Gouverneur Morris born Feb. 9, 1813; died Aug. 20, 1888. Founder of this Parish, to which he gave church and lands for the glory of God and in memory of his mother.
— Inscription on a plaque to the right of the chancel.[5]
It was built in 1840 and donated by him as a family monument, the Morrisania Memorial. It is a fieldstone building in the Gothic Revival style with a vernacular Greek Revival style tower. The complex includes the stone parish house added in 1916, late-19th century Sunday School and gymnasium building, and a graveyard that includes the Morris family crypt. Among those whose remains are in the graveyard or crypt are Gouverneur Morris, the "Penman of the Constitution" (1752–1816), Ann Cary Randolph Morris (1774-1837), Lewis Morris (1671–1746), and Lewis Morris (1726–1798).[6][5] Gouverneur Morris is a signatory to the Constitution, which he helped draft. His half-brother, Lewis Morris, is a signatory to the Declaration of Independence.[7][8]