Dorilus Morrison

Dorilus Morrison (December 27, 1814 – June 26, 1897) was an American banker, businessman, and Republican politician. He was the first and third Mayor of Minneapolis and was a member of the Minnesota Senate.

Dorilus Morrison
1st and 3rd Mayor of Minneapolis
In office April 13, 1869 – April 12, 1870
Preceded by	Hugh G. Harrison
Succeeded by	Eli B. Ames
In office February 26, 1867 – April 14, 1868
Preceded by	Position Established
Succeeded by	Hugh G. Harrison
Member of the Minnesota Senate from the 5th district
In office January 5, 1864 – January 1, 1866
Preceded by	Rufus J. Baldwin
Succeeded by	Curtis H. Pettit
Personal details
Born	(1814-12-27)December 27, 1814 Livermore, Massachusetts (now part of Maine), US
Died	June 26, 1897(1897-06-26) (aged 82) Minneapolis, Minnesota, US
Political party	Republican
Spouses	Harriet (Putnam) Morrison (died 1880)
Children	DeWitt Clinton Morrison (b. 1842; died 1913) George H. Morrison (b. 1843; died 1882) Grace E. (Kimball) (b. 1851; died 1907)
Signature

Life and career

Morrison was born in Livermore, Maine. His first business was as a merchant supporting the lumber industry near Bangor, Maine. In 1854, Morrison visited Minnesota to investigate potential lumber interests. He was sufficiently impressed that he sold his businesses in Maine and moved to St. Anthony, Minnesota within a year. He became involved in the local lumber and milling industries (along with his fellow Mainer William D. Washburn) and became an early investor in the Minneapolis Milling Company (forerunner of today's General Mills).^[1]

In 1863, Morrison was elected to represent the 5th district in the Minnesota State Senate and served from 1864 to 1865.^[2] When the city of Minneapolis was formally incorporated in 1867, Morrison was elected as its first mayor. He was re-elected to a second term in 1869 and ran unsuccessfully for a third in 1872.^[3]

Morrison supported the initial construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad along with William Washburn, George A. Brackett, William S. King and others.^[1] When the Northwestern National Bank of Minneapolis was chartered in 1872, Morrison was its first president.^[4] Around that same time, he began building a streetcar line in the city. He joined with other businessmen, and eventually hired Thomas Lowry, who got the line up and running in 1875. The line eventually merged with a line in neighboring St. Paul to become Twin City Rapid Transit.

Morrison died in 1897.

Electoral history

• Minneapolis Mayoral Election, 1867
  • Dorilus Morrison^a
• Minneapolis Mayoral Election, 1869
  • Dorilus Morrison 859
  • Henry G. Sidle 756
• Minneapolis Mayoral Election, 1872
  • Eugene McLanahan Wilson 2,208
  • Dorilus Morrison 1,534

Notes

^a No specific record of the vote exists, only the result.

References

1. Atwater, Isaac, ed. (1893). History of the City of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Part II. New York: Munsell & Company. pp. 614–618.
2. "Morrison, Dorilus — Legislator Record". Minnesota Legislative Reference Library.
3. "Career of Dorilus Morrison". Minnesota Election Trends.
4. "A History of Minneapolis: Banking and Finance". Minneapolis Public Library (mpls.lib.mn.us). 2001. Archived from the original on June 16, 2002.

Political offices
New title	Mayor of Minneapolis 1867 – 1868	Succeeded by Hugh G. Harrison
Preceded by Hugh G. Harrison	Mayor of Minneapolis 1869 – 1870	Succeeded by Eli B. Ames