 He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1882, serving four two-year terms before declining another, announcing instead his retirement from politics.Nevertheless, at the urging of his friends, he accepted the nomination for governor of Kansas in 1894 and served one term, being defeated in 1896.Morrill died March 14, 1909, in San Antonio, Texas, and is buried in Hiawatha's Mount Hope Cemetery.