William John Morrison was born November 18, 1893, in Leadville, Colorado. The family moved to Goldfield, Esmeralda County, Nevada, on the 30th of September, 1906, at which time “Johnnie” was not yet thirteen years old. During the boom days, he worked as messenger boy at the Goldfield Stock Exchange. In June, 1914, he graduated from the Goldfield High School. Johnnie possessed great athletic ability and gave much time to such games. He was Captain of the football and baseball teams, and after his entry into the Service, was appointed physical or boxing instructor under Eddie Hanlon at Camp Fremont, California. He entered the army from Goldfield, June 15, 1918, and soon after was enrolled in Company A, 8th Infantry Regiment, at Camp Fremont. Fate allowed him but a short time in the army, but during that time he gave his best. He was stricken with Influenza while en route to France, and died at Hoboken, New Jersey, on October 25, 1918.

Only ten days before his death, he had written to his sister, “I will answer gladly to the glorious cause, and from present success will be back soon.” But, while on his way from Camp Fremont to Hoboken, he was taken ill and passed away the second day after his arrival. Letters from comrades express always the same admiration for him. One of these has written: “I have been in several towns since I left Goldfield, but never have I encountered a town since where a single boy was held in the universal esteem of the townspeople, young and old, as was Johnnie Morrison in Goldfield. He stood out among all the other boys of my acquaintance, combining in himself the most admirable qualities of character.” W. H. Wiley, 1st Lieutenant. 13th Infantry (8th Division) wrote: “As a boy and young man, his character was above reproach. He was a Christian gentleman, and an all wise power has taken him for some purpose, the wisdom of which we mortals can never understand.” At the time of his death the Goldfield Tribune spoke of him as “one of the most remarkable young men Goldfield ever produced. Remarkable not in that he ever achieved great things, but in that he possessed a character that made him stand out from other young men, and made him a boy whose friendship was sought by all, young and old.”

Johnnie was a member of the Knights of Columbus and had taken the Fourth Degree. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Morrison of Goldfield, Nevada; and a brother of Dean Morrison of Tonopah, Nevada, and Isabel, Helen, Paul and Donald Morrison of 1557 California Street, San Francisco, California.