Morris County was created and organized in 1875 with Daingerfield as its county seat and was named for William W. Morris, who came to Texas in 1849. When the Civil War began in 1861, Morris was in the 8th Legislature that armed the state, enacted relief laws for soldiers' families, and set up 2,000 miles of frontier and coastline defenses, and he also served in the 13th Legislature from 1873 to 1875. Among Texas's 254 counties, names honor varied origins and people, including Indian, French, or Spanish names, colonizers such as Stephen F. Austin, American patriots, men connected with the Texas War for Independence and the Republic of Texas, frontiersmen and pioneers, American statesmen who worked for annexation, leaders in Texas since statehood, and 36 men prominent in the Confederacy during the Civil War, while some counties were named for geographical features, battles, trees, or a fort.