Morrison History 1700 to 1953
by Sudie Morrison Hood
The following History was written in 1953 by Sudie Morrison Hood, a direct descendant of John Morrison and Margaret Erwin of Burke and Rutherford Counties in North Carolina.
Its importance lies in providing clues to the ancestors of John Morrison and their possible connection to the Morrison’s of Iredell County, North Carolina. That there is such a connection has already been scientifically suggested by y-DNA tests that link John A. Morrison, M-194 in Group Q of the Morrison DNA Project to several others in Group Q. What has been lacking is any documentary evidence of such a connection. As the reader of this History will see, documentary evidence is still lacking, but Sudie Morrison Hood provides useful information that must have been told to her by her elders, and thus has passed from her to us as family tradition.
Much of the History is of little importance to the members of Group Q, but Sudie’s statements about John Morrison, his wife Margaret Erwin, and their possible links to Iredell County are useful. Further, since Sudie has no way of proving her veracity to today’s readers, I have written a companion Commentary, based on my own research, that attempts to determine whether Sudie knew what she was talking about, that is, whether she was telling a tall tale or one which would stand up under critical scrutiny.
I have in my possession another document attributable to Sudie Morrison Hood. It is a family tree prepared by Earline Morrison Hunter about 1948; according to Earline, Sudie provided all the information in the tree. The document consists of a literal “tree”, drawn from roots through trunk to main and subordinate branches. John Morrison and Margaret Erwin’s names are inscribed upon the main trunk, and their descendant’s names have been placed on the main and subordinate branches. In addition, there is a “legend” in the lower right hand corner of the document that describes the origins of John’s family. The Commentary makes use of the “tree” to compare with and elaborate on the “History”; once again the purpose is to try to determine whether Sudie is a reliable witness to the history of the family and forebears of John Morrison and Margaret Erwin.
The Commentary provides my opinion of Sudie’s reliability, based on knowledge gleaned from my independent research into the family over the past twenty-five years of study.
John A. Morrison M-194, Group Q
125 N. E. Wood Glen Lane 816-478-0345 & 816-536-7717
Lee’s Summit, MO 64064 juan3viajo@aol.com
Forwarded by Gayle Maxson
2008 Georgetown Dr.
Denton, Texas 76201
9-29-07
Morrison History 1700 to 1953
by Sudie Morrison Hood
Tradition says that once upon a time there was a family named “Morrison” from Ireland who settled in Ireland County, North Carolina, sometime prior to the Revolutionary War. Two of the sons engaged in the battle of King’s Mountain, North Carolina, between the Americans and the British October 7, 1780, the most fierce battle of the war. The British were defeated. John, the younger son, celebrated his 16th birthday by engaging in this battle. Afterward, he married Miss Margaret Erwin. To them were born eleven children. The first were twin sisters. James, Andrew, and Joe, along with their three sisters, moved to Georgia sometime prior to 1848 and located in Pickens County.
James was born in North Carolina on November 11, 1796. He married Miss Rachael Patton, who was born in 1801, in North Carolina in 1820. He died in September 1874 in Pickens County, Georgia. She died in December 1867. To this union were born five children: John, Elijah, Margaret, Catherine, and Elizabeth. John, my grandfather, was born in North Carolina in January 1824. He married Miss Susan Jordan in Pickens County, Georgia, March 31, 1849. She was born in North Carolina October 14, 1827. He died May 20, 1870, in Colorado, having gone there in search of gold in the West. He fell sick on returning home and died, and his body is buried in Clear Creek County, Colorado. She died in Bosque County, Texas, January 31, 1901. To this union were born six children: James (my father), Alonzo, Gussie (drowned in a well at three years of age), Bennie (lived 27 days), Charley, and Chookey Arabella (died at one year of age).
John’s brother, Elijah, married Susan’s sister, Esther Jordan, on March 31, 1849, the two brothers marrying the two sisters in a double ring ceremony. Then the two couples made their departure on horseback. To Elijah and Esther were born four children: *ia (deceased), Emma (widow in Haskell, Texas, married Bill Fouts), Montgomery (Postmaster and owned Granite Marble mines in Georgia. Lived all his life on the spot where he was born. He had eight children, six living.), and Ella.
Elijah was killed as a soldier in July, 1863 at a Civil War battle in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Esther, his widow, finally went to Texas and lived at some time with two other widowed sisters, Susan and Lou, in a little home built especially for them on the farm of James Morrison III. Nancy sometimes visited them. At one time, there were seven widowed Jordan sisters living.
Esther’s and Elijah’s fourth child, Ella, married Frank Gravitt and resided in Oklahoma. Andrew Morrison married Miss Elizabeth Wilson in North Carolina and
My Aunt – Received from Earline Hunter
First hand knowledge 807 Birchview
9-5-92 Pearland, TX 77584
moved to Georgia in the 1840s. He reared two daughters and three sons. He died in November 1885. The two oldest boys were killed while serving in the C. S. A. Army. The youngest boy, Columbus, married and lived and died in the spring of 1933 in Granbury, Texas. His children were Frank, Hattie, Addie, and an adopted son, who now lives in Granbury.
Joseph Morrison, born in North Carolina in 1818, married Miss Dorothy Whiteside and moved to Georgia in the 1840s. He died in 1893, surviving all his children in Gordon County.
The Morrisons and Jordans and Wests were early settlers in Pickens County, Georgia. Among the Jordans was a Presbyterian preacher. The Lebanon Presbyterian Church was organized before 1853. They had a library which was housed in the home of great-grandfather James II. These families, with the William Long’s and a Mrs. Duckett, comprised a part of the membership. Great-grandfather James wanted a Baptist church and deeded land to a congregation for a Baptist church, and one was built of logs. A school was conducted in the church. A cemetery was located nearby. The Morrison home was a story-and-a-half and was built by Indians, who still populated the country. Apple trees had been planted by the Indians. In 1868, one tree was still bearing.
In the 1700s, there were eight Morrison boys from Ireland, England, and Holland who came to North Carolina. The lineage of five of these boys are lost. Frank I, William I, James I, and Andrew I probably settled with three sisters between 1750-1760 in Iredell County, Virginia. Taking up the lineage from 1796, James Morrison II and Rachael’s son, John, married Susan Jordan. Their first-born, James III, along with his widowed mother, Susan, and two younger brothers, Alonzo (Lon) and Charley, went to Texas and located at Steel’s Creek in 1873. James III married Miss Ella Huffstutler October 14, 1883, in Rock Creek, Somerville County, Texas. To this union were born three children: Sudie, Ella, and Willie. Left a widower, James III married Miss Alice Huffstutler December 31, 1893, in Blountsville, Alabama. To this union were born six children: Joe, Earl, Homer, Howell, Reed, and an infant girl. Left a widower a second time, James III married Miss Ora West in December 1915. He died January 2, 1929, in Ft. Worth.
Alonzo married Miss Rosetta Scott in Bosque County on May 15, 1887. To this union were born five children: Mabyn, Gladys, Ruby, Ambyr, and Clyde. At this writing September 1, 1953, death has not claimed any member of this happy family of seven.ow
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