Morey Hall in the 1930s	Morey Hall

William C. Morey, note that his plaque hanging in Morey Hall shows him being an emeritus professor until 1928.

Morey Hall opened in October 1930 on the north side of Eastman Quadrangle.  It was named for long-time faculty member William C. Morey, who had enrolled as an undergraduate in 1861 but left after his first year to enlist in the Army at the age of 19.  He served in several campaigns and was promoted several times, ending the war as a brevet Lieutenant Colonel.  He was present when Lee surrendered at Appomattox.  After the war he returned to the University and received an A.B. degree in 1868 with an M.A. in 1871.  He was appointed professor of Latin Languages and Literature in 1877 and Professor of History and Political Science in 1883.  He retired in 1920 and died in 1925.  Morey received an honorary Ph.D. from Franklin College in 1881 and an honorary Doctor of Civil Law (D.C.L) from Denison University in 1903.

The building was occupied by administration offices, social studies, languages and literature, and mathematics.  Although it had five stories with three facing the quadrangle, the building did not have an elevator until Rettnet Hall was built in 2013, which connected to the west end of Morey.   The project included an elevator in Morey that all floors of both buildings.

Morey Hall has never been completely remodeled, although some cosmetic improvements have been made.  The original heating apparatus is largely intact.

References
1868 Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate, Volume 40
Pages 245-247: To be majors by brevet.
William C. Morey, late captain of the Nineteenth New York Cavalry, for gallant and meritorious services during the war, to date from March 13, 1865.
To be lieutenant-colonels by brevet.
Brevet Major William C. Morey, late captain of the Nineteenth New York Cavalry, for gallant and meritorious services during the war, to date from March 13, 1865.
Andrew Johnson, May 12, 1868

1880 History of Kalamazoo County, Michigan, by Samuel W. Durant
Page 149:  The Kalamazoo Theological College.
William C. Morey, A.M., became an instructor on the resignation of Dr. Wayland, and soon after was seleced Professor of History and Political Economy.  He resigned this chair in 1872, to accept a professorship in the University of Rochester, where he remains till now. On his retirement, Rev. William T. Stott was made Professor of Natural Sciences, but after accepting the appointment, and having served the college one term, he was called to the presidency of Franklin College, and resigned.  He still remains president of the college which has twice deprived Kalamazoo of an able teacher to fill that office.

1883 "Herbert Spencer in the Light of History," by William C. Morey, The Baptist Quarterly Review 5(19):279-309 (1883)

1884 Outlines of Roman Law: Comprising Its Historical Growth and General Principles, by William Carey Morey

1886 An Outline History of the University of Rochester 
Page 25: 1869. Colonel William C. Morey (Class of '68) was appointed Tutor in Latin.
Page 26: 1872. Colonel William C. Morey (1868) succeeded the Rev. A.J. Sage as Professor the Latin Language and Literature.
Page 30: 1883. William C. Morey became Professor of History and Political Science. 

1891 "The genesis of a written constitution," by William C Morey, Reprinted from the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, April 1891.

1895 Papers and Addresses of Martin B. Anderson, LL. D., Volume 1, edited by William C. Morey | Volume 2 |

1900 General Catalogue of the University of Rochester, 1850-1900
Pages 74-75:  William Carey Morey, A.B.; A.M., 1871, Ph. D., Franklin college, 1881. A. Δ. Φ.; Φ. B. K. Received 1st Sophomore declamation prize; 1st Davis prize medal. Prepared at Wyoming, N. Y.; enlisted 130th N. Y. infantry, 1862; regiment changed to 1st N. Y. dragoons (19th N. Y. cavalry), 1863; second lieutenant, 1863; first lieutenant, 1864; captain, 1864; brevet major and lieutenant colonel, 1865; served under Gen. Sheridan in Wilderness campaign, Richmond raid, Trevillian raid, Shenandoah valley campaign, James river raid, last Petersburg campaign, present at Lee's surrender at Appomatox Court House; student Rochester theological seminary, 1868–1869; tutor University of Rochester, 1869–1870; professor of history and English literature, Kalamazoo college, Mich., 1870-1872; professor of Latin language and literature, University of Rochester, 1872-1877; professor of Latin and history, 1877–1883; professor of history and political science, 1883–. Member of American social science association; American historical society; American institute of civics; American academy of political and social science. Author of Outlines of Roman law, 1884; Genesis of a written constitution, 1891; First State constitutions, 1892; Sources of American federalism, 1895; Papers and addresses of Martin B. Anderson, LL. D., 1895; Outlines of Roman history, 1900; contributions to Baptist quarterly review, and other journals.
Address, 94 Oxford St., Rochester, N. Y.

1900 Regimental History of the First New York Dragoons: (originally the 130th 130th N.Y. Vol. Infantry) During Three Years of Active Service in the Great Civil War by James Riley Bowen
Page 317-323:  List of engagements in which the First New York Dragoons (originally the One Hundred Thirtieth Infantry) participated, by William C. Morey, Captain Co. D, First New York Dragoons, Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel, United States Volunteers.

1901 Outlines of Roman History: To the Revival of the Empire of Charlemagne, by William Carey Morey

1902 The Government of New York: Its History and Administration, by William Carey Morey

1907 Memorial Volume of Denison University, 1831-1906
Pages 197-198:  Honorary Degrees Granted by Denison University
Doctor of Civil Law, Prof. W. C. Morey, 1903

1903 Address of Prof. William C. Morey, D.C.L., to the Rochester Bar Association on "International Right of Way", December 8, 1903, by William Carey Morey

1906 Outlines of Ancient History: For the Use of High Schools and Academies, by William Carey Morey

1908 Outlines of Greek History: With a Survey of Ancient Oriental Nations, by William Carey Morey

1909 The treaty-making power and the legislative authority of the states, by William C. Morey

1910 American education and American citizenship; an address delivered before the Associated alumni of the University of Rochester, by William Carey Morey, June 13, 1910

1910 Rochester Theological Seminary General Catalogue 1850 to 1910 
Pages 68-69:  William Carey Morey, b. Attleboro, Mass., May 23, 1843; 2nd lieut. 19th N. Y. Cav., 1863–64; 1st lieut. and capt., 1st N. Y. Dragoons, 1864-65; brevet major and brevet lieut. col. U. S. Vols., 1865; U. R. 1868; R. T. S. 1868-69; tutor in Latin, U. R. 1869–70; prof. History and English Lit., Kal. C., 1870-72; prof. Latin Lang. and Lit., U. R., 1872–77; Latin and History, ib., 1877-83; History and Political Science, ib., 1883–. Author, Outlines of Roman Law; editor of Papers and Addresses of Martin B. Anderson, LL. D.; Genesis of a Written Constitution; First State Constitutions; Sources of American Federalism; Rome and the Provinces; Outlines of Roman History; Government of New York; Outlines of Greek History; Outlines of Ancient History. Ph.D., F. C., 1881; D.C.L., D. U., 1903 and U. R., 1908.  Address, 94 Oxford St., Rochester, N. Y.

1911 The Study of Roman Law in Liberal Education, by William C. Morey

1912 New York in the War of the Rebellion, 1861 to 1865
Page 1147-1150:  First Regiment of Dragoons.  Company D.
Second Lieutenants:  William C. Morey, from August 1, 1863 to January 18, 1864.
First Lieutenants:  William C. Morey, from January 18 to December 24, 1864.
Captains:  William C. Morey, from December 24 to June 30, 1865.
Page 1158:  Morey, William C. age 19 years; enrolled August 16, 1862, at Wyoming to serve three years; mustered in as Private, Company D, 130th Infantry, August 19, 1862; promoted Sergeant, September 3, 1862; mustered in as Second Lieutenant, August 1, 1863; as First Lieutenant, January 18, 1864; as Captain, December 24, 1864; mustered out with company, June 30, 1865, at Cloud's Mills, Va.; Lieutenant-Colonel, U. S. Volunteers, by brevet, March 13, 1865; commissioned Second Lieutenant, August 21, 1863, with rank from August 1, 1863, vice J. M. Bills, promoted; First Lieutenant, February 17, 1864, with rank from January 18, 1864, vice J. M. Bills, resigned; Captain, January 31, 1865, with rank from December 10, 1864, vice Knapp promoted.

1915 Ancient Peoples: A Revision of Morey's "Outlines of Ancient History", by William Carey Morey

1920  Doctor William Carey Morey, University of Rochester, Alumni Federation.
A hand lettered and illuminated tribute presented to Doctor Morey with a purse of gold at the time of his retirement in 1920.

1925 "William C. Morey Dies; Former Professor of History in the University of Rochester Was 81," The New York Times, January 21, 1925, Page 21.
Former Professor of History in the University of Rochester was 81.
Rochester, Jan. 21. - Professor William Carey Morey, Ph.D., D.C.L., from 1883 to 1920 Professor of History and Political Science in the University of Rochester and head of the University's departments of history and political science, died at his home in this city shortly after midnight.  He left a widow, Margaret Parkhurst Morey.  Funeral services will take place in this city with burial at Coldwater, Mich.

1925 Col William Carey Morey (1843-1925) grave, Oak Grove Cemetery, Coldwater, Branch County Michigan
In 1862 he entered the University of Rochester, but left shortly afterward to join the Union Army. At the end of the Civil War, he retired from the army as brevet major and lieutenant colonel of the cavalry. He then re-entered the University of Rochester, graduating in 1868. He was a student at Rochester Theological Seminary for one Year and a tutor at the University of Rochester before becoming a professor of history and English literature at Kalamazoo College. In 1872 he returned to the University of Rochester, teaching Latin language and literature until 1877. From 1877 to 1883 he was professor of Latin and history, and from 1883 until his retirement in 1920, he taught history and political science.

1925 "$18,000 Estate Left by Dr. W.C. Morey, U. of R. Professor," Democrat and Chronicle, August 1, 1925, Page 15.
Dr. William C. Morey, former professor emeritus of history at the University of Rochester, left a net estate of $18,517.46, according to a transfer tax deposition filed yesterday.
Since Morey's Death last February, royalties on five books of classical history have added $1,086.98 to the estate.  According t the report filed in Surrogate's Course by the Security Trust Company, executor of his estate.  Professor Morey's "Ancient Peoples" is the most popular of his books, drawing $616.72 in royalties since he died.  Other receipts were "Roman Law," $18.02; "Outlines of Ancient History," $161.57; "Outline of Greek and Roman History," $20.48; Outlines of Roman History," $101.11; and "Outlines of Greek History," $169.05.

1950 The University of Rochester: The First Hundred Years | pdf |
Page 18:  Nevertheless, Professor Morey went right on teaching history, government, and Roman law in masterly fashion. Though some thought him dogmatic, one of his students wrote:
"I would especially mention Dr. William C. Morey, 'Uncle Bill,' as he was affectionately called, as the man who taught me to look on all sides of every question, to recognize that all sides have some truth, and that the highest truth lies between the extremes."
Morey Hall might therefore be said to be overcrowded with "all the sides of truth," and should be enlarged before it bursts.

1977 History of the University of Rochester, 1850-1962, by Arthur J. May.  Expanded edition with notes
Chapter 7, The Civil War
On Sunday, April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House, and among those present was a young man destined to write his name large in Rochester annals--William Carey Morey. "...The cavalry were forming for a charge," he set down in his diary, "when a flag of truce came to our lines from Gen. Lee.... The firing ceased and was succeeded by the most enthusiastic cheering.... When the result was known to be 'unconditional surrender,' went... to the house where the conference [with General Ulysses S. Grant] was held; saw Gen. Lee as he left the house, mount his horse and ride back to his dilapidated army."
Chapter 9: University Gallery
Why should the building on the River Campus in which the humanities and the social studies are taught be known by the name of Morey, it has often been asked by students and visitors to the University. Like its counterparts, Dewey and Lattimore Halls, fronting on the Eastman Quadrangle, Morey Hall is a constant reminder of an immortal in the U. of R. saga. By way of explanation, a memorial marker at the Morey Hall entrance speaks of William Carey Morey as a patriot who defended his country's life, a scholar who interpreted the past with penetrating insight, a teacher who inspired students to exact and consistent thinking, [and] a friend who won affectionate admiration..."
After his first year as a student at the college, Morey enlisted in the Union Army. And throughout the Civil War, merging as a brevet lieutenant-colonel. Resuming his studies, he graduated in the class of 1868. Except for a short teaching experience elsewhere, his life was bound up with the U. of R. until he died in 1925, five years after he had laid down classroom duties. Invitations to cast in his fortunes with other institutions, such as Northwestern University, Yale, and the Minneapolis Library, Morey turned aside. If his accomplishments in productive scholarship are less impressive than Fairchild's, the impact of "Uncle Bill" upon the undergraduate body and the Rochester community was more general and deeper.
A student admirer, spokesman for hundreds, testified to the extra ordinary effectiveness of Morey in language that any dedicated college teacher might covet. He "... taught me to look on all sides of every question, to recognize that all sides have some truth, and that the highest truth lies between the extremes." True enough, the Interpres of 1876 alluded to Morey as "...conceited, foppish, as self-willed as a mule... sensitive to the very core," but if that appraisal was anything other than sardonic satire, it soon yielded to a radically different estimate.
Upon his retirement, the alumni of the college presented Morey with a purse of gold and an illuminated parchment which read in part, "Dear Uncle Bill: For fifty years you have faithfully served the U. of R. and by our scholarly attainments and your widely extended reputation have contributed to its ever-growing strength and standing. But more significant still is what you have done for us, the boys who come under your influence... we learned to love you, Uncle Bill--our teacher and our friend... "
Starting his teaching career as an instructor of Latin, Morey insisted that the students should learn by heart the Odes of Horace, and he quoted aphorisms of the Roman poet on every suitable occasion. More interested in subject matter than in the literary style of Roman men of letters, he stressed the historical and legal aspects of the ancient Empire. For instructional purposes, he prescribed the celebrated Institutes of Justinian, which led him easily and naturally into scholarly investigations of Roman law, on which he made himself an authority. He organized a course on Roman law--one of the first in the United States--noted for clarity and appeal, and in the process he developed a far greater concern for history than for Latin literature. To stimulate student interest, he converted the class into a Roman courtroom with counsel, witnesses, cross-examination, and so forth. President Anderson, who firmly believed in the values of the historical approach to any area of knowledge, recommended (1871) to the trustees that a new professorship in history and political science be instituted. University catalogues, it is true, listed courses in history, economics, and international law, but, if taught at all, these disciplines were sidelines of teachers in other departments of learning or of the chief executive himself. Anderson groomed Morey for a special chair in social studies, and Morey groomed himself.
In 1877 a semi-independent department, attached to the offerings in Latin, presented courses in medieval history, the history of civilization (formerly Anderson's sphere), and in Roman law, and shortly thereafter Morey introduced instruction in the American and English constitutions. So the way was prepared for a separate department of history and political science created in 1883. Study of the constitutional and political history of the United States was initiated four years later; and a "seminary in American history" was presently announced, reinforced by an extracurricular historical club for Seniors. More than previously, Morey conducted his courses in such a way as to impress undergraduates with the obligations of citizenship and to encourage positive participation in the great world of public affairs. To the success of that emphasis, to the profoundly inspirational quality of his teaching, a cloud of witnesses has testified. After President Anderson retired, Morey took over instruction in economics until a new department in that subject was set up.
Apart from contributions to Baptist and secular journals, Morey published a string of books on his scholarly concerns, notably on Roman law and history and on constitutional history. Besides, he edited The Papers and Addresses of Martin B. Anderson, a skillful selection from the voluminous writings of the "old-time" college President. Drawing upon his wartime experiences, Morey frequently delivered a famous lecture on "The Last Campaigns of the Civil War" to meetings of army veterans and other organizations.
His flair for working harmoniously with kindred spirits was shown during service as trustee of the Reynolds Library in Rochester; as a director of that institution he worked energetically to enlarge the resources and devised an original scheme for classification of the book collections--a service he also performed for the University library. As another means of promoting community cultural life, he assisted in founding the Rochester Historical Society, assumed responsibility for choosing topics to be investigated by its members and then discussed around a table, more or less in imitation of his seminar at the college. A good clubman, papers that he read to the "Pundits" exhibited the versatility of his mind and intellectual interests.
On the eve of his final withdrawal from the classroom, Morey's colleagues saluted him for "long and distinguished service to the college, the community, and the cause of learning." At his death, resolutions by the faculty stated that, "In the endeavor to apply the principles of human justice, between men and between nations, to the development of judicial and legislative codes, it was his task to study the relation of the ideal to the possible. As scholar and teacher he was judicial, keen, analytical, thorough, exacting in his intellectual standards. Abhorring loose thinking and shallow speaking, he trained his students to admire, if not always to practise, restraint and precision of style."
For the community, the Times-Union obituary asserted, "The greatest teacher is he who can not only impart knowledge and skillfully direct study, but can inspire and stimulate his students to think for themselves.... " That rare ability was possessed by Professor Morey.... He was an active force in the intellectual life of the city, a citizen of whom Rochester was justly proud.... "
Chapter 22, Oak Hill Becomes River Campus
Matching these buildings on the opposite side of the Quadrangle, and like them linked by colonnades, were the Samuel A. Lattimore Hall of chemistry and William Carey Morey Hall assigned to administration offices, social studies, languages and literatures, and mathematics. Owing to the sloping terrain, these two buildings had three stories on the front, but five to the north. By an incredible oversight, Morey was not fitted out with an elevator.
Chapter 26, The Depression Decade
For research purposes, the two lower floors on the north side of Morey Hall were converted into a laboratory of psychology.

2007 An unvarnished tale : the public and private Civil War writings of Porter Farley, 140th N.Y.V.

2014 "Rettner Fund supports River Campus renovation, preservation," Currents, April 26, 2014
Beginning this summer, the fund will initiate a multifloor renovation of Morey Hall, which connects to Ronald Rettner Hall for Media Arts and Innovation. Most notable is a renovation of the hall’s main lobby and corridor. Rettner has worked with University architects and designers to create a warm, open design that includes a new multifunctional space for events and meetings, and cosmetic updates will add comfort and vibrancy. He emphasizes that the project will protect the building’s existing beauty, including preserving its terrazzo flooring and enhancing its woodwork.

William Carey Morey papers, Rush Rhees Library Rare Books and Special Collections
The William Carey Morey Papers include the diary that Professor Morey kept while in 130th New York Infantry, the 1st New York Dragoons, 1863-65, as well as published and unpublished writings on English and American constitutional law, and report on Rochester schools, 1873.

© 2021 Morris A. Pierce