was appointed deputy provost marshal of the 18th Pennsylvania district. In September, 1864, he resigned this position, recruited Co. G, 203rd Pennsylvania Infantry, and was , on its organization, commissioned captain. The regiment joined the Army of the James and was engaged in the battles of Deep Bottom and Chapin Farm. In January, 1865, the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, 10th Army Corps, was detached and joined the expedition against Fort Fisher, North Carolina, and in the battle there his company suffered heavy loss. He was also in the skirmishes which preceded the capture of Wilmington, North Carolina. He was discharged June 22, 1865, and in the fall of that year he located at Fort Scott, Kansas, where he was employed as a salesman in a dry-goods house. In March, 1866, he was appointed deputy treasurer of Bourbon County. In November, 1868, he was elected county treasurer, re-elected in 1870 and held that office until 1872. From the expiration of his term until January, 1873, he was engaged in merchandising, but being appointed adjutant general of Kansas and private secretary to Governor Osborn, he removed to Topeka. In 1874 he commanded the state troops during the Indian troubles on the Kansas border, resigning his position in 1876. In December, 1874, he was appointed register in the United States land office at Larned, Pawnee County. Politically, he is a Republican. He was a delegate to the National Convention at Philadelphia in 1872, and was a member of the committee on resolutions. He has also served as a delegate to different state, and Congressional conventions. He is liberal in his religious opinions. He was married May 17, 1864, to Miss Elizabeth F. Stewart, daughter of Robert and Mary (Gamble) Stewart, of Clinton County, Pennsylvania. They have had four children. He is Mason and a Knight Templar, having held the position of captain-general of Hugh de Payne Commandery, of Fort Scott. He is also an Odd Fellow and a member of the Encampment. Morris is recognized as a leading citizen in whatever community he resides. He has many traits of character which push him irresistibly to the front, and his personal attractionsare such that as to render him immensely popular. He has led a life of more that ordinary activity, and his well-earned reputation will descend as a rich legacy and heritage to his children. From the United States Biographical Dictionary