# William W. Morrow

William W. Morrow (July 15, 1843 – July 24, 1929) was a United States representative from California, a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California and a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the United States Circuit Courts for the Ninth Circuit.

## Education and career

Born on July 15, 1843, in Milton, Indiana, Morrow moved with his parents to Adams County, Illinois, in 1845 and attended the common schools and received private instruction. He moved to Santa Rosa, California, in 1859 and taught school and explored mining regions. He went east in 1862 during the American Civil War to join the Union Army and served with the National Rifles of the District of Columbia, an independent militia, serving in the Army of the Potomac. He was a special agent for the United States Department of the Treasury from 1865 to 1869, and was detailed to California, where he undertook confidential assignments for the United States Secretary of the Treasury. He read law and was admitted to the bar in 1869. He entered private practice in San Francisco, California, from 1869 to 1870. He was an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of California from 1870 to 1874. He assisted in organizing the San Francisco Bar Association in 1872 and served as its president in 1892 and 1893. He resumed private practice in San Francisco from 1874 to 1885. He was Chairman of the Republican state central committee of California from 1879 to 1882. He was an attorney for the California State Board of Harbor Commissioners from 1880 to 1883. He was also a special United States Attorney before the French and American Claims Commission from 1881 to 1883, and before the Alabama Claims Commission 1882 to 1885. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1884.

## Congressional service

Morrow was elected as a Republican from California's 4th congressional district to the United States House of Representatives of the 49th, 50th and 51st United States Congresses, serving from March 4, 1885, to March 3, 1891. As a member of Congress, Morrow was "at the forefront of the campaign" to make the federal laws restricting Chinese immigration "more severe."
He was not a candidate for renomination in 1890. He briefly returned to private practice in San Francisco in 1891.

### Electoral history

1884 United States House of Representatives elections :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | William W. Morrow | 15,083 | 58.8 |
| | Democratic | R. P. Hastings | 10,422 | 40.6 |
| | Populist | H. S. Fitch | 123 | 0.5 |
| | Prohibition | George Babcock | 15 | 0.1 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 25,643 | 100.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
| | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic |
1886 United States House of Representatives elections :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | William W. Morrow (Incumbent) | 11,413 | 48.6 |
| | Democratic | Frank McCoppin | 9,854 | 42.0 |
| | Independent | Charles Allen Sumner | 2,104 | 9.0 |
| | Prohibition | Robert Thompson | 84 | 0.4 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 23,455 | 100.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |
1888 United States House of Representatives elections :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | William W. Morrow (Incumbent) | 14,217 | 50.8 |
| | Democratic | Robert Ferral | 13,624 | 48.6 |
| | Socialist | Frank M. Pixley | 173 | 0.6 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 28,014 | 100.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

## Federal judicial service

Morrow received a recess appointment from President Benjamin Harrison on August 11, 1891, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California vacated by Judge Ogden Hoffman Jr. He was nominated to the same position by President Harrison on December 10, 1891. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 11, 1892, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on June 1, 1897, due to his elevation to the Ninth Circuit.
Morrow was nominated by President William McKinley on May 18, 1897, to a joint seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the United States Circuit Courts for the Ninth Circuit vacated by Judge Joseph McKenna. He was confirmed by the Senate on May 20, 1897, and received his commission the same day. On December 31, 1911, the Circuit Courts were abolished and he thereafter served only on the Court of Appeals. He assumed senior status on January 1, 1923. His service terminated on July 24, 1929, due to his death in San Francisco, San Francisco County, where he resided. He was the last appeals court judge who continued to serve in active service appointed by President McKinley. He was interred in Cypress Lawn Cemetery in Colma, California.

### Precedent setting case

While serving on the district court, Morrow ruled in the case of In re Wong Kim Ark that Chinese children born in the United States were automatically United States citizens.

## Other service

Morrow was one of the incorporators of the American Red Cross.

## Personal life

Morrow's mother, Margaret Tilley Morrow (1805–1864), was, according to her obituary, widowed twice. Her second husband, Morrow's father, was an Irishman who died only eight years after they were married.
Morrow married Margaret Hulbert (October 1, 1847 – August 26, 1926), a native of Iowa, on June 18, 1865, in Sonoma, California. Together they had four children:
* William Hulbert Morrow (1868–1930); married Katherine Dillon Hinkle (1870–1955) and had one daughter, Arabelle Morrow Mann (1893–1963).
* Maurice Morrow (1869–1870)
* Maud Morrow (1873–1926); married on October 13, 1893, to then Lieutenant (later Rear Admiral) Augustus F. Fechteler, who served during the Spanish-American War, Philippine-American War, and World War I in the United States Navy.
* Eleanor Morrow (1879–1958); married Henry Latrobe Roosevelt (1879–1936) on January 15, 1902. He served as a United States Assistant Secretary of the Navy from 1933 to 1936.