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Mark Dunphy and Eleanor M. Morris enjoy the benefits of the French Creek. |
The Trust is organized exclusively to the protection of historic sites and the conservation of land and natural areas in the watersheds of Northern Chester
County
including those waters which drain into the Schuylkill
River and extend into
Berks
County. Any additional waterway can also be directed for protection by the Board.
The Trust seeks to achieve its goals through the acquisition of land, the use of conservation easements, the development of conservation policy at the local and regional level, and the promotion of environmentally sound land use practices.
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The son of Samuel Wheeler and Barbara Warden Morris, Samuel Morris was born on
August 21, 1918
. The family lived in Chestnut Hill, a section of
Philadelphia. His mother died when Sam was five years old. Sam attended
William
Penn
Charter
School
and
Harvard
University, graduating in 1940. Sam began law school at the University
of
Pennsylvania, but World Was II interrupted his studies.
On
December 17, 1941, Samuel married Eleanor May Jones, whom he had met while he was at Harvard and she was attending nearby
Radcliffe
College. For five years during World War
II, Sam served in the United States Army Corps of Engineers, achieving the rank of Captain. After the war Sam returned to studying law at the
University
of
Pennsylvania, graduating in 1947.
He was an editor of the Law Review.
In 1946, the Morris’s moved to a dairy farm in Pughtown,
Chester
County
. They had seven children: Samuel, Barbara, Eleanor, George, Cooper, Laura, and Christopher. The farm was a special place for the family with the historic house and two streams - French Creek and Beaver Run. The children grew up working on the dairy farm and in the vegetable garden. For recreation, there was walking and picnicking along French Creek and skating when it froze in the winter. The Morris children attended the Kimberton
Farm
School
where Sam served on the Board of Trustees for more than fifty years.
Sam once described himself as a dairy farmer first and a lawyer second. While he owned and lived on a dairy farm, he employed others to carry out most of the day-to-day operations. On the weekends, Sam helped with the farm chores, including milking the cows. For many years Sam worked for a law firm in Philadelphia, commuting each day from the farm. In the early days, he rose early and delivered milk cans to the "pick up" place on his way to catch the train to Philadelphia.
Living in
Chester
County
and working in the city gave Sam the opportunity to see how suburban growth was affecting rural life. He understood farming and the difficulties farmers faced. He and his wife became very concerned about the loss of open space, the destruction of historic structures and the pollution of local streams. In 1967, Sam and Eleanor founded the French and Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust, one of the first organizations in the country formed to protect both historic sites and open land. The Offices of the Trust are now located at Coventry House, an old Iron Master's home in Coventryville which Sam and two neighbors had purchased in the previous year.
The long hours working in the city and traveling to and from Philadelphia
were difficult. Sam was very active in the community, serving on the board of Family Services, working with the Boy Scouts of America, and a member on the Authority that built the Owen
J.
Roberts
High School
.
In 1968, he joined William L. Cremers, Jr., and Allan B. Greenwood in a law office in Phoenixville, known as Cremers, Morris and
Greenwood. That same year he also ran as a Democrat for the state legislature in the 155th District. It was not easy for a Democrat to get elected in strongly Republican
Chester
County, but Sam won the election in 1970.
Pennsylvania
legislators are elected every two years. Sam represented the 155th District of northern
Chester
County
from 1971 to 1978, and again from 1980 to 1990. Sam was the third Democrat to win since the Civil War and the first to win more than one election.
The 155th District had a diverse population, including the city of
Coatesville, rural farmlands and new suburban developments. Sam was well known for his service to the people of his district, regardless of their political affiliation. He supported strong local government, tax reform and laws to protect waterways. During the eighteen years he served in the Legislature, he served in House Local Government, Judiciary, Transportation and Conservation Committees. In 1982 he sponsored legislation to have French Creek designated as a Scenic
River.
As Chairman of the House Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee from 1983 to 1990, Sam was the prime sponsor of legislation that provided $100 million to purchase development rights on farms in Agricultural Security Areas. This legislation to buy easements on agricultural land received national recognition.
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Farm land is one of our greatest natural resources. We need farms to produce the nation's food supply.
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Undeveloped open land provides the area necessary for water absorption and are just as important for the water supply.
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Wooded areas are important to the ecology, natural habitats and for clean, fresh air.
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Population growth and new residential developments make it difficult at best to protect clean water supplies. Increased population density greatly diminish the amount of shrubs and trees that act as natural filters for water in a watershed and adds pollutants that can enter the eco-system. Paved driveways, parking lots, and footprints of buildings severely reduce the area necessary for natural water absorption, making flooding and groundwater pollution inevitable.
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Trees, forests, and plants reduce the carbon dioxide in the air and help clean the air while at the same time help reduce the hole in the ozone layer. Natural habitats are also provided for the woodland creatures that can also become part of the local food supply. The root systems of the trees and plants provide a filtering system for the water supply, cleaning the water as it seeps into the ground.
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Open space provides recreational areas, for horseback riding, bicycle riding, running, walking, hiking, picnicking, camping, hunting, etc.
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Lifestyle choices made today will affect the quality of life for generations to come. A sufficient, healthful local food supply, clean water and fresh air are vital for the survival of the nation.
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Representative Morris was responsible for a one hundred million dollar bond issue to purchase easements on agricultural lands. The Trust will acquire easements on agricultural, natural, scenic and cultural lands.
Easements are obtained by donations from willing landholders and purchases of land at fair market value from willing sellers. By acquiring such easements, landholders who give easements, or agree to easements, remain on their property and continue to pay all local taxes, but the right to alter the agricultural, natural, scenic and/or cultural values of the property are retired by the Trust in perpetuity.
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Individuals can help preserve open space by carefully keeping up with development in the local township through zoning changes, zoning variances and exceptions to the zoning code.
- Attendance at township meetings, whether the Board of Supervisors or the Zoning Board is extremely important. Local officials usually are more careful of their decisions when they know voters are paying attention.
- Support and vote for the politicians and representatives who are "friendly" to "Open Space" issues and have a proven track record.
- Support the non-profit organizations and trusts who are founded on the principles favorable to open space and are involved in saving open space, whether as a political action committee, or through easements.
- Volunteer your time in their endeavors.
- Donations to the Samuel W. Morris Trust are tax deductible
Every bit you do to help is needed and appreciated.
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Always
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Contact Information
- Postal address
- Samuel W. Morris Trust
- 1153 Ridge Road, Pottstown, PA 19465
- Telephone
- 610-469-6287
- FAX
- 610-469-6288
- Electronic mail
- General Information: info@samuelwmorristrust.org
Webmaster: webmas@samuelwmorristrust.org
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