A few others came within the next two years [to Motley], but there was no extensive settlement or improvement until the arrival of H. B. Morrison, to whose energy Motley is chiefly indebted for its present growth and prosperity. In all matters effecting the growth of the place, Mr. Morrison has been a leader, and yet fortune has not always smiled upon his endeavors. His first mill was burned a few months after completion, and with it perished one of the workmen who was sleeping in the building, and not awakened until too late. Mr. Morrison suffered heavily by this fire, but, nothing daunted, at once commenced the erection of a much larger mill which is now in operation. It is driven by steam, and has a daily capacity of over forty thousand, running ten hours, and has cut eighty-two thousand in a run of twenty-two hours. Lath, pickets, etc., are also manufactured in large quantities, and a force of from seventy-five to one hundred men are employed in and about the mill. In May, 1881, Mr. Morrison opened a brick-yard, in which about twenty men are employed, and expects to increase the business another season, employing a much larger force. (History of the Upper Mississippi Valley, By Winchell, Neill, Williams, Bryant, Minnesota Historical Company, Minneapolis, 1881, Page 622)
Enterprise at Motley-Morrison’s Big Mill-What Brains and Energy Can do. [Special Correspondence of the Globe.] Verndale, Minn., Sept. 3.-Your correspondent had occasion to visit Motley a short time ago, and having a little leisure time embraced the opportunity of calling on its most distinguished townsman, H. B. Morrison, Esq. We found the gentleman at his office, up to his ears in business, but nevertheless ready to answer the few inquiries made respecting his business. Mr. M’s forte is "lumber," although the "brick and mercantile" trade receive a portion of his time and attention. One can form a notion as to the amount of his business interests at this point by knowing that he carries policies of insurance amounting to over $100,000. We visited Mr. Morrison’s saw mill and lumber yard where we found everything in ship-shape, the saws in his huge works cutting over 100,000 feet of first-class lumber per day, his lath machines, planes and edgers each turning out kind of its kind in perfect order. One hundred and twenty-five men here find employment and the perfect system, order and deportment of the business attest the extraordinary business capacity of the man who is the leading character in this enterprise. Mr. M. has shipped over 150 car loads of lumber the past month, and finds it impossible to fill orders in time. He will continue to run the mill at this point day and night until it freezes up, when he will transfer his men to Pillager during the winter season.
In addition to this lumbering interests at this point, Mr. Morrison owns the finest brick yard in the state, four miles west of Motley. This interest is under the immediate control of W. E. Kindred. The yard employs sixty men and turns out 50,000 brick per day. Mr. Morrison has shipped during August fifty car loads of as fine brick as one could wish to see. The Northern Pacific Railroad company use these brick for their arch and fancy work, and report them superior to any other. The new Opera house at Brainerd, school house at Wadena, court house and jail at Wahpeton, business houses at Fergus Falls and other points are being constructed of them. We were shown samples of the brick and pronounce them very fine. Mr. Morrison is a man of about forty years of age, robust form, fine address, and pleasing manner, withal a thorough gentleman. Mr. Morrison is one of the staunch business men of this northwestern country, a man of unquestioned integrity, unusual business capacity, and unlimited credit. Motley may well feel proud of so distinguished a business man as she has in the person of Henry Morrison. Not only the community but the country at large is proud of such men, who have already done a lion’s share in the development of this golden Eldorado of the northwest. (The Saint Paul Daily Globe, Thursday Morning, September 6, 1883, Volume VI, Number 349, Page 2)
H. B. Morrison’s brickyard five miles west of Motley is one of the most noteworthy institutions of enterprise in Todd county. Wm. E. Kindred, who opened the yard about five years ago, and subsequently sold it to Mr. Morrison, is in charge of the works this year. He has now fifty six men employed and is running day and night, turning out from 40,000 to 48,000 brick every twenty four hours. They have already made 500,000 this season and intend to fill a 3,000,000 contract. The present capacity of the yard is four and a half million per season. Steam power is used, and the best improved pressing machines and moulds. The whole collection of buildings, sheds, etc., make quite a little village out there. (Park Rapids Enterprise, July 2, 1886)
In 1881 H. B. Morrison of Motley opened a brick-yard three-fourths of a mile farther east, on the north side of the railroad near the middle of section 18, Moran, five miles west of Motley, producing red bricks of bright color and of excellent quality as to strength and durability. His product in 1881 was about 450,000, selling at $8 to $10 per thousand, loaded on the cars. Wood for fuel costs $2 per cord. Sand, obtained within a short distance, is mixed with the clay for tempering, in the proportion of one to five. Next below the soil is yellowish gray, laminated clay four feet thick, used for the brick-making, found to extend over a large area, probably a mile square; and this is underlain by sand and gravel, in which a well here gets water abundantly at the depth of fifteen feet. (A Report on the Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota, 1882-1885, The Geology of Minnesota, Volume II, N. H. Winchell and Warren Upham, Pioneer Press Company, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1888, Page 577)
In 1881, H.B. Morrison, of Motley, opened a brick-yard three-fourths of a mile east on the north side of the railroad near the middle of section 18, Moran township, five miles west of Motley, producing red bricks of bright color and of excellent quality as to strength and durability. His product in 1881 was about 450,000, selling at from eight to ten dollars per thousand loaded on cars. Wood fuel cost at that two dollars per cord. (History of Morrison and Todd Counties Minnesota, Volume I, Their People, Industries and Institutions, Clara K. Fuller, B. F. Bowen & Company, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana, 1915, Page 214)