Born to a Quaker family in Philadelphia, his father, William Morris Jr, was a dry goods merchant who died in 1766.
His mother, Margaret Hill Morris, moved John and his three younger siblings to Burlington, New Jersey, to be with her sister’s family.
Also a Quaker, Margaret used her knowledge of medicine to treat soldiers during the Revolutionary War and kept journals of her experiences during that time.
Together, they had six children: Sarah (1784-1794), William Stanton (1785-1819), Benedict (1787-1790), Martha Milcah (1788-1826), Mary (1790-1790), and Margaret (1792-1832).
[3] Morris participated in the founding of the Physicians College of Philadelphia with Benjamin Rush, which held its first official meeting on January 2, 1787.