This collection (4 items) is made up of personal letters to Ann W. Morris and her mother, also named Ann, of Germantown and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The younger Ann W. Morris received 3 letters from her friend Mary between June 10, 1817, and March 4, [1818]. Mary wrote about her life in West Point, New York, where she often attended parties and balls, though she missed her friends in Pennsylvania and encouraged Morris to plan a visit. Mary occasionally referred to cadets and officers from the United States Military Academy, promising Ann that, should she visit, many men would take interest in her, though she reported that their hours of liberty were severely restricted. In her letter of June 10, 1817, she mentioned an upcoming visit by President Monroe, for whom she intended to bake a cake.
The final letter, written to Morris's mother, also named Ann, pertains to family and personal news (May 12, 1818). Her correspondent mentioned an uncle who had effectively raised several of his siblings and noted that people educated in England tended to have significantly different political views than people educated in the United States.
Luke Morris married Ann Willing (1767-1850), the daughter of Charles Willing and Elizabeth H. Carrington, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 9, 1786. They had six children: Ann W. (d. 1820), Abby Willing, Thomas Willing (1792-1852), Elizabeth Carrington, Margaretta Hare, and Susan Sophia (b. 1800). Abby Willing and her husband, Justus Johnson, lived in Germantown, Pennsylvania, with their five children: Luke Morris, Ann Morris, Anthony Morris, Susan E., and Charles Willing.
Ann W. Morris's friend Mary moved with her family from Germantown, Pennsylvania, to West Point, New York, around 1817. Around that time, her father was ordered to work on military surveys in New York City and South Carolina.
