Description

Pictured in front of the Bucky O'Neil statue in the Courthouse Square in Prescott, Arizona are: Standing: Emmet Morrison, Joe Morgan, E. J. Horne. Seated: Unknown, J. A. Flaherty, Robert Emmet Morrison. Robert Emmet was apponted by the county board of supervisors as a member of the commission which secured the statue. Robert had met the sculptor, S. H. Borglum and it was through this friendship that the county secured this magnificent statue for $10,000. Bucky O'Neil, a former Prescott sheriff, died a hero in the Spanish-American War.

Robert Emmet Morrison (b. 1856 - d, 1927) was born July 13, 1856 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the son of the Honorable Alexander Lawrence Morrison (b. 10/20/1831 - d. 2/12/1917) and Jane Clarke Morrison. His father was a well known Chicago attorney. Robert Emmet attended the old Union College of Law, later to become the Northwestern University. He was admitted to practice in Illinois in 1878 at age 22 and practiced in Chicago for about six years until his father accepted the appointment as United States Marshall for New Mexico.

The senior Morrisons established their headquarters at Sante Fe, New Mexico. Robert Emmet and one of his brothers located at and operated a ranch in the Escadilla mountains on the Arizona side of the border for a couple of years, returning to Chicago for a brief period of time before coming west again.

Robert relocated to Prescott about 1890 shortly after marrying his first wife, Mary J. Logan. They had three children: Erin Rose (1883 - 1941), Emmet Thomas (1893 - ?); and Juanita J. (1896-1965). 

Following the death of Mary, Robert Emmet several years later married a widow, Mrs. Lizzie Kneipp, who had two children, Inez (1883 - 1941) and Mary Antoinette (1892 - 1968), both of whom assumed the last name of Morrison.

Robert Emmet was considered the dean of Yavapai County's attorneys and a Prescott pioneer. He served on many committees and was one of the first egal representatives for the Arizona Power company. He was a leader in the Catholic Church in Arizona and was nationally  promiment in the Knights of Columbus.and responsible for its expansion in the west. He was elected district attorney of Yavapai County at the age of 34. In 1898 he was appointed United States attorney for the territory of Arizona, under President William McKinley. He served a four year term and later was reelected district attorney of the county. He was known generally through the territory as the "silver tongued orator of Arizona."  He died in 1927.

Sources: Courier obituary for Robert Emmet Morrison; Family Search.