 Morais admired Abraham Lincoln and authored a sermon and prayer on the death of Lincoln's son Willie Lincoln in 1862; delivered a public sermon four days after Lincoln's death in April 1865; and delivered another public sermon on June 1, 1865, the national day of mourning.Later in June 1865, Morais sent a donation of $300 collected from Mikveh Israel members for the construction of the Lincoln Memorial.Morais' son Henry Samuel Morais taught in the synagogue's Hebrew school program, was a principal founder of the Jewish Exponent newspaper in 1887, and served as acting minister of the congregation from his father's death in 1897 through 1898.