[1] Born in Litchfield County, Connecticut, James Morris spent his early life hoping and training to be a minister.

[2] However, after graduating from Yale College,[3] Morris accepted a commission of First Lieutenant from the Continental Army and joined the fight for American Independence.

[10] The South Farms section of the town of Litchfield, where he was born, was incorporated as a separate entity in 1859 and re-named Morris in his honor.

[12][13] Even as a young man, Morris displayed a disposition for education, borrowing often from the library in nearby Bethlehem, where his father was a member.

[15] Morris continued with Bellamy until the spring of 1770, when he spent the season studying under the South Farms minister Dr. Salmon Hurlburt.

"[17] Morris's tenure as an instructor in Litchfield was cut short when, within months of arriving, he received an unsolicited ensign's commission in the Connecticut militia, which he accepted.

[18] In his memoirs, Morris wrote of this time, stating that "The soldiers universally manifested a great respect for me, for my care of the sick and my attention to their wants, and for my sympathies in their distresses.

"[18] In late December 1776, Morris completed his commitment to the Connecticut militia and immediately accepted a commission in the Continental Army as a first lieutenant.

Despite his meager accommodations, Morris decided to make the best of his imprisonment in Philadelphia by negotiating with his jailors to borrow books from the so-called circulating library recently established by Benjamin Franklin in that city.

[20] One historian points to this time as when Morris was exposed to the philosophers that would be so influential in his later life as an educator: "From Milton, James Morris absorbed ideas in favor of healthy exercises to develop both body and mind at the same time; from Rollin, the danger of following custom blindly rather than reason; and from Locke, the novel idea that the English language was as important as Latin and Greek.

[7] Upon arrival, Morris's company, under the overall command of General George Washington, aided in Siege of Yorktown, the last major battle of the American Revolution.

[7] Specifically, Morris's company of light infantry provided support to the forlorn hope commanded by Colonel Alexander Hamilton.

[35] During the "second war with Great Britain", at the age of 61, Morris was commissioned as a First Major of the Second Regiment of Volunteers in the State of Connecticut.