Edwin P. Morrow - Early Life

Early Life

Edwin Morrow was born to Thomas Zanzinger and Virginia Catherine (Bradley) Morrow in Somerset, Kentucky, on November 28, 1877. He and his twin brother, Charles, were the youngest of eight children. His father was one of the founders of the Republican Party in Kentucky and an unsuccessful candidate for governor in 1883. His mother was a sister to William O'Connell Bradley, who was elected the first Republican governor of Kentucky in 1895.

Morrow's early education was in the public schools of Somerset. At age 14, he entered preparatory school at St. Mary's College near Lebanon, Kentucky. He continued there throughout 1891 and 1892. From there, he enrolled at Cumberland College (now the University of the Cumberlands) in Williamsburg, Kentucky, and distinguished himself in the debating society. He was also interested in sports, playing halfback on the football team and left field on the baseball team.

On June 24, 1898, Morrow enlisted as a private in the 4th Kentucky Infantry Regiment for service in the Spanish–American War. He was first stationed at Lexington, Kentucky, and later trained at Anniston, Alabama. Due to a bout with typhoid fever, he never saw active duty, and mustered out as a second lieutenant on February 12, 1899. In 1900, he matriculated for the fall semester at the University of Cincinnati Law School. He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1902.

Morrow opened his practice in Lexington. He established his reputation in one of his first cases—the trial of William Moseby, a black man accused of murder. Moseby's first trial had ended in a hung jury, but because the evidence against him included a confession (which he later recanted), most observers believed he would be convicted in his second trial. Unable to find a defense lawyer for Moseby, the judge in the case turned to Morrow, who as a young lawyer was eager for work. Morrow proved that his client's testimony had been extorted; he had been told that a lynch mob waited outside the jail for him, but no such mob had ever existed. Morrow further showed that other testimony against his client was false. Moseby was acquitted September 21, 1902.

Morrow returned to Somerset in 1903. There, he married Katherine Hale Waddle on June 18, 1903. Waddle's father had studied law under Morrow's father, and Edwin and Katherine had been playmates, schoolmates, and later sweethearts. The couple had two children, Edwina Haskell in July 1904 and Charles Robert in November 1908.