Male, born 1864-11-18, died 1942-11-09


Professional History

Draftsman, Office of the Chief Engineer, Oregon and Washington Territory Railroad Company, c. 1887; Chief Draftsman, Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company, 1888-1889; Engineer in Charge of Bridges, Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company, 1890; Draftsman, City of Seattle, Engineering Department, Seattle, WA, 1891-1893; Inspector, City of Seattle, Engineering Department, Seattle, WA, 1893-1895; Instrument Man, Surveying Teams, US Government, Engineering Department, Forts Flagler (Jefferson County, WA), Fort Worden (Port Townsend, WA) and Fort Casey (Whidbey Island, WA). The Endicott Board, a combined military and civilian group put together by President Grover Cleveland issued a report in 1886 indicating that fortifications were needed to safeguard 29 port locations around the US from potential attack. In WA State, these forts were erected as part of this 20-year initiative. Assistant City Engineer, City of Seattle, Engineering Department, 1896-1897; In 1892, Reginald Thomson (1856-1949) became the department's head, and began a period of intense activity, improving the City water supply system, sewage system and regrading the city's downtown area. During this time, according to Bagley, he "...relocated the Cedar river pipe line from Swan lake to Beacon Hill." (See Clarence Bagley's History of Seattle From the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, Vol. 3, [Chicago: S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1916], pages 694.) Junior Engineer, US Government, Engineering Department, 1898-1904; Assistant Engineer, US Government, Engineering Department, 1905-1906; during this period, 1898-1906, McMorris worked on the construction of Fort Flagler's and Fort Ward's (on Bainbridge Island) fortification. (Fortification included building numerous reinforced concrete bunkers and floating batteries stocked with cannons and mortars.) In 1906, he directed the placement of batteries on Corregidor Island in the Philippines. District Engineer, City of Seattle, Engineering Department, Seattle, WA, c. 1907; Field Engineer and Superintendent of Construction, City of Seattle, Engineering Department, Seattle, WA, 11/1907; Executive Officer, City of Seattle, Engineering Department, Seattle, WA, c. 1908-1909; Principal Assistant to Virgil N. Bogue, Engineer of the Seattle Municipal Plans Commission, Seattle, WA, 1910-1911; Bogue's group came up with the ambitious plan to create a Beaux-Arts civic center for Seattle that failed to get popular support in a citywide vote. Court Engineer, City of Seattle, Engineering Department, Seattle, WA, 1912-c. 1916; He was the City Engineer of Seattle, serving 07/1931 to 07/1932. (This information, much of it derived from Clarence Bagley, History of Seattle From the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, Vol. 3, [Chicago: S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1916], pages 694-697, was compiled by Catherine Westergaard, 03/11/2014.) The rapidity with which McMorris changed jobs underscored the large number of large infrastructure projects that were being undertaken in Western WA during the early 20th century. and how plentiful work was for competent engineers.

Member, Pacific Northwest Society of Engineers; Member, American Society of Civil Engineers;

Personal

Born in Coles County, IL, McMorris's family relocated to CA while he was a boy, where he had his elementary school education. They moved to Dayton, WA, where Daniel attended high school. McMorris worked throughout Washington State for much of his career. He died in Seattle at the age of 77, nine days shy of this 78th birthday, and was buried in the Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Seattle.

His parents were Elias James and Martha Ellen (McKenzie) McMorris. According to Bagley: "His ancestors on the paternal side emigrated from Scotland to America before the Revolutionary War and settled in Virginia. Subsequently members of this family removed to Ohio, where the birth of Elias James McMorris occurred. His wife was also of Scotch descent, her ancestors coming to this country from the same section of Scotland as the McMorris family. The McKenzies also settled in Virginia, whence representatives of the family removed to Indiana, where Mrs. Martha Ellen McMorris was born. She died July 27, 1913, when seventy-one years of age, and Mr. McMorris dies on the 27th of April of that year, when seventy-four years old. Both passed away on the Pacific coast, where they had resided for many years, as they emigrated to California in 1871, passing through Chicago during the Great Fire." (See Clarence Bagley, History of Seattle From the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, Vol. 3, [Chicago: S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1916], pages 694.)

Daniel McMorris married Nancy Ellen Edington (born in Marshfield, MO) at Dayton, WA, 01/04/1888. He may have married twice. His spouse was listed as "Marjory Mcmorris" according to the Washington Death Index. (See "Washington State Death Records - Daniel W - Marjory Mcmorris - Elias Mcmorris - Et Al.,"Accessed 03/12/2014.)

He and Nancy had five children: Alfred William (born c. 1892), who attended the University of Washington and became a civil engineer, Edith Adell Krekeler (born c. 1896), Harold Edlington (born c. 1907), James (born c. 1911) and Daniel Webster, Jr., (born c. 1913).

McMorris was very active in the Masonic groups in Seattle and elsewhere around Puget Sound. Member, Arctic Club, Seattle, WA; Member, Municipal League of Seattle, Seattle, WA; Bagley said of his character: "Mr. McMorris has a wide acquaintance in this city and those who know him most intimately esteem him most highly not only for his ability but also for his uprightness and consideration of others." Clarence Bagley, History of Seattle From the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, Vol. 3, [Chicago: S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1916], page 697.)


PCAD id: 4355