THE FAMILY OF WILLIAM MORRISON SENIOR
OF BURKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
1778-1807
This document relies on public records in an attempt to identify the family of William Morrison, Senior, who owned property and lived in Burke County, North Carolina, during the period 1778-1807.1 Other researchershave associated this man, who for a short time owned property on Silver Creek, with wife Margaret Kennedy and have named their children.2 I have been unable to identify the wife of William Morrison, Senior; I am convinced that the children attributed to him by the other researchers are in reality the children of James and Elizabeth Morrison of Burke County. James left a will dated 1790.3
What does the public record have to tell us about William? Land grant records of the state of North Carolina, the 1790 and 1800 United States census rolls, and surviving Burke County court minutes provide most of the information. Wills and associated probate records and a Revolutionary War pension statement also shed light on the family. Before discussing these, however, it is important to establish that there were at least (and, I believe, only) two adults in the county during the period of this study named William Morrison. Some documents identify a “William Morrison Sen”, some identify “William Morrison Jun”, and others confuse the issue by referring only to “William Morrison.” It is important to begin by trying to clarify these identities.
In 1833, a man named William Morrison, of Dickson County, West Tennessee, applied for a Revolutionary War pension.4 The application statement says that he lived in Burke County, North Carolina, during and after the American Revolution and moved to Tennessee in 1796. Further, the application says he was born in Rowan County, North Carolina, on August 5, 1757. His statement gives the names of his wife and children, the birthdates of the children, and the names of the spouses of some of the children. The children’s birthdates are consistent with the statistics for William Morison Jr in the 1790 census rolls for Burke County. Except for a power of attorney granted by William Jun to Andrew Morrison5 for a land transaction and incidental references to his property in land surveys, there are no records of William Morrison Jun in Burke after 1796. It is clear that William Morrison of Dickson County, West Tennessee, in 1833 is the same man as William Morrison Jun in Burke County before 1796. The only William remaining in Burke after 1796 was William Morrison Sen.
Burke County Land Records6
In 1778, 1779, and 1780, William Morrison Sen, William Morrison (I think this is William Jun), and James Morrison obtained land in Burke County as follows:
Land Warrant
Entry Number Grantee Amount Location Dates
1684 James Morrison 200 acres Lower Little River Entry 2/22/78
Ord plns 2/2/80
Chain bearers: Samuel Martin, Kenney McKinsey Survey 4/25/80
77 James Morrison 500 acres Muddy Fork, Lower Entry 9/10/78
Little River Ord plns 9/10/78
Chain bearers: John Bradburn, Robert Boyd Survey 2/12/79
1370 William Morrison Sen 640 acres White Fork, Silver Creek Entry 12/29/78
Ord plns 9/27/79
Chain bearers: William Morrison, James Morrison Survey 3/26/80
Note: Property surveyed as 506 acres
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1369 William Morrison Sen 640 acres So. Muddy Creek Entry 12/29/78
Ord plns 9/27/79
Chain bearers: John Sumner, John Morrison Survey 3/4/80
1387 William Morrison Sen 640 acres Muddy Creek Entry 12/29/78
Ord plns 3/29/79
Chain bearers: Wm Sumner, James Morrison Survey 10/30/80
Note: Property surveyed as 457 acres
1663 James Morrison and 300 acres Silver Creek Entry 12/31/78
William Morrison Ord plns12/20/80
Chain bearers: Wm. Morrison, James Morrison Survey 4/4/178?
Note: Property surveyed as 200 acres
1682 James Morrison 200 acres ? (missing) Entry 2/15/79
Ord plns 2/2/80
Chain bearers: Samuel Martin, Kenney McKinney Survey ? (misng)
1833 William Morrison 640 acres Bee Tree Creek Entry 3/29/80
Ord plns 3/29/80
Chain bearers: Ephraim McLean, Samuel Davidson Survey 3/23/80
These grants and surveys tell a great deal about the Morrison family in the early days of Burke County. People named Morrison were present as early as 1778. At least four different Morrison’s were on hand: James, William, William Sen, and John. The survey for entry 1370, William Morrison Sen, identifies one of the chain bearers as William Morrison, implying that the grantee and the chain bearer were two different people. These four seem to be working together to establish themselves in Burke County, sometimes as the owner or joint owner of land, sometimes serving one another as chain bearers, and often occupying adjacent lands. These are the activities that one would expect of a pioneer family group.
Some fifteen years after these original land grants, two other acquisitions of land provide a more complete picture of the family.7 Both are to John Morrison, who is probably the same person who served as a chain bearer when grant number 1369 was surveyed.
N1113 John Morrison 60 acres So. Muddy Creek Entry 1/27/95
Ord plns 4/27/96
Chain bearers: Thomas Morrison, Andrew Morrison Survey 8/17/97
Note: The survey makes reference to Wm Morrison Jun and Wm Morrison
N3747 John Morrison 25 acres Muddy Creek Entry 10/29/99
Ord plns 1/30/00
Chain bearers: William and John Morrison Survey 3/17/00
Note: The survey makes reference to William Morrison Jun
Two new Morrison’s appear here, Thomas and Andrew. The survey for the sixty acre tract states it was on the “southeast fork of South Muddy Creek joining or near to John Morrison and William Morrison’s south line.”
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It is my belief that all of these people are part of one family group. During the period 1778-1780, William Sen, James, and William Jun were adults. I believe that James and William Jun were sons of William Sen. According to his Revolutionary War pension statement, William Jun was on military service during much of this time. John Morrison was likely a younger son, still living at home, of William Morrison Sen. I believe that Thomas and Andrew Morrison were even younger sons of William Morrison Sen and brothers of James, William Jun, and John. These beliefs will be reinforced later.
Grants N1113 and N3747, I think, were near the present town of Dysartsville, North Carolina, now in McDowell County (then in Burke; McDowell wasn’t formed until the 1840s). I also believe that the William Morrison Sen tracts on South Muddy Creek and on Muddy Creek were near Dysartsville. The aforementioned reference to John Morrison and William Morrison’s south line indicates that William has made John a part owner of one or more of his original tracts near Muddy Creek.
Before leaving the subject of land, it is important to acknowledge one additional factor that complicates my quest to define the early Morrison’s in Burke. The grants to James Morrison on Lower Little River (entry 1684) and the adjoining piece of land on the Muddy Fork of the Lower Little River (entry 77) plus the grant to William Morrison on Bee Tree Creek (entry 1833) give no reference to nearby Morrison property nor do they show Morrison’s involved as chain bearers. It is possible, in spite of my own ideas to the contrary, that these two men are not the same people as those of the same name who are involved with the other grants. Presence of Morrison’s on or near Muddy Creek, South Muddy Creek, and the White Fork of Silver Creek is undisputed; I have seen no evidence of Morrison’s on the Lower Little River or Bee Tree Creek other than the three grants cited in this paragraph.
United States Census Rolls8
1790, Burke County, North Carolina
William Morrison
This household consists of five males above the age of 16, one male under the age of 16, and four females. Assuming all were members of the same family, one male and one female would be William and his wife, leaving five sons and three daughters still living at home.
William Morison Jr
This household consists of one male above the age of 16 and four females. Again assuming that all were members of the same family, the male and one of the females would be William and his wife, and the other three females would be their daughters. A crosscheck against the known birthdates of the family of William Morrison of Dickson County, West Tennessee, reveals that he had three daughters born between 1784 and 1789. His first son was born in 1791. The statistics for this Burke County family matches exactly with the information in the Revolutionary War pension application for William Morrison of Dickson County, West Tennessee, as it would have been constituted in 1790, six years before William Morrison Jun left Burke for Tennessee.
Eliza Morison
In this household there was one male under the age of 16 and four females. One of the females would be Eliza, and the others her son and three daughters. These statistics match those of the family of James Morrison whose will was probated in 1790 in Burke County. In the will, James named a son, Thomas, and referred to unnamed “daughters”. The names of all of James’ daughters and the names of the husbands of those who were married are identified in the lawsuits referenced in note 3. Their ages can also be derived or estimated from testimony given in the course of these lawsuits. Their ages corroborate the statistics for the females noted in the above census entry. James’ son Thomas was born about 1785 (see Burke County census rolls for 1850), consistent with the statistics for this household.
jamorrison, 12/16/2006
1800, Burke County, North Carolina
Andrew Morrison
This household consisted of a male and a female less than ten years of age, an adult male between 16 and 45, and a female between 16 and 26. I believe these to be Andrew and Mary Armstrong Morrison and their two children. Mary’s maiden name is identified in Burke County Court Minutes for the April 1801 Session.
Elizabeth Morrison
Her household consists of one son 10 to 16, one female less than ten, one female 16 to 26, and one female over 45. This is the family of “Eliza Morison” from the census of 1790, widow of James. Two of her five daughters were married by this time and no longer living with their mother.
John Morrison
This household is made up of three males under the age of ten and a male and a female between the ages of 26 and 45. This is the family of my great-great-great grandfather, whose 1802 purchase of land in Rutherford County, North Carolina, stated that he was “John Morrison of Burke County”9. The household of John Morrison is in Rutherford County in the 1810 and 1820 census. The three males in the 1800 census are Francis, William, and James. John was born between 1760 and 1770 and his wife between 1770 and 1780 according to the 1820 U. S. census. These birth date ranges agree with the 1800 census in Burke County. (Family tradition holds that John celebrated his sixteenth birthday on the day of the Battle of King’s Mountain in the Revolutionary War, so he would have been born in October of 1764.)
Since John lived in Burke County in 1802 and when the 1800 census was taken, I am sure he was the man who was granted the 60 and 25 acre tracts in Burke in the 1790s (entries N1113 and N3747 above), partner with William Sen in ownership of adjoining land, and the chain bearer in the 1780 survey of entry 1369 for William Sen.
William Morrison
In this household there was a male between the ages of 16 and 26, another 26 to 45, and another over 45, together with a female 26 to 45 and another over 45. This must be the remaining household of William Morrison of the 1790 census. Of the four males aged 16 to 26 in 1790, three have left the household and one remains; the male then under 16 is now between 16 and 26. Two of the females of 1790 have left the household, one is still at home, and the fourth female is presumably William’s wife. The male between 16 and 26 is probably Thomas, who, I believe, never married. We will learn more of Thomas later..
From 1790 and 1800 census information, we can develop something about the family of William Morrison Sen, depending upon the important assumption that the households of 1790 and 1800 consisted only of William, his wife, and their children. The family facts are:
William and his wife were born before 1755
There were at least eight children in the family, five sons and three daughters
The youngest son was born between 1774 and 1784
One daughter was born between 1755 and 1774
Four sons were born before 1774.
Let’s describe this family in 1774. There were at least five children, a daughter and four sons. If the youngest was still an infant in 1774, the others could have been born in, say, 1772, 1770, 1768, and 1766. But if the eldest of these was born as early as 1766, then William and his wife must have been born around 1746, or even earlier. We will be able to improve on these estimates of birthdates later.
jamorrison, 12/16/2006
Wills
Two wills, and evidence of a third, provide clues to William’s family.
James Morrison
This is the will of 1790, already mentioned. The executors were John McDowell, William Morrison, Sen, and James’ wife, Elizabeth. The lawsuit entered into by the daughters of James Morrison involved John Morrison as William’s executor and later Francis Morrison, as John’s executor. Of most importance in making connections, James’ will referred to his executor William Morrison as “Sen”, but the court records (see below) that confirmed John as William’s executor did not use “Sen” to describe him. Thus John had to be the executor of William Morrison Sen, strengthening my belief that John was the son of William Sen. The lawsuit brought by James’ daughters shows that the oldest daughter, Elizabeth, married Elijah Hall, probably before 1796. Elizabeth then, was most likely born between 1775 and 1780 so James would have been born between 1750 and 1755. James’ birth date is important in defining his relationship with William Sen.
William Morrison
Burke County Court Minutes available in Raleigh show that William’s will was proven in October, 1807, by Thomas Morrison and Joseph Wilson, witnesses. The same records show that John Morrison was qualified as his executor (October Session of 1807, before October 29). On the 26th of January, 1808, John Morrison reported proceeds of $482.50 accruing from the sale of assets of the estate of William Morrison.10 The will itself should be in Burke County, but was most likely burned with almost all, if not all, Burke County records when Union General Stoneman’s troopers passed through the county seat at Morganton, near the end of the Civil War; this is related in the Burke County files in Raleigh. However they disappeared from history, the fact is that there is almost no trace of Burke County records – other than those that were sent at the time to Raleigh – from the time of formation of the county in 1778 until 1865.
Thomas Morrison
The will of “Thomas Morrison, decd” was exhibited in Franklin County, Tennessee, during the August Court term of 1831 by Francis Morrison11. The will was written in 1827. In it, Thomas named the following people:
his sister, Margaret Patton, of Rutherford County, North Carolina
his brother, John Morrison, of Rutherford County, North Carolina
his brother, Andrew Morrison, of Burke County, North Carolina
his sister, Jane Pyett, of Burke County, North Carolina
his brother, William Morrison, of Dixon, West Tennessee
his nephew, Thomas Morrison, son of John Morrison
his nephew, Joseph Wilson
his nephew, Francis Morrison, of Burke County, North Carolina
Here, in one document, is the key to the family of William Morrison, Sen. Including Thomas, four brothers and two sisters in one family group are identified, together with their places of residence. Further, three members of a succeeding generation are named. Thomas the decedent and Joseph Wilson were witnesses to the will of William Morrison, Sen, and John Morrison was the executor. William Morrison, living in “Dixon”, West Tennessee, is the Revolutionary War pension petitioner who lived in Burke County until 1796, and who, I think, was William Morrison Jun. Brother Andrew is named, although he died some
16 years before the will was written (the will seems to refer to the heirs of Andrew, not Andrew himself), who had power of attorney for William Jun after he left Burke County and was a chain bearer for one of
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John Morrison’s surveys. Francis Morrison was the oldest son of John Morrison; he lived in Burke County in 1827 and is buried in Dysartsville, McDowell County, near the lands owned by William Morrison Sen and John Morrison. Thomas Morrison, son of John Morrison, lived in Rutherford County until his death in the 1870s and was most likely the namesake of the decedent. We have the names of Margaret Patton and Jane Pyett and information to identify a third sister. That is, as far as we know, Thomas Morrison the decedent never married; Joseph Wilson has to be the son of another sister who married a Wilson, although her given name is unknown. All of the men named lived in the identified county and state of residence when the will was written. And how do I know the names of John’s sons Francis and Thomas? John’s Rutherford County will12 names each of his eleven children.
Burke County Court Minutes13
Examination of Burke County Court Minutes during the period of interest reveals nine adults:
William Morrison Sen
William Morrison Jun
John Morrison
Andrew Morrison the elder, who left a will dated 1785
Andrew Morrison the younger
Thomas Morrison
James Morrison
Elizabeth Morrison
Thomas Morrison, son of James and Elizabeth Morrison
All except Andrew Morrison the elder appear regularly as members of road juries, trial juries, in provenance of land indentures, as witnesses to wills and other legal documents, as executors of estates, and serving with power of attorney for others. In many of these records, two or more of the people can be found together. On one road jury in 1793, William Sen, William Jun, John, and Thomas appear together and with others who owned land nearby. Circumstantially, this appears to be a single family (with the exception of Andrew the elder) involved together in close community.
Conclusion
There is no document that links all of these people , nor is there one that links William Sen with any of the others and at the same time says that he is their father or that they are his son or daughter. Even so, there is strong evidence. If one integrates the information that is in the public record, a probable family can be defined. That family has ten children; all of whom cannot be named.. The best I can do follows:
William Morrison, Sen ca. 1735 to 1807
Wife of William Morrison, Sen prob. 1746 or before to after 1800
James Morrison ca. 1755 to 1790 married Elizabeth
William Morrison, Jun 8/5/1757 to 8/3/1835 married Rachel Patton 1783
John Morrison 9/1764 to 1826 or 1827 – aged over 16 in 1790
Andrew Morrison aft 1764 to 1811 married Mary Armstrong – aged
over 16 in 1790
Thomas Morrison aft 1764 to 1831 – aged over 16 in 1790
Rachel Morrison born 1755-1774 married a Patton (Elijah?)
Jane Morrison born 1755-1774 married a Pyett
Daughter born 1755-1774 married a Wilson
Son born 1764-1774 – aged over 16 in 1790
Son born after 1774 – aged under 16 in 1790 and between
16 and 26 in 1800
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I believe that James was William Sen’s son instead of his brother, although the latter is possible. Since we know that William Jun was born in 1757, William Sen would probably have been born in the period 1730 to 1735. Given the birth dates of James’ children, he must have been born around 1755. While the disparity in ages between William Sen and James doesn’t eliminate the possibility that they were brothers, it seems unlikely. William Jun was absent serving with the militia against the British during part of 1779, most of 1780, and 1781, during which time William Sen and James were establishing themselves in Burke County. The land acquisitions have all the earmarks of a father and an elder son obtaining lands in large enough quantities to support two large and growing families and to provide for the future of another adult member of the family who was away doing military service.
I have searched in vain for the place from whence William Morrison and his family came to Burke County; most probably all traces of their origin went up in flames with the official county records in 1865. There are some clues:
James Morrison’s will. James named Patrick Campbell of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, as a debtor. He also specified that 200 acres of the farm upon which he lived at his death were to be deeded to Archibald Brady of Iredell County, North Carolina. Although it is known that Archibald Brady married a Morrison, his relationship with the Burke County Morrison’s is uncertain.
Some people in Iredell County, North Carolina, believe that William Sen was the son of a Thomas Morrison of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Thomas is supposed to be the brother of three men who emigrated from Pennsylvania to the vicinity of Iredell County in the 1750s. Thomas’ will14 names one son, John. It refers to other “children” but does not name them.
William Morrison Jun said that he was born in Rowan County, North Carolina, in 1757. However, Rowan County extended in 1757 from its present eastern boundary to the Mississippi River, a territory claimed by Great Britain and the colony of North Carolina. William could easily have been born in present day Burke County, which was then part of Rowan. The fact that land warrants were not issued until 1778 does not mean that no one lived on the land prior to that; on the contrary, the surveys imply that people probably had been “squatting” on that land for some time before the grants were made.
Dr. W. L. Twitty, in an 1880 letter to Lyman Draper, quoted Andrew Baxter Long of Rutherford County as saying that “the Longs … & the Morrison’s emigrated this country in a colony 1764 from Pennsylvania” and “were Scotch Irish Presbyterians.”15 If Long knew what he was talking about, the Morrison’s of Burke and Rutherford Counties were most likely a separate lot from those in Iredell and Rowan Counties.
In the absence of information from the public record, or unimpeachable private records, DNA linkages between members of this family and those of other families may be the only way todiscover its origins. In pursuit of this, I joined the Morrison DNA Project and submitted a y-chromosome DNA sample early in 2007. My y-DNA closely matches five other men who have submitted samples to the project. One of the matches is exact, and the others indicate a close familial relationship. Two of the close matches are those of people from Iredell County, North Carolina, one of them a descendant of William Morrison, the other a descendant of James Morrison. Both of these men immigrated to Pennsylvania with their Scottish father James Morrison from Ulster, Northern Ireland, about 1730 and then on to North Carolina around 1750-1755.
This document has sought to identify a family, using records that must be accepted as hard evidence, and it is my belief that it has succeeded. I hope that it will serve, at the very least, as a guide from which other researchers may work. I welcome corrections and improvements to my conclusions so long as they are based on fact.
jamorrison, 6/17/2007
NOTES:
1. I have chosen to make no distinction between the spelling of “Morrison” and “Morison”;
authorities seem to agree that spelling conventions were so lax in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries as to make the two spellings interchangeable, and that has certainly been my conclusion
upon examinations of early records.
2. William Hugh Bennett, The Morrison Family of The White Fork of Silver Creek, Burke County, North Carolina and Ruval Bowlin Morrison, A History of the William Morrison Family of Burke County North Carolina. Both of these documents can be found in many Morrison households in North Carolina. I have a transcript of Mr. Bennett’s history and a copy of Mr. Morrison’s history in my possession.
3. A copy of this will was found in the library in Statesville, North Carolina (Iredell County), perhaps there because of a bequest to Archibald Brady of Iredell County. I have a copy in my possession. Lawsuits, brought by four of James’ daughters against the executors (and their successors) of James’ estate provide the basis for my confidence that Mssrs. Bennett and Morrison (note 1) are mistaken in identifying the children of William Morrison. See “The Family of James Morrison of Burke County, North Carolina” by John A. Morrison for proof that Bennett and Morrison were mistaken.
4. The pension statement of William Morrison of Dickson County, Tennessee can be found in the National Archives (#W1455). A copy can also be found in Revolutionary War Soldiers of West North Carolina Vol. I by Emmett White. I have a copy from the latter source in my possession.
5. Burke County Court Minutes on file in Raleigh, July Session 1802. Notes from these Court Minutes were transcribed by Joyzelle Morey, then of Dallas, Texas, copies of her notes in my possession. I have examined these same records and verified the accuracy of her notes. “William Morrison Sen, William Morrison Jun, and Jno McDowell to Elizabeth Morrison 200 acres acknowledged in open court by William Morrison Sen, Jno McDowell and Andrew Morrison for William Morrison Jun as attorney.”
6. These land records, including the land grant entry number and date, order for survey, order for plans, and a copy of the survey (plan) including the surveyor’s description of the property, with the names of chain bearers affixed, are available at the Burke County Historical Society. I have copies and transcriptions of all of the listed surveys in my possession. The records are some what confusing. There are several instances where the size of the property to be surveyed differs from the area as surveyed, and by a large number of acres. It is possible that the actual area as surveyed differed from the estimate before the survey. It is also possible that some surveys are mismatched with the land warrants. In at least one instance, two different entry numbers for James Morrison appear to be for the same tract of land. Since the actual survey for one of the two is so hard to read it is impossible to differentiate between them. Despite these difficulties, the surveys show that the Morrison’s mentioned in them were working closely together to obtain legal ownership of land in Burke County. Some of the surveys still permit
one to determine their approximate location in what is now McDowell County.
7. Records of these two tracts are also available at the Burke County Historical Society. I have copies and transcriptions for both.
jamorrison, 12/16/2006
8 Microfilm records of the United States Census are available at the National Archives and branch offices of the Archives in large cities, as well as many genealogical libraries. I have assumed, in analyzing these records, that all people enumerated in a household were members of the immediate family of the head of the household. This assumption may be incorrect, since relatives not part of the immediate family (parents, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, in-laws and the like) might have been part of the household, either temporarily or permanently, when the census was taken. The enumerations could have also included household servants and/or other employees who lived in the home or on the property of the head of household.
9. Rutherford County Deeds, Rutherfordton, North Carolina. The property was bought from John Scott, indenture dated June 9, 1802. The land is identified as lying on both sides of Cane
Creek and near the Burke line. I believe the land is no more than four miles from John’s property in Burke County (now McDowell County) that was near the South Muddy Creek. I have a copy of the indenture document.
10. Original part of Burke County Records, Inventories and Estate Settlements, 1789-1819, available in Raleigh, North Carolina. This was submitted by John Morrison, executor, on January 26, 1808. This information was part of Joyzelle Morey’s transcribed notes previously cited in note 5. I have a copy in my possession.
11. Available in Franklin County, Tennessee, Wills and Inventories 1808-1878. Copy in my
possession.
12. Will available in Rutherford County, North Carolina, Probate Records. I have a copy in my possession.
13. Burke County Court Minutes transcribed by Joyzelle Morey, see note 5. I have a copy in my possession.
14. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Genealogical Library. Copy in my possession.
15. Draper Papers, specifically his King’s Mountain Collection, on file in genealogical libraries all over the United States. I have a copy of Twitty’s letter in my possession.
jamorrison, 12/16/2006
December 16, 2006; amended June 17, 2007
John A. Morrison
125 N. E. Wood Glen Lane
Lee’s Summit, Missouri 64064
(816) 478-0345
juan3viajo@aol.com
M194 – Group Q – Morrison DNA Project
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