The collection consists of personal accounts showing income and obligations; a portrait, and photographs of chicory farming and marketing near Bay City and Port Huron, Michigan.
David Williams McMorran was born on December 3, 1870 to Emma Caroline Williams McMorran (1845-1917) and Henry Gordon McMorran (1844-1929), a Port Huron businessman and United States Representative.
David McMorran graduated from Ann Arbor High School in 1888 and received his B.S. from the University of Michigan in 1892. In 1902—when his father was named vice-president of E.B. Muller & Co.—David M. McMorran became the company's secretary-treasurer. In circa 1919, E.B. Muller & Co. bought their competitor, Heinr. Franck Sons Inc. David McMorran then assumed control of Heinr. Franck Sons Inc. by selling his shares to various parties (including his father) and officially disassociating himself with E.B. Muller & Co. However, his wife Charlotte Cheney Holden McMorran (1877-1951) would go on to assume a significant number of E.B. Muller & Co. shares over the years, using money acquired from her husband. After David's father Henry passed away in 1929, control of E.B. Muller & Co. passed to David McMorran's wife Charlotte and their two children, Charlotte Cheney McMorran (born 1900) and Henry Gordon McMorran (1903-1975). David McMorran maintained control of Heinr. Franck Sons Inc. This arrangement ensured that the McMorran family effectively maintained a monopoly on the American chicory trade.
This act ultimately led to the U.S. government filing a lawsuit against the McMorran family on the grounds of violating the Clayton Antitrust Act and the Federal Trade Commission Act. Hearings were held in 1937 and in 1939. In 1940, the companies were found to be engaging in unlawful activity. The McMorran's efforts to have the original case reviewed were dismissed in 1944.
In addition to Muller & Co., McMorran was also the president of North American Coffee Co., which offered its customers a chicory and grain-based coffee substitute.
David McMorran passed away in 1945, in Port Huron, Mich.
