William James Morris

William James Morris — known as Billy — was born on February 10, 1856, in Milam County (at Calvert), Texas, son of Thomas J. Morris and Sarah Jane Floyd. His father had been a school teacher at Rocky Hill School; his mother was born in Stanly County, North Carolina.¹

Marriage and Migration

On December 15, 1880, Billy married Margaret Antonio Moore (“Maggie”) at Maysfield, Texas. The Baptist minister E. J. Glazner performed the ceremony. Maggie was the daughter of John Calhoun Moore of North Carolina and Ruth Jane Lindsey Moore of Georgia.¹

In December 1887, Billy, Maggie, and their small children set out from Milam County for Walker County, accompanied by Billy’s brothers Pat and Lum. The men took turns driving wagons loaded with cows, horses, and livestock, camping at night. The trip took three weeks. They settled at the McAdams Community, where Billy farmed the land and raised a large family.²

Justice of the Peace

Billy held the office of Justice of the Peace for Walker County, Precinct 2, continuously from November 17, 1904, until February 14, 1919, when he resigned. He also served as a county commissioner and trustee of Liberty Springs School. His son Jack recalled: “W. J. or Billy, as his wife called him, was a stern and humorless man. All his children stood in awe of him. The manner in which they privately mimicked his speech and manner spoke of a loving regard for him but he was not a man to invite outward expressions of affection.” He was always “desperately poor,” supplementing his modest income as Justice of the Peace with fees as a notary public.²

Children

Billy and Maggie had eleven children: John, Jim, Will, Irma, Hattie, Grady, Sally, George, Lloyd, and Bernice, among others. Jim — the barber of Huntsville — would marry Ethel Arrine Thompson in 1906, continuing the Morris line through their daughter Margaret Alline.¹

Later Years

About 1919, Billy briefly worked for the Texas Prison System at Goree State Farm near Huntsville. In 1920, he and Maggie moved with their younger children to Brownwood, Texas, where he served as deacon and Sunday School superintendent of Belle Plain Baptist Church.¹

Billy died in 1927 at the age of seventy-one, at a local hospital in Brownwood, after six months of ill health. He was buried at Greenleaf Cemetery, Brownwood.¹

His wife Maggie lived to ninety-eight, eventually returning to Huntsville. She died on June 9, 1963, survived by twenty-two grandchildren, thirty great-grandchildren, and nine great-great-grandchildren.¹