Morris graduated from General Theological Seminary in New York City in 1846, was ordained to the diaconate and subsequently to the priesthood on April 27, 1847.

While serving at St. Luke's, Morris organized an effort to supply food, medicine, clothing, and bedding to sick and wounded troops at the Battle of Gettysburg.

[1] On December 3, 1868, he was elected as the second missionary Bishop of Oregon, following Thomas Fielding Scott, who had died the previous year.

[citation needed] Morris was consecrated December 3, 1868, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and arrived in Portland, Oregon, on June 2, 1869.

Their son, Benjamin W. Morris, became a noted architect, designer of the interiors on the RMS Queen Mary, the 1928 annex to the Morgan Library, and the Bank of New York Building, among others.