This article is retyped from a copy of a newspaper article of unknown origin. It had the date Friday, February 4, 1960 hand written across the top.
George Washington's Financier...
Fulton Woman Discovered To Be A 
Decendent Of Famed Robert Morris

   By Hugh P. Williamson


     Mrs. Roberto Meinhardt, of 212 W. 4th Street, Fulton Missouri, is a great-great- granddaughter of Robert Morris, the "financier" of the Revolutionary War, a man who deserves to stand as high in national esteem as George Washington himself. 
     Without the financial aid secured by Morris for Washington, it would have been impossible for him to have held the Continental Army together and for the war to have been won.
     Mrs. Meinhardt was the daughter of Daniel Snyder Morris, who was the son of James E. Morris. 
     Robert Morris was born January 31, 1734, in Liverpool, England, the son of a prosperous merchant.  In 1747 he came to America and within a few years had established a very lucrative mercantile business in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  His home on Lemmon Hill, in Philadelphia, remains an historical show place. 
     He was a Whig in politics and was not especially sympathetic to the new republic of the United States.  But because of his great friendship with George Washington and a growing conviction that this new nation represented a great forward step in government, he came to give to it his complete support.
     In 1775 he was elected a member of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly and in 1776 he was elected a member of the Continental Congress.  He was one of the many who for a time was not certain of the wisdom of a complete break with England, but in time became convinced that this step was necessary.  He was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and he was active in the debates regarding it's composition.  He was also a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, as a delegate from Pennsylvania and was one of the chief architects of the historic document which was to become the cornerstone of the new nation of the United States.
     Into the struggle which followed he gave his utmost in time, energy, and skill.  On numerous occasions he put his own personal financial credit behind the struggling patriot government.
     By 1776 Morris had become a very wealthy man so that his support was of supreme importance.  In 1781 when the fortunes of the Continental Army were at low ebb, and the paper money that had been issued was practically worthless, Morris established the Bank of North America and gave solid backing to the new governments' paper money by purchasing a large amount of the banks shares himself. He also solicited funds from persons of considerable fortune and did so with great vigor signal success. Without the financial aid given to Washington thru the efforts of Morris, the Continental Army certainly would have been defeated, and the Revolutionary War lost.
     In 1789 Morris became a member of the United States Senate from Pennsylvania and served for one term. Later he invested very heavily in land speculation in western New York state.  The slow development of that territory placed him in a very bad financial situation, to the extent that he lost all of his personal fortune and became deeply involved in debt.  For these debts he was seized and thrown into Debtors Prison where he remained for three years.  Morris was imprisoned February 19, 1798 and Washington until December 14th 1799.  In 1801 the Federal Bankruptcy Law was passed and Morris was released from prison.  The last five years of his life were spent in poverty.
He was buried in Old Christ Church, in Philadelphia, in the same grave as his wife, who had been born Mary White.                          
     Their son, Robert Clark Morris married Ann Shoemaker.  Their son, James E. Morris, married Eliza Anne Snyder and is buried at Elk Creek, Ohio.  Their son, Daniel Snyder Morris married Meda Iro Miller and was the father of Mrs. Roberto Meinhardt, who was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
     Seemingly it was only long after his death, that the vital contribution of Morris to this nation became recognized.  But today and for many years passed, the vital role which he played in its maintenance and formation has been fully recognized, and he stands in history upon an equal plane with Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Henry, and those other persons who conceived, built and maintained that nation which was destined to become the arsenal of the Democracy and a haven for the oppressed, despised, and unwanted peoples of the world.
     In personal appearance, Mrs. Roberto Meinhardt bears a striking resemblance to pictures of father.
     Mrs. Meinhardt hopes to be able in the near future to visit the home of her ancestor on Lemon Hill, in Philadelphia, and other places where his activity and skill made possible the new nation of the United States.