Reuben H. Morley Collection, 1898-1905, and undated (.75 cubic foot in 2 boxes) contains letters, maps, travel books, a scrapbook, a journal, and a certificate. The papers are organized by size and alphabetically. Materials are in English, Spanish, Tagalog, German, and Chinese. Most of the collection consists of letters by Reuben Morley, written while he was in the Philippians. These letters mostly relate to Morley’s work as Provisional Secretary-Treasurer. One of the letters was sent to the future American president William Howard Taft who was then Civil Governor of the Philippines. There is also a certificate, signed by Taft, that certifies Morley as the Provisional Secretary-Treasurer in the Philippines. There is a letter Morley wrote to a family named Sweeny that details Morley’s observations of the Fourth of July in the Philippines. The collection also contains a memorial pamphlet made a year after Morley’s disappearance that contains details of the time before and after his disappearance and Morley’s last few letters while he was in Northern China. There are also maps that were owned by Morley. One map, notated in handwriting by Morley documents his trip from Europe to Asia. There are also a few maps of Chinese cities that he visited. The miscellaneous folder contains receipts to a hotel in China, a journal in Spanish, and a Chinese paper that is a good luck fortune. There is also a Scrapbook that contains newspaper clippings on the Spanish-American War with notes written by Morley. This scrapbook also contains racist comments Morley felt towards Filipinos. Similar notes are also written in some of his letters. The scrapbook contains a telegram from Reuben’s uncle, George W. Morley, noting that Reuben was drafted. The Stowage Plan, a pictorial ship manifest, for the SS Kawachi Maru contains 6 paper copies of what was an oversized acidic paper that was withdrawn because of its damaged condition. This drawing may have been used in a report, as a teaching tool of global shipping and lading, or as vessel manifest.
Biography:
Reuben H. Morley (1876-1905) was the son of Edward W. Morley (See Morley Brothers Papers, 1903, 1940, undated finding aid for more information). Reuben lived in Michigan and by his late 20s, he moved to the American-controlled Philippines, around 1900. In 1902 Morley was appointed by the Civil Governor William Howard Taft to the Office of the Secretary-Treasurer in the Nueva Vizcaya Province of the Philippines. He resigned a year later due to an illness. While in the Philippines, he made frequent trips to Canton, China, which is now known as Guangzhou. An intriguing part of Morley's life was his disappearance while traveling in China in 1905. Morley was interested in seeing military operations in the Russo-Japanese War. He traveled with a German caravan that intended to travel to the Russian frontlines. Beside Morley, a Frenchman under the alias LeVerger, who was supposed to be an ex-lieutenant of cavalry, joined the caravan. Due to financial reasons, Morley and Leverger spilt off together from the caravan and traveled to the Russian frontlines by a different path. During this journey, Morley routinely wrote letters detailing his experiences to his family. Morley's last letter was sent near the end of July. After that, his family did not hear from him again. His family enlisted help from its political and press connections. Paul Morley, Reuben’s brother, traveled to France to meet with police to find more information on Leverger, since he seemed to be the last person to see Reuben alive. Reuben Morley’s last letter did not show any evidence that he was suspicious of Leverger. Investigation in Paris found that Leverger did not appear on any French military records as he claimed. Presumptions arose that Morley was murdered by Leverger. Morley's body was never found. He was 29 when presumed dead in 1905. (This information is from this collection and the Morley Brothers collection, which may also be of interest to researchers.)
