MORRISTOWN

1 Town (1990 pop. 16,189), seat of Morris co., N N.J., on the Whippany River; settled c.1710, inc. 1865. Although chiefly residential, it has stone quarries and clothing-manufacturing plants. Morristown has also become a burgeoning center of corporate activity. It was a principal area of Revolutionary maneuvers, particularly in the winters of 1777 and 1779–80, when the Continental army encamped there. Benedict Arnold was court-martialed in the town. S. F. B. Morse and Alfred Vail perfected (c.1837) the telegraph there. The town is the seat of Walsh College. Of interest are the Schuyler-Hamilton House (1760), where Alexander Hamilton courted (1779–80) Elizabeth Schuyler (it has become headquarters for the Daughters of the American Revolution); and the courthouse (1826). Other notable residents of Morristown were the cartoonist Thomas Nast, the writer Bret Harte, and the humorist Frank R. Stockton. Morristown National Historical Park (see National Parks and Monuments, table) includes the Ford Mansion, which was Washington's headquarters in 1779–80; a historical museum at the rear of the Ford Mansion; and the reconstructed sites of encampment of the Continental Army at Fort Nonsense and at Jockey Hollow. 2 City (1990 pop. 21,385), seat of Hamblen co., NE Tenn., in a fertile valley of a mountainous region; settled 1783, inc. 1867. Furniture, canned goods, textiles, and plastics are produced in the city, which also has diversified agriculture. Morristown College is there, and nearby Cherokee Lake provides recreation.

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