Roger Morris was born in 1727 in Yorkshire, England. He served in the British Army, and his military ambitions brought him to the American Colonies in 1755 as a Colonel. He soon married a young and very wealthy woman named Mary Phillipse, who was native to New York, and they settled in New York City. In 1765, they built a summer house, which Morris partly designed, in modern day Washington Heights, known today as the Morris-Jumel Mansion. By the start of the American Revolution in 1776, Morris and his family, staunch loyalists, were forced to flee to England after New York State confiscated the mansion and the surrounding property.

Morris-Jumel Mansion

Eliza Jumel