Background
He was born August 6, 1890 in Hydesville, California to Joseph and Harriet (Morris) Tracy. He was the grandson of the historian and Congregational minister Review Joseph Tracy.
He was born August 6, 1890 in Hydesville, California to Joseph and Harriet (Morris) Tracy. He was the grandson of the historian and Congregational minister Review Joseph Tracy.
From 1908, he worked for the local Humboldt County newspapers covering the numerous shipwrecks along the Northern California coast. His coverage of the wreck of the passenger liner Bear in 1916 earned him a place in the San Francisco bureau of the United Press, where he was responsible for one of the most important scoops of the time, the reelection of Woodrow Wilson over Charles Evans Hughes. Through his connections with the Humboldt County clerk, Fred Kay, Tracy heard of errors in the initial reported tabulation, and became the first to confirm the election for Wilson.
He became a bureau manager for the United Press in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Washington, District of Columbia. In 1927, he co-authored with Dale Van Every the best-selling book Charles Lindbergh -- His Life.
Morris Tracy married Mildred Hunter in 1913. They had two children, Grace Eleanor and Mary Harriet.
Tracy died of coronary trombosis on May 11, 1940 while vacationing in Pinehurst, North Carolina.