Career
Her first stage appearance of which there is a definite record was made at the Southwark Theatre, Philadelphia, in the fall of 1772 (G. O. Seilhamer, History of the American Theatre, I, 1888, p. 309).
In 1773 she performed with the American Company at Charleston, S. C. (Eola Willis, The Charleston Stage in the XVIII Century, 1924, p. 67), and the same year made her New York début.
During the Revolution the company withdrew to the West Indies, and there Mrs. Morris followed her profession until the troupe returned to the United States in 1785 (Seilhamer, op.
cit. , II, 1889, pp. 136 ff. , 175).
In a few years dissension developed within the organization.
Thomas Wignell, a prominent comedian, finding his ambitions thwarted by the managers, Lewis Hallam and John Henry, withdrew in 1791 to form a new company, taking with him Mr. and Mrs. Morris, the latter of whom was probably eager to escape the rivalry of Mrs. Henry (J. N. Ireland, Records of the New York Stage, I, 1866, p. 83).
Two or three years later she apparently acted with an upstart company in Philadelphia, and there is reason to believe that she performed at New York as late as 1815 (G. C. D. Odell, Annals of the New York Stage, II, 1927, p. 448).
In her prime, shortly after the Revolution, Mrs. Morris was regarded as the greatest attraction on the American stage.
Especially in high comedy rôles, to which her tall and elegant figure and her spirited acting in the grand manner admirably adapted her, she was considered unsurpassed.
At least one contemporary, however, held that she was much overrated, that she was extremely defective in education, enunciation, and memory (W. B. Wood, Personal Recollections of the Stage, 1855, pp. 26-28).
He attributed her appeal to her personal attraction and to a mysterious manner which she affected both on and off the stage.
It is doubtful, however, whether Wood's explanation alone can account for her reputation among early American playgoers as "the inimitable Mrs. Morris" (Odell, op.
cit. , I, 1927, p. 254).
See also: Thos.
C. Pollock, The Phila.
The probable year of her birth is arrived at from Wood's statement op.
cit. , p. 139, that she died at seventy-three. ]
