Lieutenant Morris W. Morris became an actor after the Civil War. His stage name was Lewis Morrison, and he became the grandfather of two well-known actresses, Constance and Joan Bennett. He is also Morton Downey, Jr.’s great grandfather. The photograph to the left is Morris in costume for his best known part, Mephisopheles in Faust. (This image is from Joan Bennett’s book, The Bennett Playbill.) Morris’s obituary from the New York Times, August 20, 1906, is below.

Lewis Morrison, the actor, died late Saturday at the Riverhead Hospital, Riverhead, L. I., where he underwent an operation Thursday. In his time he was in the United States Army, serving three and a half years in the civil war. It was after the war that he became an actor. Of late years he was best known for his characterization of Mephistopheles in "Faust."

Mr. Morrison was born in Jamaica, West Indies, sixty-one years ago. Through only a youth when the war between the States began, he became an officer and saw service in many battles. In 1865, when the army was mustered out, Morrison decided to go on t he stage, and it was with Lawrence Barrett in New Orleans that he made his first appearance. Afterward he appeared with Tommaso Salvini, Edwin Forrest, Edwin Booth, and Charlotte Cushman. He acquired the reputation in secondary roles, and then became a star.

One of his recent appearances was in "The Master of Ceremonies," a dramatization from a novel. It is as Mephistopheles, though, that he is most clearly remembered. His widow is Florence Roberts, the actress. Last season she was seen in "The Strength of the Weak."

The burial will take place to-day at Nepperhan Heights, Yonkers.

Mr. Phil Downey of Unionville, Pennsylvania, is Morris’s great, great grandson and knows much more about this interesting family.

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