The contributions of countless men and women have helped create the beautiful, quaint town of Inverness we know today. The Morrison’s are one such group of people, a family dedicated to community, who worked hard to bring new industry and technology to the town.
Baxter Morrison and his brother James, who most often went by the name of Fletcher, were born in Mississippi in 1874 and 1882, respectively. The brothers made Inverness their home later in life. Both fell in love and married Florida women. Baxter married his wife, Anita, in 1907 and together they had two children, Howard and Margaret. Fletcher married Mamie Stork, and together they had three children, Lila, Lucille, and Arthur.
Together, Baxter and Fletcher starting doing business as Morrison Bros, Inc. and opened their own building supply company. They bought and sold numerous properties and pieces of land. In addition to their personal business ventures, the brothers also became involved with the effort to bring electric light to Inverness.
Baxter Morrison was named President of the new Inverness Power Company in 1908, whose goal was to install a ten-ton ice and cold storage plant and bring electricity to the town. After years of hard work by the Morrison brothers and others, the electric plant was built and ready to use in 1913. Fletcher Morrison had the honor of flipping the switch and lighting up the town for the first time.
According to an article in the Citrus County Chronicle that same year, “If Inverness ever had two good friends they are Baxter and Fletcher Morrison. Monuments to their memories are scattered about over town in the shape of the palatial residence of the former [referring to Baxter Morrison’s lovely home at 414 Lake Street, still standing today], the A.C.L. cut-off, the water works, ice plant, and last, but not least, electric lights. They have gone to work quietly and unostentatiously, and the result is marvelous. Inverness looks upon them rightly as benefactors, and that they are permanent residents is in no doubt.”
Unfortunately, after the stock market crash of 1929, the Morrison’s, like so many others, fell upon difficult times. Fletcher, no longer a permanent resident despite his dedication to the town, moved his family to Buncombe County, North Carolina by 1930.
Baxter continued working for others through the difficult times, joining a Kiwanis Club committee to create new jobs. They opened up the Inverness Moss Company in September of 1929, where local folks could round up Spanish moss from the trees for money. The moss was then dried and sold to car makers for interior upholstery. This business helped bring in a little money to the town during the Depression.
Still, Baxter began to sell off his properties and had lost almost everything by 1932. His family held on to his “palatial residence” until 1948, when his wife, Anita, sold the property in his stead. Baxter Morrison was at the time a patient at the Chattahoochee State Mental Hospital, where he died in 1954. He is buried at the Oak Ridge Cemetery in Inverness.