Lot M. Morrill

Lot M. Morrill was born on May 3, 1813, in Belgrade (in modern-day Maine, then a part of Massachusetts) to Peaslee and Nancy (Macomber) Morrill.[2] He was of entirely English ancestry, his earliest immigrant ancestor was Abraham Morrill, who came to America from England in 1632 as part of the Great Puritan migration.[3] The Morrill family was very large; Lot having been one of 14 children. His older brother Anson P. Morrill was a prominent U.S. statesman. After attending common school, Morrill taught at a local academy to earn money to go to college. At the age of 18, Morrill attended Waterville College.[2] After briefly attending Waterville, Morrill served as principal of a private western New York college for a year. Morrill returned to Maine and studied law under Justice Fuller in Readfield.[2] Morrill passed the bar in 1839, and built up a successful law practice. At this time Morrill began to associate with the Democratic Party and was popular speaker among his Democratic friends.[2]

Morrill entered politics as a speaker for early temperance movement in Maine and other political movements. In 1841, having become locally famous, Morrill moved to Augusta, Maine, where he spoke in front of Maine's capital legislative committees.[2] As a speaker, Morrill gained much experience in state politics. Morrill started a law practice in Augusta; his partners were James W. Bradbury and Richard D. Rice. In 1849, Morrill became chairman of Maine's Democratic Party and served in this position until 1856.[2] As a Democrat, Morrill was elected to Maine's House of Repusentatives in 1854.[2] Morrill began to break from his party's platform starting in 1855 eventually changing over to the Republican Party; having opposed Democratic concessions to slave states.[2] During the Presidential election of 1856, Morrill believed James Buchanan was a good candidate, however he stated the Democratic Party's platform was "a flagrant outrage upon the country and an insult to the North".[2] Morrill's change of political views were shared by his brother, Anson P. Morrill, and his friend and future Vice President Hannibal Hamlin.[2] Morrill, completely severed ties with the Democratic Party and formally became a Republican in 1856.[2] As a member of the Republican Party, Morrill was elected a Maine state senator in 1856, serving as Senate President. He was the first Republican to hold the position which would be held by Republicans until 1964, with one brief exception. He was elected Governor of Maine in 1858.[2] (His brother Anson P. Morrill also served as Maine's governor.) Morrill served as Maine's governor until January 1861 when he was elected to the U.S. Senate to replace Hannibal Hamlin, who had left his seat to become Abraham Lincoln's running mate.[2]

Bureau of Engraving and Printing portrait of Morrill as Secretary of the Treasury.

Morrill was appointed Treasury Secretary by President Ulysses S. Grant; having served from 1876 to 1877 and for five days under President Rutherford B. Hayes. His appointment was in part due to the resignation of previous reformer Sec. Benjamin Bristow who successfully prosecuted and shut down the notorious Whiskey Ring scandal. Bristow resigned due to friction between himself and President Grant over Bristow's zealous reforming in the Treasury Department and potential Presidential run in 1876. Sec. Morrill, upon his assumption to office, was in charge of all the top secret and confidential files left over during Bristow's Whiskey Ring prosecutions. Although Sec. Morrill did not have the reputation of a financial authority, he was believed to have political integrity and it was thought he would run the department as well as George S. Boutwell, Grant's first Treasury Secretary.[1] Morrill upon his appointment submission by President Grant was immediately approved by the Senate without question.[5] Morrill's appointment was popularly received by the press and Wall Street.[5] Morrill's resignation from the Senate caused a vacancy which Gov. Seldon Connor filled by appointing Morrill's rival James G. Blaine as Maine's Senator.

Following his term in the Grant Administration, he returned to Maine and became Collector of Customs for the Port of Portland, Maine.

He died in 1883 in Augusta, Maine, leaving his wife Charlotte and four daughters. He was interred at Forest Grove Cemetery in that city.[7] His Augusta home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Speech in Congress, February 1, 1866:

"I admit that this species of legislation Civil Rights Act of 1866 is absolutely revolutionary. But are we not in the midst of a revolution? Is the Senator from Kentucky utterly oblivious to the grand results of four years of war? Are we not in the midst of a civil and political revolution which has changed the fundamental principles of our government in some respects? ... There was a civilization based on servitude.... Where is that? ... Gone forever.... We have revolutionized this Constitution of ours to that extent and every substantial change in the fundamental constitution of a country is a revolution.[8]

The revenue cutter USRC Morrill was named for him.

• United States Congress. "Lot M. Morrill (id: M000970)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved May 13, 2009.
• Chernow, Ron (2017). Grant. New York: Penguin Books. pp. 823–825. ISBN 978-0143110637.
• Treasury biography