{"id":16569,"date":"2023-12-28T15:45:48","date_gmt":"2023-12-28T20:45:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.statutesandstories.com\/blog_html\/?p=16569"},"modified":"2023-12-29T09:17:03","modified_gmt":"2023-12-29T14:17:03","slug":"morris-antill-hamilton-connection-little-orphan-fanny-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.statutesandstories.com\/blog_html\/morris-antill-hamilton-connection-little-orphan-fanny-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Morris – Antill – Hamilton Connection (“Little Orphan Fanny” – Part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Morris – Antill – Hamilton Connection (\u201cLittle Orphan Fanny\u201d – Part 2)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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For decades historians have recognized the close friendship between Gouverneur Morris and Alexander Hamilton. Yet, the full extent of their relationship was not fully understood. Biographers have rightly applauded the generosity of Eliza and Alexander Hamilton when they brought two-year-old Fanny Antill into the Hamilton household in 1787. Newly uncovered evidence reveals that Fanny Antill and Gouverneur Morris were both descendants of New Jersey\u2019s first colonial governor, Lewis Morris. In other words, Gouverneur Morris and Fanny\u2019s father, Edward Antill, were both first cousins – and grandchildren – of Governor Lewis Morris.<\/p>\n\n\n

This blog post: the Morris \u2013 Antill \u2013 Hamilton Connection (\u201cLittle Orphan Fanny\u201d – Part II)<\/strong><\/span> is based on a wide-ranging investigation of genealogical records, wills, Revolutionary War pension rolls, family bibles, Gouverneur Morris\u2019s papers, Alexander Hamilton\u2019s papers, and Morris family papers, including the papers of New Jersey Governor Lewis Morris. Examination of these records produced a heretofore unknown, but in hindsight, not surprising discovery: Fanny Antill\u2019s grandmother – Anne Morris Antill – was Gouverneur Morris\u2019s godmother.<\/em><\/p>\n

Famously, in 1787 the Hamiltons brought two-year-old Fanny Antill into the Hamilton household and raised her as their own daughter. Newly emerging evidence discussed in Part I<\/strong><\/span> <\/a>demonstrates that there is more to the story than previously understood.<\/p>\n

Part I<\/strong><\/span> <\/a>surveys the evidence that Alexander and Eliza were already well acquainted with the Antill family when Alexander brought Fanny home to be raised by the Hamiltons. Historians have long recognized that Alexander Hamilton fought together with Fanny\u2019s father, Edward Antill, at Yorktown. Newly uncovered church records, however, demonstrate that Eliza Hamilton became the godmother to Fanny and her sister Harriet in September of 1785, after the death of their mother, Charlotte Riverin Antill. As described in Part I<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, it is now clear that the Hamiltons had a pre-existing relationship with the Antill family which extended beyond the battlefield at Yorktown.<\/p>\n

This blog post, Part II<\/strong><\/span>, explores the relationship between the Antill and Morris families. Genealogical records confirm that Colonel Edward Antill\u2019s mother was Anne Morris, the aunt of founding father Gouverneur Morris. Otherwise stated, Colonel Antill and Gouverneur Morris were both grandsons of New Jersey Governor Lewis Morris. The revelation that Fanny Antill\u2019s grandmother was Gouverneur Morris\u2019s aunt suggests greater affinity between the Hamilton and Morris families than previously understood. Accordingly, when Alexander Hamilton and Gouverneur Morris were formulating the Constitution in 1787, Eliza Hamilton was raising little orphan Fanny, Gouverneur Morris\u2019 cousin once removed. Moreover, as recently discovered, it turns out that Fanny\u2019s grandmother \u2013 Anne Morris Antill – was Gouverneur Morris\u2019s godmother.<\/p>\n

For these reasons, Part II<\/strong><\/span> might also be described as the \u201cHamilton\/Morris\/Antill godparent connection.\u201d The Hamiltons were godparents to Fanny Antill and her sister. Fanny\u2019s grandmother, Anne Morris Antill, was the godmother of Gouverneur Morris, her nephew. While it\u2019s not a perfect circle between the families, it becomes clear that godparents played an important role, prior to the existence of today\u2019s governmental safety net programs.<\/p>\n

Copied below are Morris and Antill family genealogies which have been meticulously verified.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The genealogical record is clear. Fanny Antill, the Hamilton\u2019s goddaughter, was the granddaughter of Gouverneur Morris\u2019s aunt (and godmother), Anne Morris Antill.<\/p>\n

Admittedly, researchers need to be cautious with secondary sources and genealogical records from the 18th<\/sup> and 19th<\/sup> centuries.[1] <\/a>As described by Governor Lewis Morris\u2019s biographer, \u201c[i]ndustrious genealogists [are] sometimes too quick to credit their families with ancestors they did not actually have and virtues they did not really possess\u2026\u201d[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

For this reason, multiple, independent, and redundant primary sources are cited below, along with secondary sources. All these records confirm the conclusion that Fanny (Frances Antill), born on May 4, 1785, was the granddaughter of Anne Antill Morris, Gouverneur Morris\u2019s aunt and godmother.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

New Jersey Governor Lewis Morris \u2013 Fanny\u2019s Great Grandfather<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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In 1738 King George II appointed Lewis Morris as New Jersey\u2019s first royal governor, a position he held until his death in 1746.[4]<\/a> Prior to his appointment, both New York and New Jersey were administered under a single royal governor. Lewis Morris had been serving as the Chief Justice on the New York Supreme Court of Judicature. After publishing a dissenting opinion in the case of Cosby v. Van Dam<\/em>,[5]<\/a> Morris was summarily removed by New York Governor Cosby. Morris traveled to England with his son to appeal the dismissal by Governor Cosby, which was declared illegal. Cosby\u2019s actions gave rise to one of the most famous trials in American history, the seditious libel case of Crown v. Zenger<\/em>.[6]<\/a> As described by Gouverneur Morris biographer Richard Brookiser, \u201cto get him out of New York\u201d London offered Lewis Morris the governorship of New Jersey.[7]<\/a> The rest is history.<\/p>\n

Governor Lewis Morris is pictured above in a portrait from the Brooklyn Museum, painted circa 1726. In 1691 Lewis Moris married Isabella Graham, the daughter of New York Attorney General James Graham.[8]<\/a> The couple had twelve children, including Lewis Morris (Gouverneur Morris\u2019s father), Robert Hunter Morris (who became the Governor of Pennsylvania), and Anne Morris (who married Edward Antill), but not all the children survived to adulthood.<\/p>\n

Isabella Graham Morris\u2019s last will and testament is an important primary source which validates the secondary genealogical sources pictured above. Isabella\u2019s will was executed in 1746 after Governor Lewis Morris died. The will was proved in 1752, the year of Isabella\u2019s death. As pictured below, Isabella\u2019s will confirms that Isabella Graham Morris was the \u201cwidow of His late Excellency, Lewis Morris.\u201d Listed among Isabella\u2019s daughters is \u201cAnne Anthill,\u201d who is a named beneficiary.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Isabella\u2019s will directed that her body be buried in the family vault in Morrisania, near the remains of her deceased husband, Governor Lewis Morris. Property inherited from her father in New York was devised to her daughter Euphemia Morris. Her two sons, Lewis Morris[9]<\/a> and Robert Hunter Morris were named as executors.[10]<\/a> \u00a0<\/p>\n

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Thirty years later, during the Revolutionary War, Anne Morris Antill\u2019s will was probated in 1781. It is striking how many of the same family names reappear across the generations. For example, Isabella bequeathed a legacy to her daughter, Euphemia Morris. Anne Morris Antill\u2019s will likewise mentions Euphemia, her sister. Anne\u2019s will lists her \u201cson Edward Antill\u201d as the beneficiary of family lands and mentions her \u201clate beloved husband Edward Antill.\u201d There can be no doubt that these wills align with the secondary genealogical sources cited above.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The papers of Governor Lewis Morris further confirm that his daughter, Anne Morris, married Edward Antill. For example, in a letter to the Lords of Trade dated March 3, 1743, Governor Morris describes how he prevailed on Edward Antill, \u201cwho is my son-in-law\u201d to be a member of the board.[11]<\/a> As early as October of 1738, Governor Morris appointed Edward Antill to the Assembly, representing Middlesex County. In a letter dated January 3, 1739, Governor Morris refers to Edward Antill as \u201cmy son Antill,\u201d who Morris appointed to the Governor\u2019s council.[12]<\/a><\/p>\n

The most surprising primary source of all is Judge Lewis Morris\u2019s family bible. Not only do the handwritten inscriptions confirm secondary genealogical sources, the inscriptions also contain the unexpected discovery that Anne Morris Antill was Gouverneur Morris\u2019s godmother.[13]<\/a><\/p>\n

Written in the first person by Judge Lewis Morris, the inscriptions record the birthdates and times of all of the Morris children along with other family information. According to Judge Morris, on January 30, 1752, my wife was delivered of a son, who was christened on May 4, 1752 and named Gouverneur after my wife\u2019s father, Nicholas Gouverneur. Various Gouverneur Morris biographers have cited this fact to explain the origin of Gouverneur Morris\u2019s first name. Nevertheless, the next line in the inscription has been entirely overlooked. The inscription identifies Gouverneur Morris\u2019s godparents:<\/p>\n

\u201c[M]y wife\u2019s father, Nicholas Gouverneur and my son Staats were his godfathers and my sister Antill his godmother.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Thus, Judge Lewis Morris\u2019s sister, Anne Morris Antill, was in fact Fanny Antill\u2019s grandmother and Gouverneur Morris’s godmother. This obscure fact only becomes relevant when the pieces of evidence are compiled to demonstrate that Anne Morris Antill\u2019s granddaughter was raised by the Hamilton family.<\/p>\n

Pictured below is a handwritten \u201cacc[ount] of the Morris family.\u201d The document was located at the Library of Congress in the Papers of Lewis Morris. The notations, while difficult to read, perfectly align with the family history described above. According to the account, \u201cAnne marry\u2019d to Edward Antill\u2026\u201d Case closed.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Two additional names are mentioned on the back, Elizabeth and Robert Hunter. The title of the document, “acc’ of the Morris Family” is also visible at the top of the back side of the page.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The following abbreviated family tree was created using the bottom half of Lewis Morris’ \u201cacc[ount] of the Morris family.” Assuming that the account was written by Judge Morris, he mentions that his father, Governor Lewis Morris, married Isabella, the oldest daughter of James Graham, by whom he had fifteen children of whom the following lived into adulthood:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Another useful primary source is the biography of Arthur Tappan, Fanny\u2019s husband. Written years later by Arthur Tappan\u2019s brother, Lewis Tappan, the biography provides further confirmation that Frances Antill was the daughter of Colonel Edward Antill. The biography also confirms that Fanny’s grandfather married Anne Antill Morris, the daughter of Governor Lewis Morris of New Jersey.[14]<\/a> The Tappan biography also cites to Fanny\u2019s obituary published in 1863 which likewise summarizes that Frances Antill Tappan\u2019s grandfather, Edward Antill, married the daughter of Governor Morris of New Jersey. The obituary further describes that Edward Antill\u2019s son, Colonel Edward Antill, \u201cbecame the intimate associate of some of the most eminent of Washington\u2019s subordinates\u201d during the Revolutionary War.<\/p>\n

Rounding out the list of sources which confirm the fact that Fanny Antill was the daughter of Colonel Edward Antill are publications and applications to the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), and records of the Society of the Cincinnati.[15]<\/a> These and other sources indicate that Fanny married Arthur Tappan. Fanny\u2019s older sister, Harriet, married Colonel Garrit G. Lansing, the brother of Constitutional Convention delegate John Lansing, Jr.[16]<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cFriends to the End\u201d – Alexander Hamilton and Gouverneur Morris<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Prior research described on StatutesandStories.com has identified previously unknown connections between Alexander Hamilton and Gouverneur Morris. Among other things, Hamilton was receiving mail \u201cat Gouverneur Morris\u201d in Philadelphia in 1787. Hamilton and Gouverneur Morris shared substantially similar objectives going into the Constitutional Convention and worked closely together on the Committee on Style in September of 1787. As discussed above, we now know that Gouverneur Morris and Alexander Hamilton shared deep family connections through Fanny\u2019s introduction into the Hamilton household in 1787, after the Hamiltons became godparents to Fanny and her sister in 1785.<\/p>\n

Richard Brookhiser, a biographer of both Alexander Hamilton and Gouverneur Morris, indicates that \u201cprofessionally and politically they were soul-mates.\u201d[17]<\/a> Hamilton biographer Forrest McDonald notes that after meeting at Valley Forge Hamilton and Morris would become \u201cintimate social and political\u201d friends for the rest of Hamilton\u2019s life.[18]<\/a> Others, including Eliza Hamilton, have opined that Morris was \u201cHamilton\u2019s best friend.\u201d[19]<\/a> Peter Charles Hoffer, describes Gouverneur Morris as \u201cHamilton\u2019s friend to the end.\u201d[20]<\/a><\/p>\n

When they first met in 1777, Alexander Hamilton was an aide-de-camp for General Washington while Gouverneur Morris served on the New York Committee of Correspondence. After helping draft New York\u2019s state constitution Morris sent a copy to Hamilton to review. Hamilton\u2019s comments would prove to be very similar to his view on the U.S. Constitution drafted by Morris and Hamilton a decade later in 1787.[21]<\/a><\/p>\n

In a letter to their mutual friend, Rufus King, Hamilton said of Morris that \u201cMen like him do not super-abound.\u201d[22]<\/a> In turn, Morris praised Hamilton\u2019s \u201cbrilliant\u201d service during the War, \u201cheroic spirit,\u201d \u201csplendid talents,\u201d and \u201cincorruptible integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well-known examples of the deep friendship and longstanding working relationship between Hamilton and Morris include the following:<\/p>\n