Jun. 12, 1846 - Nov. 9, 1899

Morison lived most of his live in Scott County, Virginia. He attended the Virginia Military Institute in 1863. Following the Civil War, he began to study law in his uncle Henry S. Kane's practice. In 1866, he entered the University of Virginia School of Law. He was admitted to the bar in 1867 and practiced law in Scott and Lee Counties, Virginia. Early on in his practice, he partnered with Col. James W. Humes, then a leading member of the bar in southwest Virginia. In 1870 he was elected the Commonwealth's Attorney for Scott County and served until 1874, when he was elected Judge of the County Court, which he held for six years. He was elected Judge of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in 1885 until 1892.

The celebrated murder case of the Commonwealth v. Dean was tried before him. He was retained in the case Emory and Henry College v Shoemaker.

 Source:

• Robert M. Addington, History of Scott County, Virginia, (Overmountain Press, 1992). pp. 341-342.