The Gouverneur Morris Papers: GOUVERNEUR MORRIS ENTERS THE RACE

The editors were quite surprised recently to receive this remarkable picture:

and were even more startled when they were advised that the name of this beautiful three-year-old race horse is none other than "Gouverneur Morris," aka "The Gouvernator."

The horse was christened by Mr. Ed Barker, a Morris enthusiast who lives in Bellevue, Washington. It seems that Mr. Barker conditioned his investment in a share on being allowed to name the colt. Since the colt's sire was Constitution, Mr. Barker has taken the opportunity to introduce our favorite Founding Father into the national consciousness by a very unusual route.

His mission has so far gone extremely well: Not only has the horse and the story behind his christening caught the interest of several commentators - see, e.g., this TV clip: pic.twitter.com/amINixCcLg ;
-- but the horse itself has been running spectacularly well and may well run in the Kentucky Derby this year: http://www.tampabaydowns.com/news/2020/02/14/gouverneur-morris-rules-in-2020-debut-morales-wins-three-again
If this is the case, our goal at the Papers will at last have been achieved, though by a route we editors never imagined: Gouverneur Morris will become a household name!

UPDATE July 26 2020: Unfortunately, this wonderful horse contracted a serious case of colitis, an ailment that often kills young horses. He recovered, though he will not be participating in the Derby. His trainers believe he still has races to run, however.

Mr. Barker is going all out: Here is a Tshirt he has had made:

All about Gouverneur Morris

Things everyone really should know about Gouverneur Morris (1752-1816)

1. He was a significant contributor to the U.S. Constitution, drafting its final version and writing the Preamble, beginning with the resounding words, "We the People."

2. He was (in our opinion but most agree) the most engaging Founding Father next to Benjamin Franklin, and one of the most talented: he was a great writer, a great speaker, and he had a wonderful sense of humor, one that George Washington, his friend, appreciated.

3. He was U.S. minister (ambassador) to France from 1792-94, during the height of the French Revolution, replacing Jefferson. His service to our country during the Terror is unequalled in diplomatic history, and deserves recognition, respect -- and further study.

4. Hamilton's wife called Morris her husband's "best friend," and when Hamilton died, Morris gave the eulogy and worked to assure the financial security of his family.

5. He was a visionary proponent of the Erie Canal, and headed the Canal Commission.

6. He headed the commission that designed the "grid" of the streets of Manhattan.

There's more -- much more! and we'll be writing about it.

Melanie R. Miller, editor
Hendrina Krol, associate editor
Gouverneur Morris Papers

Literature and Links

LITERATURE.
Morris’s diary has been published in three parts:

-Beatrice Cary Davenport, ed., Gouverneur Morris, Diary of the French Revolution, 1789-1793 (1939), 2 volumes.
-Melanie R. Miller, Hendrina Krol and Elizabeth Hines, eds., Diaries of Gouverneur Morris, European Travels, 1794-1798 (2011).
-Melanie R. Miller, Hendrina Krol and Elizabeth Hines, eds., Diaries of Gouverneur Morris, New York, 1799-1816 (expected publication 2018).

-Citations from letters come from Morris’s letterbooks in the Gouverneur Morris Papers at the Library of Congress in Washington.

-For pictures and details on settling of upstate New York, see e.g., Franklin Benjamin Hough, A History of Jefferson County in the State of New York (1854); Hough, A History of St. Lawrence and Franklin Counties (1853) and Hough, A History of Lewis County (1860).

-For information on the Le Ray family, see Thomas J. Schaeper, France and America in the Revolutionary Era, The Life of Jacques-Donatien Leray de Chaumont, 1725-1803 (1995).

The Gouverneur Morris Papers

GOUVERNEUR MORRIS ENTERS THE RACE

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