Skip to content
Little girl looking Dear readers, Catholic Online was de-platformed by Shopify for our pro-life beliefs. They shut down our Catholic Online, Catholic Online School, Prayer Candles, and Catholic Online Learning Resources—essential faith tools serving over 1.4 million students and millions of families worldwide. Our founders, now in their 70's, just gave their entire life savings to protect this mission. But fewer than 2% of readers donate. If everyone gave just $5, the cost of a coffee, we could rebuild stronger and keep Catholic education free for all. Stand with us in faith. Thank you. Help Now >

Martin Ferdinand Morris

Free World Class Education
FREE Catholic Classes

Lawyer and jurist, b. 3 December, 1834, at Washington, D.C.; d. 12 September, 1909, at Washington, D. C. Descended from an Irish Catholic family, he was educated at Georgetown University, from which he was graduated in 1854. On leaving Georgetown, he entered the Jesuit novitiate at Frederick, Md., to prepare himself for the priesthood, from which high calling his inclinations from early youth had impelled him, and for which, by reason of his studious habits, scholarly taste, and moral standards, he was in every way fitted. His ambition, however, could not be realized, as the death of his father left him the sole support of his mother and sisters. In 1863, he began the practice of law in Baltimore, Maryland, and in 1867 removed to Washington to enter into partnership with the late Richard T. Merrick. He continued a member of the firm Merrick and Morris until the death of Mr. Merrick (1885), when he formed a partnership with George E. Hamilton, and continued actively to practice his profession, being connected with important litigation both in the local courts and in the Supreme Court, until appointed by President Cleveland an associate Justice of the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia upon the establishment of that Court in 1893. Modest, unassuming, almost diffident in manner, he was best adapted to office practice, and yet, when occasion required it, was forceful and successful in the trial of cases. A skilled lawyer, standing high in his profession, judicial labours did not prevent him from taking an active interest in civic and social conditions, or from broadening the scope of his researches into the fields of science, of literature, and of art. Actively interested in his Alma Mater, and in the growth and development of Catholic education, he was one of the founders of Georgetown Law School (1871), then under the direction of the late P. F. Healy, S.J., today one of the largest and most successively conducted law schools in the country. In 1877, he received from Georgetown, in recognition of his nobility of character, his broad scholarship, and achievements as a lawyer and judge, the degree of LL.D. He wrote "Lectures on the History of the Development of Constitutional and Civil Liberty" (1808); also numerous monographs and addresses.

Join the Movement
When you sign up below, you don't just join an email list - you're joining an entire movement for Free world class Catholic education.

Advent / Christmas 2024

Catholic Online Logo

Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws, © Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited.

Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.