Robert Edward Morris

Robert Edward Morris — known throughout his life as R.E. — was born on June 29, 1907, on the family farm at the McAdams Community in Walker County, Texas. He was the eldest child of James Walter Morris and Ethel Arrine Thompson, and shared his birthday with his cousin Reta Orene Barron, daughter of Tommie Thompson Barron — both born the same day.¹

R.E. grew up first on the farm and then at 1425 Fifteenth Street in Huntsville, where the family moved in 1913 when his father opened a barber shop downtown. His brother Jack later recalled summer nights when the two boys persuaded their parents to let them sleep on the floor together.¹

His Father’s Watch

When Jim Morris died on March 12, 1925, at the age of thirty-nine, R.E. was seventeen years old. Among his father’s possessions was a gold-cased Elgin pocket watch with seventeen jewels. His brother Jack noted: “His eldest son was wearing the watch at the time of his death and it was apparently his intention that he should have it.”¹

Family

R.E. married Lillie Lee Weston. Their daughter Dorothy Marie Morris was born in 1936. Dorothy later married Don Graef, and they had two children: Randy Morris (born 1957) and Vondell Morris (born 1961).¹