So just who was this Robert Morris, who gets the main street and this Inn named after him? According to one of his contemporaries:
“This gentleman was one of those instances out of many to evince that it is not always necessary to be high borne and educated to become a conspicuous character... His natural abilities o’er leaped every other deficiency—as a mercantile genius, ‘twas thought he had not his equal in this land—as a companion and bon vivant, he was incomparable…”
Throughout the first half of the 18th century, Oxford was a bustling British Colonial port. But it may be that June 7, 1738 was the beginning of the boom years. That was the day that Robert Morris Sr. arrived in Oxford to manage the affairs of Foster, Cunliffe and Sons, a powerful British mercantile firm based in Liverpool, England. He was a brilliant trader who made a fortune for Cunliffe and himself and changed Oxford’s fortunes in the process. Under his direction, harvests of local tobacco filled the holds of outgoing ships, which returned from Europe and the Caribbean with manufactured goods and luxury items. Many ships arrived from Africa with slaves which were essential for the success of Eastern Shore plantations and businesses.
But Morris’s success came to a sudden end. On a hot, humid day in July, 1750, a Cunliffe ship arrived in Oxford harbor and as was the custom, prepared to fire a cannon salute in honor of Mr. Morris. Unfortunately, the longboat that held Mr. Morris was only 20 or so yards away from the ship, when the gunner mistook a wave of a handkerchief for the signal to fire. A large piece of cloth wadding from the cannon hit Mr. Morris in the arm. He died of infection three days later, killed by a shot fired in his honor. Not only was this the sad end of Robert Morris Sr., it was also the beginning of the end of Oxford’s boom years. Unfortunately, Mr. Morris’s replacement from Liverpool, who called this place “A Purgatory of Rogues and Fools,” was not as successful and Oxford slipped into decline as it entered the war with England. Robert Morris Sr. is buried at the White Marsh Cemetery in Trappe, Maryland.
And by the way, Robert Morris Sr. was the father of Robert Morris Jr. Though he lived with his father in Oxford only briefly before being sent to Philadelphia, Junior succeeded spectacularly. He became a key financier of the Revolutionary War and was one of only two men to sign all three of the nation's principal documents: The Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution.
George Washington offered Morris the nation's first Treasury Secretary position, but Morris instead suggested Alexander Hamilton. During and after his service in the Senate, Morris went deeply into debt by speculating on land which led to the Panic of 1796–97. Unable to pay his creditors, he was detained in debtors’ prison, he lived a private life in a modest home in Philadelphia until his death in 1806. He is buried at Christ Church in Philadelphia.