Thomas Asbury Morris

Thomas Asbury Morris (28 April 1794 – 2 September 1874) was an American Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1836. He also distinguished himself as a Methodist Circuit rider, Pastor, and Presiding Elder, and as an Editor.

Thomas was born near Charleston (then in Virginia, now in West Virginia). He was the son of John and Margaret Morris, who settled on the Kanawha River about 1785.

Thomas' early education was obtained in the common schools, later pursuing special studies in a school taught by a William Paine, an Englishman. Before reaching manhood Thomas served three years as an assistant in the office of his brother Edmund, who was County Clerk. At the age of eighteen, Thomas was drafted to serve a six-month term in the War of 1812. Oweing to his youth, however, his family obtained a substitute for him, thereby allowing him to avoid military service (as was common in that day).

For some years Morris was a religious skeptic. His parents were of the Baptist faith. But in 1813, when Thomas was converted to the Christian faith, he united with the Methodist Episcopal (M.E.) Church. Thomas was licensed to preach 2 April 1814 and was ordained circa 1820 by Methodist Bishop Robert Richford Roberts. After serving as a Supply Pastor on a Methodist circuit, the Rev. Morris was admitted into the newly formed Ohio Annual Conference of the M.E. Church, September 1816.

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