John Frank Morrison was born on December 25, 1857 in New York. Morrison was a West Point graduate and career army officer who reached the rank of major general by the time of his retirement in 1921. During World War I, Morrison commanded approximately 20,000 troops at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, and observed five months of combat operations in Europe in preparation to lead training operations stateside. In May 1920, he was appointed commander of the Southeastern Department (later Fourth Corps Area), headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina. Morrison died in Washington, D.C. on October 22, 1932.