MORRIS, NELSON (1839–1907), U.S. meat-packing executive. Morris, who was born in the Black Forest region of Germany, was taken to the U.S. at the age of 12. In 1854 he began working in the New York stockyards and two years later, he went into the meat-packing business for himself in Chicago. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Morris received a contract to supply meat to the Union armies. He subsequently supplied all the meat for the Army of the West later in the war, and filled meat-supply contracts for the governments of England, Germany, and France. His firm of Morris & Company was one of the largest in the U.S.

His son IRA NELSON MORRIS (1875–1942), who was born in Chicago, was a diplomat and author. Morris early severed his active connection with his father's firm. He served as commissioner-general to Italy (1913) and as U.S. minister to Sweden (1914–23). His books include:With the Trade Winds (1897); andFrom an American Legation (1926).