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James McNellis came here in 1844, building one of the first frame houses of Morris, which he used as a boarding house and saloon. When the canal was opened in 1848, be bought a canal boat and made money transporting grain. He built the first grain elevator of Morris and was one of its heaviest grain dealers for many years. In addition, being truly religious, he erected a four-story brick building on ten acres of land, which he donated to be used as a Catholic school which was the beginning of St. Angela's Convent. He also donated two acres of land for a church building and parsonage and $3,000 in cash. Not confining his contributions to the Catholic Church, he gave $250 to the Congregationalists, $100 to the Presbyterians, $100 to the Baptists and $250 to the Methodists, all of Morris. Another enterprise in which he was interested was a distillery at Aux Sable, near Morris, but he failed in operating it successfully.
Judge Patrick Hynds was another arrival of 1844, a blacksmith by trade, and he built and operated a shop. Later, he was made justice of the peace and still later county judge, first by appointment in 1851 and later by election in 1853. Mahlon P. Wilson arrived in May 1844, and from then on was one of the best coopers Morris has ever had. Adam Lamb came to Morris as a canal contractor in 1844, and built one of the first stores in the town. The honor of being the first storekeeper is divided between Mr. Lamb and Col. William L. Perce. Both stores were opened for business in 1843, so the first had only a month or so advantage over the other.
Col. William L. Perce held the contract for the erection of the aqueduct across Nettle Creek, and came here in 1845. Colonel Perce opened his store in the American House, placing C.H. Goold as manager. Elijah Walker carried on a boot and shoe business from 1841 until 1856, when he left Morris for Iowa. There were other early settlers of Morris who had an important part to play in the development of the place, but having later moved away, their names are not obtainable.
Morris was not incorporated until August 15, 1850, when an election was held to determine whether or not it was to become a village.
During 1856, Morris secured a charter creating it a city, with a mayor, council, police magistrate and other city officials. F.S. Gardner was the first mayor.
In 1839, citizens volunteered to build Shakey Bridge across the Nettle Creek in order to influence the route of Fink and Walker's stagecoach line from Chicago to Ottawa. It wasn't until 1845 that the route was established when the post office department delivered daily mail and for that purpose changed the stagecoach line through Morris. This gave Morris its first public transportation. They carried the mail until 1848 when the canal opened. The second hotel of Morris was known as the Plow Inn and was built during the winter and spring of 1842 by Robert Peacock.
P.P. Chapin established a brick yard, near the present gas plant, about 1842 and conducted it for many years. It was William E. Armstrong and James Hart who built that portion of the Illinois & Michigan Canal that runs through Morris.
James Hart came to Morris in the fall of 1841 and was much occupied with his contract for work on the canal. He, with his partner Mr. Armstrong, suffered a heavy loss because the state paid them in scrip which was worth only one-third the par value of a dollar.
Hon. P.A. Armstrong, who became one of the leading attorneys of Morris, as well as a man well known in its political history, came to the city in 1842.
Michael DePrendegast arrived in the winter of 1843-4, building a double log cabin on the present site of the First National Bank, and was an early justice of the peace. Later, he built a fine, brick business block, known as the Bank Block, and proved a man of substance.
With the coming of the Illinois and Michigan Canal in 1848, the village grew around the courthouse square where it still stands today. The farmers then had a way to ship their grain to market in and to receive lumber, salt, and merchandise from around the world. Aux Sable stone was carried to Chicago and passengers had a smoother trip than by stagecoach.
With the opening of the Illinois and Michigan Canal and the railroad, the town prospered and grew to the north towards the railroad. The first factory was the Plow Factory in 1857, located west of Liberty Street on Illinois Avenue, followed by Gebhard Brewery in 1866.
In 1873, Coleman Hardware was built with the businessmen of Morris donating $19,000 to bring in a factory.
Northwestern Novelty arrived at 1909 to be near the Coleman Hardware as they produced the castings for its Yankee Match Lighter.
The Morris Paper Mill was established in 1915.
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