Mote-Morris Home has stories
By Valerie Fields
(Daily Commercial Staff Writer)
Monday,August 28,1989 Leesburg, Fla
The face of the hosue has wrinkles.Its head has shingles falling off like gray hairs.
Many people passing the old, stately and ornate house at 1021 Main Street know nothing of it, some say. And many more have just forgotten it, they say. But the house at that address, the Mote-Morris House, has been there now for almost a century.In fact,it saw the turn of this century.Then ot felt the Depression.Later,it welcomed the boys home after the Vietnam War. In the 1960's,it heard "Ask not what you can do for your country..." And year after year in between,it watched Christmas parade down Main Street. And now its age is showing.The face of the house has wrinkles.Its head has shingles falling off like gray hairs. And its mouth has missing teeth: Two of the Victorian-styled outdoor balcony decorations are missing. "It's quickly aging," said one local curator. Rightfully so. It's 97 years old.
The house was built in 1892 by Lucretia and E. H. Mote,who had come to Florida 11 years earlier from Washington D.C., local historical accounts show.
Three years before Mote built the house in 1889, he purchased the property for it from John C. Love.Not much is known about Love, except that he owned a lot of property and gave many churches the property they now sit on.More is known about Mote.He was in the livery business, Leesburg Hertiage Society curator George Rast said. Rast collects historical items and memorabilia on the Mote-Morris House for the Hertiage Society. Mote was also an astute businessman, who, along with Col. David Tillson, built the Lake View Hotel,historical accounts show. Mote operated the hotel in the late 1800's for many years.
During this time, he also successfully ran a mercantile business and built the Mote Block in downtown Leesburg.The block still stands and is now referred to as the Stoer Building. In 1908,Mote apparently sold the house to Methodist bishop H. C. Morrison.Records show Morrison "occupied" the house in that year,but no documents indicate that Morrison bought the house,though later documents show he sold it. Morrison came to Leesbur g the year he bought the house and brought with him a wife and two sons, including one Dr.H. H. Morrison,who practiced family medicine in Leesburg for many years.The Morrison sons grew up in the white wooden house.
The view from the home included scenes that by then included the old Methodist church next door, the Methodist parsonage.Next to the Haynes home was the Winnie Dunklin home and next to it was the old J. Chester Lee home. The A. L. Miller home rounded out the Main Street block.When they were old enough, Bishop Morrison's sons left the city, but he successfuly persuaded them to return, Rast said. One son Horace Morrison, built the first home in what is now Palmora Park. In 1918, John Morris bought the Mote-Morris House.Morris, father of two sons, Bobby and Eugene,was a fern grower who worked side by side with Bobby.Bobby,who still lives in Leesburg, grew up in the Mote-Morris House and,with his wife, Georgiana, reared four sons in the house. The two sold the house last year to Morrison United Methodist Church.
Now they live elsewhere in the city.Georgiana says there's a lot of history in the old house, being that three genarations of her husband's family have lived in it, but they don't particularly care talk about that history much these days. But in 1984, on the 10th anniversary of the house's inclusion on the National Registry of Historic Places, the Morrises did talk. At that time, they were still living in the house and allowed others to come in and view ots historic inside. "At times it's been a pain in the neck," Georgiana said then,referring to the flocks of people who came to see the six marble fire places,the escalating stairway to the great tower,where it's said the bishop retreated to study the Lord's Word.
"Everybody wants to come and see it," she continued in a 1984 news article.And view they did.Many people came throughout the year while the Morrises were living there, just to share at the Victorian-styled home and its then well-preserved architecture. Of particular interest was the high-ceilinged, downstairs roooms,with their period-styled furnishings.The rooms exhibited flowered wallpaper,true to the time period of its construction. Another point of interest is the fence.It squares off the yard with its points looking skyward, either heavenly or hellward.
Depending on how you look at them, they could remind one of a castle or of the gates of hell.State preservation officals says house with such fences are rare."There are just not many of them left," said Bill Thurston,a supervisor in the state Historic Preservation office.A peek inside the house shows it has decayed some and might have been vandalized recently. Some windows in the back of the home appear to have been broken into and one of the pillars is rotting.But some still see the beauty in the home. "It's still a beautiful old house," Rast said.
During this time, he also successfully ran a mercantile business and built the Mote Block in downtown Leesburg.The block still stands and is now referred to as the Stoer Building. In 1908,Mote apparently sold the house to Methodist bishop H. C. Morrison.Records show Morrison "occupied" the house in that year,but no documents indicate that Morrison bought the house,though later documents show he sold it. Morrison came to Leesbur g the year he bought the house and brought with him a wife and two sons, including one Dr.H. H. Morrison,who practiced family medicine in Leesburg for many years.The Morrison sons grew up in the white wooden house.
The view from the home included scenes that by then included the old Methodist church next door, the Methodist parsonage.Next to the Haynes home was the Winnie Dunklin home and next to it was the old J. Chester Lee home. The A. L. Miller home rounded out the Main Street block.When they were old enough, Bishop Morrison's sons left the city, but he successfuly persuaded them to return, Rast said. One son Horace Morrison, built the first home in what is now Palmora Park. In 1918, John Morris bought the Mote-Morris House.Morris, father of two sons, Bobby and Eugene,was a fern grower who worked side by side with Bobby.Bobby,who still lives in Leesburg, grew up in the Mote-Morris House and,with his wife, Georgiana, reared four sons in the house. The two sold the house last year to Morrison United Methodist Church.
Now they live elsewhere in the city.Georgiana says there's a lot of history in the old house, being that three genarations of her husband's family have lived in it, but they don't particularly care talk about that history much these days. But in 1984, on the 10th anniversary of the house's inclusion on the National Registry of Historic Places, the Morrises did talk. At that time, they were still living in the house and allowed others to come in and view ots historic inside. "At times it's been a pain in the neck," Georgiana said then,referring to the flocks of people who came to see the six marble fire places,the escalating stairway to the great tower,where it's said the bishop retreated to study the Lord's Word.
"Everybody wants to come and see it," she continued in a 1984 news article.And view they did.Many people came throughout the year while the Morrises were living there, just to share at the Victorian-styled home and its then well-preserved architecture. Of particular interest was the high-ceilinged, downstairs roooms,with their period-styled furnishings.The rooms exhibited flowered wallpaper,true to the time period of its construction. Another point of interest is the fence.It squares off the yard with its points looking skyward, either heavenly or hellward.
Depending on how you look at them, they could remind one of a castle or of the gates of hell.State preservation officals says house with such fences are rare."There are just not many of them left," said Bill Thurston,a supervisor in the state Historic Preservation office.A peek inside the house shows it has decayed some and might have been vandalized recently. Some windows in the back of the home appear to have been broken into and one of the pillars is rotting.But some still see the beauty in the home. "It's still a beautiful old house," Rast said.
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