Born a slave, Morris attended seminary then preached at Centennial Baptist Church in Helena, Arkansas.

[1] Following emancipation, Morris attended schools in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Dalton, Georgia, and Stevenson, Alabama.

[3] Morris was named the first president of the National Baptist Convention (NBC) in 1895, a role that he served for the rest of his life.

The NBC had been formed that year after the merger of three black Baptist organizations, including the Foreign Missionary Convention, which Morris had led.

[4] Afterward he was named to the executive committee of the Baptist World Alliance and was vice president of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ.

[1] In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt named Morris an emissary to the Congo Free State to investigate abuses committed against natives.