J. B. Morris

HON. J. B. MORRIS, judge of the police court of Parsons, Labette county, Kansas, is widely known in the county, and his election to his present position shows the confidence placed in him by his fellow citizens. He is a natural leader among men, being possessed of keen perceptions and good judgment. The duties of his office are arduous and exacting, yet he performs them to the entire satisfaction of all. Judge Morris is a native of Cattaraugus county, New York, and was born in 1832.

Judge Morris received his early education in his native state, where he applied himself to the trade of a carriage-maker. He also learned the business of a contractor, which he followed for many years. He went to Marshall county, Illinois, in 1866, where he did considerable work in contracting. Three years later, he moved to Elk Point, Dakota, and in 1875, located in Parsons, Kansas, where he has since resided. He has built many houses in the city, and until he accepted his present public office was extensively engaged in the contracting business, - being considered one of the best in the county. Judge Morris has always been actively interested in the affairs of the county, and of the city in which he lives, and has continually given much time and attention to local politics.

Judge Morris has been twice married, first to Jane Moore, of New York State, who died leaving one daughter, Ella, now the wife of S. T. Gilbert, living in Colony, Kansas. He next married Aggie Rider, a native of Buffalo, New York, who died in March, 1900. She bore him two children, - J. Webb, now in the employ of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway Company, at Parsons, Kansas, and Charles H., an invalid.

He is a firm supporter of the Republican party, and has served three terms in the city council. He also served as deputy United States marshal, under B. F. Simpson, and as deputy sheriff and justice of the peace. Judge Morris was appointed police judge in 1897, to serve out an unexpired term, and was reelected to that office in the spring of 1898, and also at the election of 1901. Fraternally, the judge is a member of the Improved Order of Red Men, Mohawk Tribe, No. 6.

The subject of this sketch has had a very active and useful career, and his success has been due entirely to his own efforts. He has striven long and faithfully, with unceasing labor, and all his undertakings have met with success. He is a man of affable and pleasing manners, and his friends in Parsons and its vicinity are many.