Representative James Lowery Donaldson Morrison

James Lowery Donaldson Morrison (April 12, 1816 – August 14, 1888) was a U.S. Representative from Illinois and a prominent Illinois lawyer, legislator, and military officer. He was born in Kaskaskia, Illinois, then the territorial and early state capital, on April 12, 1816. Little is recorded about his early childhood and family background, but his subsequent public career indicates that he came of age in the formative years of Illinois statehood and was closely connected to the state’s emerging political and legal institutions.

Morrison began his public service at a young age through a naval career. He was appointed a midshipman in the United States Navy in 1832, during a period of expansion and professionalization of the service. He served on active duty for seven years, gaining experience in discipline and command, before resigning his commission on December 31, 1839. After leaving the Navy, he turned his attention to the study of law, pursuing legal training in Illinois at a time when formal law schools were rare and most aspiring attorneys read law under established practitioners.

Upon completion of his legal studies, Morrison was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in Belleville, Illinois. Belleville, an important center in St. Clair County, provided a base for his growing legal and political career. His abilities as a lawyer and his standing in the community soon led him into elective office. In 1844 he was elected a member of the Illinois House of Representatives, where he participated in state legislative affairs during a period of rapid population growth and internal improvement debates in Illinois.

Morrison’s public career was further distinguished by military service in the Mexican–American War. When war broke out, he raised a company of volunteers and entered federal service as lieutenant colonel of Bissell’s regiment of Illinois Volunteers. He served in this capacity from July 1, 1846, to July 1, 1847. During the conflict he took part in the Battle of Buena Vista, one of the major engagements of the war. In recognition of his conduct and services at Buena Vista, the Illinois legislature presented him with a ceremonial sword, a notable honor that underscored his reputation for bravery and leadership.

After returning from the war, Morrison resumed his political career in Illinois. He served as a member of the Illinois State Senate in 1848, continuing his involvement in state governance. Aligning initially with the Whig Party, he sought higher office and was an unsuccessful Whig candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois in 1852. His political affiliations later shifted in keeping with the fluid party alignments of the 1850s, and he became associated with the Democratic Party as sectional tensions over slavery and national expansion intensified.

Morrison entered national office in the mid-1850s. He was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-fourth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Lyman Trumbull. He represented Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives from November 4, 1856, to March 3, 1857. His service thus covered the final months of the Thirty-fourth Congress, a period marked by growing national discord over slavery in the territories. At the same election in which he was chosen to complete Trumbull’s unexpired term, he was not selected as the nominee for the subsequent Thirty-fifth Congress, and his tenure in the House concluded at the expiration of that term.

Following his brief congressional service, Morrison remained active in Democratic politics in Illinois. In 1860 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Illinois, a contest that took place in the shadow of the looming Civil War and the fracturing of the national Democratic Party. His personal life also tied him to the state’s political leadership: his wife, Mary, was the daughter of Thomas Carlin, who served as Governor of Illinois from 1838 to 1842, linking Morrison by marriage to one of the state’s earlier chief executives.

In his later years, Morrison continued to be recognized as a figure of some prominence in Illinois public life, though he did not again hold major elective office. He died in St. Louis, Missouri, on August 14, 1888. His remains were interred in Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis, a major Catholic burial ground that holds many of the region’s notable citizens. His legacy in Illinois is reflected in the naming of Morrisonville, Illinois, in his honor, commemorating his contributions as a lawyer, legislator, soldier, and member of Congress.