Anthony Morris, Jr - The Brewer Who Ran FROM Office
I stumbled onto the following story about Anthony Morris, Jr while researching a totally different Founder.
I was shocked by what I learned and had to change course immediately.
Morris died a decade before the Revolution and is hard to count as a Founder, but his son would fight in the war so...close enough.
Anthony Morris, Jr
Anthony Morris, Jr was the first of his family to be born in North America.
His father, a moderately successful brewer, hired Anthony out as an indentured servant for seven years.
When he was done, Morris turned the family business into one of the most important breweries in Revolutionary Philadelphia.
Leading Citizen
Over the years, Morris expanded his contributions to his community and participated in many social clubs.
He also became an important leader of Pennsylvania’s large Quaker community.
Anthony also spent a year as Mayor of Philadelphia.
Mayor Elect
In 1749, Morris was still serving as an Alderman for Philadelphia...what we would today know as a City Councilor.
At the time, the Council was responsible for choosing the Mayor.
For some reason, Morris was not at this meeting.
But the other Alderman selected him as Mayor anyway!
This is when something strange happened…
The Disappearance
The Council sent a messenger to Morris’ house to let him know he was Mayor.
The messenger was told by Anthony’s wife he had left town and she didn’t know when he would return.
The Council then decided to leave a note with Mrs. Morris as well as send someone on the road to find the prospective Mayor.
Still, he was nowhere to be found!
The Council Gives Up
Three days later, the Council had gotten the hint...Anthony Morris was dodging them.
Clearly he did not want to be Mayor again.
The Council gave up on their efforts and just reappointed the sitting Mayor (William Attwood) for another year.
Morris returned soon thereafter and continued as a leading Quaker and Master brewer till he passed away in 1763.
You can find more details of this story in the ‘Annals of Philadelphia’ here.
This is far from the only hilarious story about a Mayor of Philadelphia.
May I present to you…Robert Wharton:
The Fun-loving Mayor of Revolutionary Philadelphia
If you would like to learn more about the tasty history of beer in Philadelphia, I’d recommend ‘Philadelphia Beer.’
Pick up a copy through the Amazon affiliate link below (you’ll support this site, but don’t worry, Amazon pays me while your price stays the same).
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