Excerpted from: Our County and Its People, a Memorial Record of St. Lawrence County, New York, Edited by Gates Curtis, The Boston History Company, Publishers, 1894

THIS was the seventeenth town erected by an act of the Legislature passed March 27, 1821. There are two versions as to the origin of the name of the town. One is that it was named after the Morris family, being among the original proprietors or owners of a portion of the lands of the county. Another is, which seems to be the correct one, that the town was so named on the suggestion of David Ford. Morristown in New Jersey is a place where most of the Ford family of that day were born, hence the name.

The area of this town was reduced in 1827, by the erection of the town of Hammond, and again by the erection of Macomb in 1841. The town lies upon the St. Lawrence River, and between that river and Black Lake. It is watered, apart from the river and lake, by Chippewa Creek, which flows through the central part from east to west. The soil is sandy, loam overlying the Potsdam sandstone, which, in lighter color, crops out in many places.

A survey of this town was made prior to its permanent settlement in 1799 by Jacob Brown, and a village plot was laid out called “Morrisville” on the site of Morristown village, and another called “Marysburgh” on the site of Edwardsville.

The territory embraced in this town was first settled through the agency of Col. David Ford, who in the summer of 1804 visited the locality for the purpose of exploration. He was a native of New Jersey, a brother of Nathan Ford, the famous pioneer. Mr. Ford settled on the site of the present village of Morristown and evinced his true appreciation of the natural surroundings by his selection of the rising hillside overlooking the river for the nucleus of the hamlet.

The Black Lake region in the south part of the town was settled a little previous to 1810 by John K. Thurber – he was one of the first overseers of the poor.

The central and eastern parts of the town were further settled in 1817—18, when a large number (for the time) of immigrants came in, giving the local appellation of the “English Settlement” to a certain section, which name still survives, as also do many descendants of those settlers.

The few dwellers were considerably excited in July 1812, when the Julia of the United States navy, and the British vessel, the Earl of Moira, met in conflict in the river opposite the settlement. It is said that Mr. Ford and his family secreted themselves in the cellar of the public house and remained there until the firing ceased.

After recovering from the effects of the cold seasons of 1816—17, which caused much destitution and suffering in most parts of the country, settlement in this town became active and the town rapidly filled up during the period from 1817 to 1820, when many located in the interior part.

Sales of lands continued until 1820, when they were suspended during the settlement of the Gouverneur Morris estate. In 1823 the sales were again opened in the land office then established and continued to recent years. By a deed bearing date June 23, 1823, Moses Kent conveyed the township of Morristown (except a few lots) to Abram Cooper, and soon afterwards Cooper sold interests in his purchase to Samuel Stocking, of Utica; James Averill, of Ogdensburg, and Augustus Chapman; the latter had become a resident of Morristown, and his enterprising influence, with that of later members of his family, became a powerful factor in the growth of the community. Stocking, Averill, and Chapman finally purchased the whole of Mr. Cooper’s interest, and in 1845 Averill and Chapman purchased Stocking’s interest. Since that date the territory has been gradually subdivided into farms and all sold out to individuals.