Historic Quaker Houses of Philadelphia

The Reynolds-Morris House
225 South Eighth Street
Built: 1787

The Reynolds-Morris House is Philadelphia’s finest surviving example of a center-hall house built in the city during the Georgian era. This was the home of the Morris family for seven generations.
The house was built in 1797 by Dr. William Reynolds and his brother John Reynolds, a brickmaker. Luke and Anna Morris purchased the home in 1817. The house remained in the Morris family for 140 years, until 1957.
The bricks are laid in Flemish bond with glazed headers. The entry frontispiece is Federal style, with fanlight, pediment, and reeded pilasters. Above the windows stone lintels are scored to resemble dressed stone. Two marble datestones under the eaves are dated 1787. The facade has two firemarks: Hand in Hand and Green Tree. There is a brick watertable laid in American bond. Two decorative belt courses add horizontal accents to the facade. Image source: Lee J. Stoltzfus

The First Morris Family who Lived Here
Luke Wistar Morris and Ann Pancoast Morris:

Above: Portraits of Luke Wistar Morris and wife Ann Pancoast Morris. Artist: School of Gilbert Stuart. Image source: Freemans / Hindman.

Quaker businessman Luke Wistar Morris and wife Ann Pancoast Morris were the first Morrises to live in this house. It had been constructed by the Reynolds brothers 20 years earlier. Luke and Ann Morris married at the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting in 1800. They purchased this house in 1817. The family’s brewing business, Luke W. Morris & Co., was located at Dock Steet. Luke Morris also became involved in the lumber business.

 Luke Wistar Morris’ Father - Samuel Morris:

Above left: 1798 engraving of Samuel Morris by Charles Balthazar Julien Fevret de Saint-Mémin.
Above right:1897 oil painting by Meyer Dantzig. Image source: Philadelphia Museum of Art.

During the Revolutionary War businessman / brewer Samuel Morris left his Quaker pacifist traditions to become a captain with George Washington’s Continental Army. He led the Philadelphia Light Horse Troop.
Morris was read out of meeting (disowned) by the Quakers for joining the military. However he continued to wear plain Quaker clothing. He also continued to speak with Quaker plain speech, using the words “thee” and “thou” instead of the word “you.” Quaker plain language was a statement against social hierarchy and class divisions.
Samuel Morris continued to regularly attend Quaker meetings, despite being officially disowned for not being a pacifist. Former members were welcome to attend Friends’ regular meetings but could not serve on committees. Samuel Morris was known as “Christian Sam” because of his benevolence and his kind personality. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly in the 1780s.

Above: This beautiful center-hall staircase is an unusual luxury among Philadelphia’s 18th-century townhouses. This house was built on two lots, rather than the usual one lot, The additional space allowed for a floorplan typical of a large, full-Georgian home.
More typical Philadelphia townhouses of that era had side passages instead of center passages. Those side-hall layouts were influenced by London townhouses. Center-passage floorplans were more typical of rural houses.
Today the house is a boutique hotel. Image sources: Morris House Hotel.

 Historic American Buildings Survey
Measured Drawings of the Reynolds-Morris House
Drawn in 1932:

Above: Measured and drawn by B. Glicker, 1932. Image source: HABS, Library of Congress.

Above: Measured and drawn by H. Metzger, 1932. Image source: HABS, Library of Congress.

  Reynolds-Morris House Description
Philadelphia Register of Historic Places:

Above: Reynolds-Morris House in the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places (1999) by Laura M. Spina and Elizabeth Harvey.

 1972 Photograph by Renowned HABS Photographer
Jack Boucher:

Above: HABS photograph by Jack E. Boucher, 1972, of the National Park Service. Image source: HABS, Library of Congress.

 Ornate Chimneypieces in First Floor Front Rooms:

Above and below: The two front rooms of the first floor showcase matching chimneypiece. Design details include crossetted overmantels, Greek-fret carving on cornices and friezes, and marble fireplace surrounds. The original surface has been removed from the chimneypiece in the photograph below.

Above: Original oil paintings on the overmantle are portaits of the Quaker couple who moved here in 1817: Luke Wistar Morris and wife Ann Pancoast Morris. Morris family members lived in this home for the next 140 years.

  Luke Wistar Morris’ ancestry includes Quakers from both England and Germany. His immigrant ancestor from London, Anthony Morris (1654-1721), was active there in the Society of Friends. In 1682 he immigrated to America with wife, Mary Jones (d. 1688).
Luke Morris’ German Quaker ancestry includes his mother Rebecca Wistar (1735-1791). She was the daughter of German immigrant Caspar Wistar who joined the Quakers after emigrating here from Germany. He established the first successful glass factory in the Thirteen Colonies: Wistarburg Glass Works.

 An 1859 Photo of the Reynolds-Morris House
Before the Adjoining Houses were Removed:

Above: When this house was built in 1787 it was located on the outskirts of the city. The home was a distance away from the fashionable townhouses on Second Street and Third Street. In the early 20th century Morris family members restored the house and removed two adjacent townhouses.

Above: Historical plaques beside the front door from the National Register of Historic Places and from the Philadelphia Historical Commission.

1950: A Beautifully Illustrated History
of the Reynolds-Morris House:

Above: Images source: The Wistar House, N. W. Ayer & Son, The Ayer Press, Washington Square, 1950.
Reprinted 1974 in the nomination form for the National Register of Historic Places.

  In the 1960s the Morris-Reynolds House was owned by the advertising agency N. W. Ayer and Son, Inc. as a guest house for the company’s visitors. In 1950 the company published and printed a beautifully designed booklet about the history of the house. Some of the illustrations are shown above.

 Luke and Ann Morris’ Rare “Quaker Farmer” Porcelain:

  Above: In May 2023, this group of Chinese Export porcelain sold for $47,250 at Freeman’s / Hindman Auction in Philadelphia. The pattern is “Quaker Farmer” or “Cow China" from ca. 1800 to 1810. It is in an rare green color,
The auction catalog explains that the original owners of this service were likely Luke Wistar Morris and his second wife, Ann Pancoast Morris. They were the first Morrises to own the Reynolds-Morris house (portraits shown above).
According to Morris family tradition the pattern source for “Quaker Farmer” porcelain is an ink drawing by Mary Hollingsworth Morris, sister-in-law of Luke Wistar Morris. (See below.)
The Hollingsworth and Morris families were much invested in the China trade. Mary’s brother, Henry Hollingsworth presumably took his sister’s Quaker farmer drawing with him on a voyage to China. While questions remain about the design source of this china, numerous examples of “Quaker Farmer” wares have survived within this Morris family.

Above: Quaker farmer drawing attributed to Mary Hollingsworth Morris.
Image source: Philadelphians and the China Trade, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1984.

Reynolds-Morris House Links: