Vermont: Lewis R. Morris

While a majority of the first U.S. marshals had been appointed by President Washington in the 

fall of 1789, Lewis R. Morris did not become a marshal until March 4, 1791. Prior to this, Morris

grew up in New York where he worked as an aide for both General Phillip Schuyler and General 

George Clinton during the American Revolution. When the war ended in 1783, Morris then 

worked as a secretary for Robert Livingston, the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs 

under the Articles of Confederation government, during which the attendees negotiated the 

terms of the upcoming census.

23

 

By 1786, Morris had left New York and settled in the Vermont territory. In the 

five years, between moving to Vermont and his appointment as a U.S. marshal, 

Morris became a successful businessman and local politician. His influential 

friends from the Revolutionary War, his success in local politics, and his role in 

helping Vermont become the fourteenth state, all helped Morris secure his 

U.S. marshal’s appointment from President Washington.24 25

Since Vermont did not become a state until March 4, 1791, Congress passed 

special legislation on March 2, 1791 for its enumeration.26 The census of 

Vermont started on April 4, 1791 and ran through September 4, 1791.The 

official 1790 census schedule does not clearly show whether Morris utilized deputies to assist in 

the enumeration process nor is there indication of the exact completion date.

27 However, we 

do know that Secretary Jefferson received Morris’ returns by October 24, 1791, so it is probable

that he either completed the enumeration by the deadline set by Congress or shortly 

thereafter.28 According to the 1790 Census Report, Vermont had a total population of 85,539 

people, including 16 slaves.29 

 

23 “History - The First Generation of United States Marshals/The First Marshal of Vermont: Lewis R. Morris,” U.S. 

marshals Service, last estimated release October 11, 2019, 

https://www.usmarshals.gov/history/firstmarshals/morris.htm. (Accessed October 11, 2019).

24

 Ibid.

25 “To George Washington from Lewis R. Morris, 22 February 1791,” Founders Online, National Archives, 

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-07-02-0238. (Accessed October 11, 2019).

26 United States, Cong., House of Reps, “An Act giving effect to the laws of the United States within the state of 

Vermont,” March 2, 1791, 1st Cong. 3rd sess., in The Public Status at Large of the United States of America..., ed. 

Richard Peters (Boston, MA: Charles C. Little & James Brown, 1845), pg. 197. PDF. Retrieved from 

https://www.loc.gov/law/help/statutes-at-large/1st-congress/c1.pdf. (Accessed October 11, 2019). 

27 “Summary of population, by counties and towns [Vermont]: 1790,”Heads of Families/1790/A Century of 

Population Growth Maine, New Hampshire, & Vermont, 1:9-10.

28 ”Schedule...,”Return of the whole number of persons within the several districts of the United States: according to 

"An act providing for the enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States," passed March the first, one 

thousand seven hundred and ninety-one (Philadelphia: 1793), pg. 3. PDF. Retrieved from 

https://www.census.gov/content/census/en/library/publications/1793/dec/number-of-persons.html. (Accessed 

November 7, 2019). 

29 ”Vermont,” Return of the whole number of persons within the several districts of the United States: according to 

"An act providing for the enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States," passed March the first, one 

thousand seven hundred and ninety-one, pg. 11. PDF. Retrieved from 

Engraved Portrait of Lewis R. 

Morris, c. 1798.

Courtesy of the Library of 

Congress
Theses slaves are a matter of some dispute since, in 1777, Vermont had abolished slavery for 

women over 18 and men over 21. In 1870, the Chief Clerk of the Census Office, Colonel George 

D. Harrington, who was from Vermont, changed the reported status to 16 “Free colored”

because “an examination of the original manuscript returns shows that there were never any 

slaves in Vermont.”30 In addition, in his introduction the 1908 book Heads of Families/1790/A 

Century of Population Growth Maine, New Hampshire, & Vermont, Simon N.D. North, Director of 

Census Bureau from 1903-1909, also suggested that the enumerator/s, local clerks, or some 

other government official accidently classified some of Vermont’s 

“Freed Colored” people as enslaved.31 Additionally, there was a 

mathematical error in some of the initial returns that caused 

Vermont to have a total population of 85,539 people, as opposed 

to the actual population of 85,425 people.32 33 Regardless of the 

mistakes associated with Vermont’s 1790 census returns, Morris 

continued to serve his state and nation as a U.S. marshal for four 

years. 

After leaving the U.S. Marshal Service, Morris served his state and 

nation in numerous different ways including, as a three-term 

congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives (May 22, 1797-March 3, 1803) and as the 

speaker of Vermont’s House of Representatives (1803-1808).34 Ultimately, Lewis R. Morris 

permanently retired from a life of public service in 1817 and spent the rest of his life at his 

home in Springfield, VT, where he died on December 29, 1825.

 

 

https://www.census.gov/content/census/en/library/publications/1793/dec/number-of-persons.html. (Accessed 

November 7, 2019).

30 Table II Population by Counties 1790-1870 Ninth Census–Volume I: The Statistics of the Population of the United 

States (Washington, DC: 1872), p. 68.

31

“Population of the United States as returned at the First Census, by states: 1790,” Heads of Families/1790/A 

Century of Population Growth Maine, New Hampshire, & Vermont, 1:8.

32 Ibid. pg. 3. There is not a clear date for when the error was discovered, but Director North noted the 

mathematical error in a footnote in his introduction section to Heads of Families/1790/A Century of Population 

Growth Maine, New Hampshire, & Vermont in 1908. 

33 “Population of the United States as returned at the First Census, by states: 1790,” Heads of Families/1790/A 

Century of Population Growth Maine, New Hampshire, & Vermont, 1:8.

34 “Morris, Lewis Richard,” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, last estimated release October 11, 

2019, http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M000983. (Accessed October 11, 2019).

While the current Statehouse of 

Vermont (pictured above) was built 

in the mid-1800s, Lewis R. Morris 

may have overseen the construction 

and/or completion of Vermont’s first 

statehouse in 1808.

Courtesy of 

https://statehouse.vermont.gov/home