He and his wife, Theodora Morse, became a successful songwriting team for Tin Pan Alley.

Listed as Terriss & Morse, they were one of the earliest Tin Pan Alley husband-wife songwriting teams.

[2] His song "Blue Bell, the Dawn is Waking..." became popular in Germany shortly after WW1 due to its marching rhythm.

In 1920, Erich Tessmer wrote German lyrics,[3] and the song was performed by the Freikorps.

[5] When the Nazis came to power, they used the song as a Hitler Youth march with a newer version of lyrics "Deutschland, du Land der Treue".