Morris, Achilles

Died: 1847-02-15 Tampico, Mexico

Flourished: Sangamon County, Illinois

Morris married in Kanawha County, Virginia, before moving to Loami, Illinois, in 1826. He served in the Black Hawk War, both in 1831 as the captain of his own company, and in 1832, as a lieutenant colonel of the fourth regiment from April 30 to May 27. After being mustered out, he joined Captain Elijah Iles' company, in which he served as a private alongside Abraham Lincoln from May 27 to June 16. Again reenlisting, he joined Captain Jacob M. Early's company, again along with Lincoln, and served from June 16 to July 10, 1832. Later that year, Morris won election to the Illinois House of Representatives, where he represented Sangamon County. He finished third in a field of thirteen candidates for four positions, and Abraham Lincoln finished eighth. Following the outbreak of the Mexican War, Morris raised a company and became a captain in the 4th Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He died of disease at a military hospital in Mexico. He and his wife had eleven children.

John Carroll Power and S. A. Power, History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois (Springfield, IL: Edwin A. Wilson, 1876), 533-34; Muster Roll of Captain Elijah Iles’ Company of Mounted Volunteers; Muster Roll of Captain Jacob M. Early’s Company of Mounted Volunteers; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac, 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 203; Ellen M. Whitney, comp., The Black Hawk War, 1831-1832: Illinois Volunteers, vol. 35 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1970), 1:86-87, 126, 171, 227-29, 544-46; Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 11 August 1832, 3:2; 18 March 1847, 3:3; 25 March 1847, 3:4.