Morrison-Q Genealogical Association Inc

My visit to Statesville to attend our Morrison-Q gathering had several dimensions, so I’ll report in segments:

I was excited to get together with Coit and Jean for the first time in two years and to see Dave for the first time in, probably, five years. I also enjoyed the time spent with Robert Morrison and seeing Edwin Holcombe for the first time in five years and meeting Edwin’s wife. Face to face relationships are always better for me than electronic. I was impressed with Clan Morrison exhibits that show our DNA information and the descendants of the four original brothers; enlarged and laminated, they become excellent and intriguing talking aids with visitors and potential members of our Morrison-Q group. The same kind of treatment applied to the Harris paper photographs Coit took in Raleigh should be particularly appealing to Iredell Countians.

Visiting Bethany Cemetery and seeing the gravesite of Revolutionary John and Sarah Morrison, visiting the site of Fort Dobbs, revisiting the Morrison cemetery and graves of William and Margaret Morrison, and seeing the remains of the William Morrison mill on Third Creek for the first time were highlights. And attending the services at Concord Presbyterian Church in Loray with Coit and Jean was a special treat. Being on the ground that our ancestors trod, where they created a new life and a new nation, adds dimension to genealogy that cannot be equaled. The internet is great; being there, in some way I can’t really express adequately, brings our ancestors back to life.

As always, our exchanges of information and thoughts about genealogical work helped me to attack my William Morrison “brick wall”. Maybe someday it will be torn down. There is no substitute for personal exchanges with people you have come to know and trust.

The visit to Statesville put me in the right neighborhood to revisit Pickens County, Georgia, where my North Carolina Morrison’s lived from 1840 until 1901. I was able to explore the Talona Creek area in the north part of the county where my 2x Grandfather Andrew Morrison lived. The right of way and railroad that was originally known as the Marietta and North Georgia is still in use; my grandfather John Morrison was a fireman on that line from the early 1890’s until 1901.

Upon leaving Iredell County, Coit and I drove west into Burke and McDowell Counties where my people lived from about 1779 until 1840. We found Silver Creek where it crosses Morrison Road, and passed over both Muddy and South Muddy Creeks nearby. These three tributaries of the Catawba watered land owned by members of my family. I now have a much better appreciation of the spatial relationship of these three creeks and the distances between them.

All in all, and as always, I got a great deal of pleasure being in North Carolina, increased immensely by “being on the ground” where our people lived 260 years ago and with their descendants and my friends.

John Morrison
Lee’s Summit, MO

Walking the grounds that my ancestors tilled and trod has always been like a fertilizer to my soul, which few save you all, (Coit, Dave, John, and Jim) could understand. Being able to climb through the briars at third creek alongside the Morrison Mill, share the joy of finding the extant stones at the Morrison Cemetery still in a reasonable form, our stop at Ft. Dobbs and the drive along Scotts Road where Coit grew up, and our worship time at Concord P.C. in Loray as well as the afternoon at the Games, with Dave being able to join us for the afternoon and dinner, make up some great memories for me. I am particularly thankful for our discussion times on Sat. evening and Sunday, which helped me reach a better understanding of the Q group’s DNA studies, and who the others in the Iredell Group are. It became apparent that participation in all those of the Q group to the level of 111 marker analysis is desired, but for sure to 67. The charts and graphs that Coit prepared for our enlightenment aided greatly in our understanding and a good tool for discussion. Jim’s chart of the potential lines with living people was a great starting point for our new set of goals. And of course, thanks to chauffer John for our adventures on Sunday.

In a word, my impression of the games weekend is, “family”. Being there really sort of set the cement for me in making me really feel like part of my greater family. Another word would be “relaxing”. I really liked the low key feel of the games with not so many people which afforded more time to spend with each one of you.

Dave Morrison
Ashville, NC

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Click on photos to enlarge

Clan Morrison Tent (2012 Allison Woods Highland Games)

Coit and Dave at the Clan Morrison Tent

Coit, Bob, John, Dave, and Jean
Wearing our new Morrison-Q T-Shirts – displaying our logo and WED site.

John and Jean looking at the tent display

Visit to William Morrison Grave in Morrison Cemetery in Loray

Jean, a descendant of William and Margaret Morrison

Visit to Revolutionary Johns grave at Bethany Church

Visit to Revolutionary Johns grave at Bethany Church

William Morrison Mill Site on Third Creek
Foundation of Mill Housing – west bank looking down stream, south
Further research has instead shown this is to be the site of the Old Watts Mill

William Morrison Mill Site on Third Creek
Foundation of Mill Housing – west bank looking up stream, north
Further research has instead shown this is to be the site of the Old Watts Mill

William Morrison Mill Site on Third Creek
Dam wall foundation on west bank
Further research has instead shown this is to be the site of the Old Watts Mill

William Morrison Mill Site on Third Creek – looking upstream, north
Top Arrow – Dam wall foundation on west bank
Bottom Arrow – Foundation of Mill Hosing on west bank
“X” marks the same spot on picture below – dam wall in field on east bank
Picture taken from Third Creek bridge at Island Ford Rd
Further research has instead shown this is to be the site of the Old Watts Mill

William Morrison Mill Site on Third Creek – looking upstream, north
“X” marks the same spot on picture above
Arrows mark the dam wall in field on east bank
Further research has instead shown this is to be the site of the Old Watts Mill

With the new member input form in place and working, our WEB site is considered finished, at least in it’s inauguration phase. Now it’s just a matter of refinement, and continuing to add more research material and members. What’s next? The following is a list of short and long term goals I have for our Morrison-Q Group:

• Tri-fold brochure – the purpose of this full color brochure is to attract, inform, and encourage members of our extended family to join our group. The tri-fold will explain who we are, our benefits, WEB Site, Discussion Group, DNA Project, and how to join. It will be placed on our WEB site as a PDF file for any member to print double sided copies to fold and distribute as needed. I plan to have a full bleed version we can print offset on quality glossy paper to distribute at events our Morrison family is likely to attend, such as Loch Norman (April) and the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games (July). I hope to have it completed by this coming April. This piece of literature would also be useful to place in the Morrison family folders at Genealogical Research sections of libraries around the country – especially in places such as Lancaster Co., PA and Iredell Co., NC. (Done)
• Business Card – this is another promotional item our members may print at their convenience and distribute to potential members of our group. The cards as a PDF file may be printed on standard laser perforated business card stock. The cards will show our logo and WEB site URL. This will be an item our members may carry with them wherever they go. I hope to have this done soon.
• FaceBook Ads – I would like to experiment with placing regionally targeted FaceBook ads to see if I can attract family members to our site.
• Formalize organization – At some point I would like to formalize our organization with a form of government that would continue to carry the torch to future generations of our Morrison Family.
• Master Family Tree – It is my goal to create a master file of our family tree. It would be necessary to set some standards of how and what gets added and what sources are needed for inclusion. We have several seasoned genealogists in our family that would make a great start in forming a committee to give guidance on how best to begin tackling this long term project. With so much misinformation on the WEB, a major goal of this project would be quality of information over quantity. I believe one way to achieve this is to make decisions of inclusion via consensus of our committee of “experts”.
• Gathering 2011 at Grandfather Mountain Highland Games – I need to work on the details of this time of fellowship – for now, consider setting aside Saturday July 9, 2011 on your calendar. Plan to spend the day with us at the games and later in the day we will meet for a time of food and fellowship. (http://gmhg.org) (Done)
• Gathering 2012 in Iredell County, NC – We need to come up with a day or days to meet – then the details of that gathering will be filled in. Any suggestions? (Done)
• Photos and digitized copies of documents – I would like to become proactive in finding items to “archive” on our site. Photographs of old grave markers, digitized copies of wills, military records, etc of our early ancestors – especially those born in the 1700’s. If you have items to include, please let me know.
• Promotion of our DNA Project – We are starting to see some interesting patterns develop in our DNA project. I would like to become proactive in seeking more family members who are willing to be tested. We not only want to see members tested in parts of the family not yet tested, but we need to see others tested in parts of the family that we have someone already tested. The greater the density of testing the more accurate and refined the big picture of our family will be. It would also be great if we could find a part of our family who never left Scotland and still resides in our native homeland of old. (making progress)

These are just a few of the goals I have for our group, I’m sure there will be many to follow. Do you have any goals to suggest adding to the list?

Four Iredell Morrison’s, all members of Group Q of the Morrison Surname Project, met in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in September to visit historical sites important to the Iredell Morrison family and do research at the Pennsylvania State Archives and Lancaster County Historical Society Library. The four were Coit, Jean, James W. (Illinois Jim) and John Morrison. John’s wife, Sue, was the fifth member of the party. By coincidence, each one of the four members of Group Q represents, by descent, a different one of the four immigrant Morrison brothers.

Coit arranged to rent a farmhouse at the Spring Gulch Campground near New Holland which served as headquarters as well as a comfortable lodging place for the three days and three nights of the visit (21st, 22nd, and 23rd of the month). Note photographs which include our group outside the farmhouse.

On Monday, Jean, Jim, John and Sue met at the Paxton Church (now in Dauphin County and Harrisburg, in the period 1730-1750 in Lancaster County) and then went to the Derry Church in Hershey (also in Lancaster County between 1730 and 1750). Both churches were important to our immigrant ancestors Andrew, James, Thomas, and William and their families while they lived in Pennsylvania. There are modern churches at both places; at Paxton, the original stone church still stands as an annex to the modern building and is in marvelous condition (see photographs) and at Derry, the original log session house is preserved with temperature and humidity controls within a glass outer structure (see photographs). There are cemeteries at both churches that date from the 1730’s and perhaps earlier. Coit visited both places on Thursday as he returned home. Interred in both are members of families related by marriage to our ancestral immigrants.

On Tuesday, Coit and Jean spent their research time at Lancaster while Jim and John visited the State Archives at Harrisburg. On Wednesday, all four focused on records at Lancaster. Later that day, Jim went to Chester County for additional research.

Highlights of the time spent in Lancaster County were:

• Visiting the two churches and their cemeteries, being present and together on ground that was important to our forebears.
• The time we spent together, becoming personally acquainted in some cases, becoming better acquainted in all cases.
• Jim Morrison’s film about the Morrison’s, which begins with the early history of the family in Scotland, then narrows to his own line of Iredell Morrison’s, and includes many fine photographs of members of his family. The work represents many hours of research, film work, editing, and personal dedication – all done by him.
• Jean and Sue’s evening meals, and Chef Coit’s breakfasts; Jim’s choice of the Revere Tavern for our evening meal on Wednesday.
• Conversations that we had about making our website more attractive and effective and ideas we shared to influence probable relatives to have their DNA studied and thereby clarify Group Q relationships.
• The beautiful weather and pastoral atmosphere of rural Lancaster County during harvest time.

With regard to research findings, it must be admitted that little new information was gained. Nevertheless, we emphasize the following: there was no trace of a Hugh Morrison in the records; the only Morrison’s visible in the records between 1730 and 1750 were Andrew, James, Thomas, and William (some additional records revealing their presence were found); and Jim determined that the James Morrison of Chester County, who died there about 1760, was NOT our immigrant James. In other words, our research reinforced what we already thought was true of our ancestral family in Pennsylvania.

We believe all Iredell Morrison’s would enjoy spending some time in Lancaster County, especially during the fall.

Left to Right: Coit R. Morrison (descended from James), John A. Morrison (descended from Thomas), Jean Morrison (descended from William), James W. Morrison (descended from Andrew).

Paxton Presbyterian Church

Old Session House – Derry Presbyterian Church

Click on pictures to enlarge