Henry B. Morrison

H. B. Morrison’s saw-mill at Motley, Morrison county, was destroyed by fire, and George Robinson, head sawyer, was burned to death. (The Saint Paul Daily Globe, Monday Morning, July 26, 1880, Volume III, Number 208, Page 2)

Henry B. Morrison, to whose energy is due the actual development of Motley, is a native of Vermont, and was born on the 29th of November, 1843. Until 1850, the family lived at different points along the Vermont Central railroad, then removed to Cambridge, New York, where the father of our subject had contracted to build a railroad bridge across the Hoosac river, at Eagle Bridge, after completing which the family returned to Vermont, stopping a short time at Waterbury. In July, 1851, they removed to Bedford, Indiana, the father still continuing in railroad bridge work. After a year in Indiana, most of which time the family suffered from fever and ague, Mr. Morrison, Sen, determined upon seeking a more congenial clime, and removed to Minnesota, arriving at St. Paul on the 2d of August, 1852, soon after which he purchased property in St. Anthony, and about a year later, removed to the west side, where he bought a farm, now included in the city limits of Minneapolis. In 1861, the subject of our sketch removed to Clearwater, Wright county, where he remained till March, 1878, when he came to his present location, at Motley, Morrison county. The condition of the place at the time of his arrival, and the changes resulting from his enterprise, are mentioned in the history of the town. On the 9th of February, 1865, Mr. Morrison became a member of Clearwater Lodge No. 28, A. F. and A. M., and on the 29th of November, 1866, became a Royal Arch Mason, uniting with the Chapter at St. Cloud. His attention has been devoted to lumbering since his removal to Clearwater in 1866, operating a steam saw mill there, from which he took the engine and machinery for his first mill at Motley. Miss Ida A. Benson, daughter of George B. Benson, of Clearwater, became the wife of Mr. Morrison, the marriage occurring on the 29th of October, 1868. (History of the Upper Mississippi Valley, By Winchell, Neill, Williams, Bryant, Minnesota Historical Company, Minneapolis, 1881, Page 623)

Motley Citizen; H. B. Morrison has eleven logging camps in operation, and employing 100 men in them. He will get out about 6,000,000 feet. He will also have 1,200 cords of wood cut for his brick yard. (The Saint Paul Daily Globe, Wednesday Morning, December 14, 1881, Volume IV, Number 348, Page 2)

Henry B. Morrison was born in Vermont in 1843 to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Morrison. Henry moved to Minneapolis with his family in 1855, then later moved to Clearwater, Minnesota, where he ran a hotel and sawmill for his father. Henry married Ida A. Benson in 1868, and the couple had two children, Oscar and George. In 1878, the Morrison family moved to Motley and built a sawmill on the Crow Wing River. Henry died in Hennepin County, Minnesota, on October 3, 1890.

Lumberman Morrison Dead. Special to the Globe. Brainerd, Minn., Oct. 3. – It is learned that H. B. Morrison, the well-known lumberman, died this afternoon at Motley of pneumonia after but a very brief illness. Deceased was almost a citizen of this place, as well as one of the earliest lumber operators on the Northern Pacific railroad. He established a large lumber plant at the crossing of Crow Wing river, whence grew the smart town of Motley. He had just begun to extend his business to the Upper Mississippi at Grand Rapids. (The Saint Paul Daily Globe, Saturday Morning, October 4, 1890, Volume XII, Number 277, Page 1)