{{Short description|American businessman (1836–1895)}} {{Use American English|date=April 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox person | name = John Albert Morris | image = John Albert Morris.jpg | caption = | birth_date = July 29, 1836 | birth_place = [[Jersey City, New Jersey]], [U.S. | death_date = {{death-date and age|May 25, 1895|July 29, 1836}} | death_place = [[Kerrville, Texas]], U.S. | death_cause = | resting_place = [[Metairie Cemetery]], New Orleans | education = | occupation = Businessman, Lottery operator, Racetrack owner, Racehorse owner/breeder | known_for = | spouse = {{marriage|Cora Hennen<br>|1857}} | children = Francis Morris, [[Alfred Hennen Morris|Alfred Hennen]], [[Dave Hennen Morris|Dave Hennen]], Isabel Morris-Ledyard | parents = [[Francis Morris (businessman)|Francis Morris]] <br/> Mary Elizabeth Valentine | relations = | boards = [[Louisiana State Lottery Company]], [[Morris Park Racecourse]] | honors = [[Morris Park, Bronx]]<br>[[Personal Ensign Stakes|John A. Morris Handicap]] at [[Saratoga Race Course]] }}
'''John Albert Morris''' (July 29, 1836 – May 25, 1895) was an American businessman widely known as the "Lottery King" and a prominent figure in the sport of [[thoroughbred]] [[horse racing]]. A native of [[New Jersey]], he benefited from a large inheritance and added substantially to his fortune through a majority interest in the [[Louisiana State Lottery Company]].<ref name="JAMObit1895">{{cite news|title=DEATH OF JOHN A. MORRIS; The Founder and Chief Owner of the Louisiana Lottery. A FAMOUS OWNER OF RACE HORSES Story of His Manipulation of the Great Lottery Fraud Until Bribery Ceased to Keep It Alive.|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F03E5D6133DE433A25754C2A9639C94649ED7CF&legacy=true|accessdate=18 January 2018|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=27 May 1895}}</ref>
==Early life== Morris was born in [[Jersey City, New Jersey]], on July 29, 1836. He was the son of [[Francis Morris (businessman)|Francis Morris]] and Mary Elizabeth Valentine. As a boy, he traveled to England, under the charge of [[Richard Ten Broeck]], when he put [[Prior (horse)|Prior]] and other horses on the English turf.<ref name="JAMObit1895"/>
==Thoroughbred racing== His father was also involved in horse racing, and notably owned [[Ruthless (horse)|Ruthless]], the winner of the 1867 [[Belmont Stakes|Belmont]] and [[Travers Stakes]].<ref name="1894Lottery">{{cite news|title=JOHN A. MORRIS. LOTTERY KING; HISTORY OF THE GREAT LOUISIANA GAMBLING CONCERN. Florida Had Best Beware Before Giving Him a Foothold. Within Its Borders -- How He Obtained Control of the Greatest Incorporated Swindle that Ever Disgraced a State -- Millions of Profit on a Hundred-Thousand-Dollar Investment.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1894/02/11/archives/john-a-morris-lottery-king-history-of-the-great-louisiana-gambling.html&legacy=true|accessdate=18 January 2018|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=11 February 1894}}</ref> Morris inherited his father's {{convert|25000|acre|km2|adj=on}} ranch in [[Gillespie County]], Texas, {{convert|14|mi|km|spell=in}} from the town of [[Kerrville, Texas|Kerrville]], where he established a [[horse breeding]] operation.<ref>[http://legacy.www.nypl.org/branch/bronx/index2.cfm?Trg=1&d1=1387 DiBrino, Nicholas. ''The History of the Morris Park Racecourse and the Morris Family'' (1977) The Bronx County Historical Society] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727083750/http://legacy.www.nypl.org/branch/bronx/index2.cfm?Trg=1&d1=1387 |date=2011-07-27}} {{ISBN|0-941980-27-8}}</ref>
John Morris owned a large racing stable in the United States and another in Europe. With [[Leonard W. Jerome]] as his minority partner, in 1889 he opened [[Morris Park Racecourse]] in what was then [[Westchester County, New York]].<ref>{{cite web|author=[Displaying Abstract ] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1893/07/28/archives/morris-is-an-aristocrat-of-his-kind.html |title=''New York Times'' - July 28, 1893 |work=New York Times |date=2012-06-10 |accessdate=2012-12-19}}</ref> The racetrack hosted the [[Belmont Stakes]] from 1890 through 1904 as well as the [[Preakness Stakes]] in 1890.<ref name="1894Retirement">{{cite news|title=BIG RACING FIRM DISSOLVED.; John A. Morris Retires -- Younger Morrises to Retain a Small Stable.|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E06E4DE1231E033A25756C1A9679D94659ED7CF&legacy=true|accessdate=18 January 2018|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=15 November 1894}}</ref> A few days before he died in May 1895, he leased the racecourse, with an option to purchase, to the Westchester Racing Association.
===Properties=== At one point in time, Morris owned nine "superbly equipped establishments in America and Europe," including in [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]], [[Throggs Neck]], [[New York (state)|New York]], three properties in [[Boston, Massachusetts]], [[Bar Harbor, Maine]], [[Gillespie County]], [[Texas]], and in [[Hanover]], [[Germany]].<ref name="JAMObit1895"/> The Morris heirs later sold the property to real estate developers in 1905.
==Personal life== In 1857, he married Cora Hennen, the daughter of Alfred Hennen, a wealthy and prominent judge in [[New Orleans]]. The couple had four children: * Francis Morris (c. 1864–1880) * [[Alfred Hennen Morris]] (1864–1959), a vice-chairman and steward of [[The Jockey Club]] * [[Dave Hennen Morris]] (1872–1944), lawyer, diplomat, [[United States Ambassador to Belgium|Ambassador to Belgium]], and co-founder of the [[International Auxiliary Language Association]] * Frances Isabel Morris, who first married Thurlow Weed Barnes, brother of photographer [[Catharine Weed Barnes]] and grandson of publisher [[Thurlow Weed]]. After their divorce, she married [[Lewis Cass Ledyard]] (1851–1932), a grandson of [[Lewis Cass]], governor of the Michigan Territory and a [[United States senator]].<ref name="1906Wedding">{{cite news|title=LEWIS CASS LEDYARD MARRIES MRS. MORRIS; Their Engagement, Made Three Weeks Ago, Not Announced. FEW AT THE QUIET WEDDING The Bride Was the Wife of Thurlow Weed Barnes -- Dave Hennen Morris a Brother.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1906/06/07/archives/lewis-cass-ledyard-marries-mrs-morris-their-engagement-made-three.html|accessdate=22 September 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=7 June 1906}}</ref>
John Albert Morris suffered a [[stroke]] and died, at age 59, in 1895 while at his Texas Ranch.<ref name="JAMObit1895"/> His remains were sent by train to New Orleans where he was interred in the [[Metairie Cemetery]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/ajc_historic/access/536048942.html?dids=536048942:536048942&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&date=May+30%2C+1895&author=&pub=The+Atlanta+Constitution&desc=FUNERAL+OF+JOHN+A.+MORRIS.&pqatl=google |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102131114/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/ajc_historic/access/536048942.html?dids=536048942:536048942&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&date=May+30,+1895&author=&pub=The+Atlanta+Constitution&desc=FUNERAL+OF+JOHN+A.+MORRIS.&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 2, 2012 |title=Atlanta Constitution - May 30, 1895 |publisher=Pqasb.pqarchiver.com |date= |accessdate=2012-12-19}}</ref>
At the time of his death, his wealth was estimated at between $25,000,000 and $30,000,000.<ref name="JAMObit1895"/>
===Legacy=== The neighborhood of [[Morris Park, Bronx|Morris Park]] in the [[Bronx|Bronx, New York]], a large part of which covers the site of Morris Park Racecourse, is named in his memory.
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, John A.}} [[Category:1836 births]] [[Category:1895 deaths]] [[Category:Businesspeople from New Orleans]] [[Category:Businesspeople from New York City]] [[Category:American horse racing industry executives]] [[Category:American racehorse owners and breeders]] [[Category:Businesspeople from Jersey City, New Jersey]] [[Category:People from Throggs Neck, Bronx]] [[Category:19th-century American businesspeople]]