{"id":3759,"date":"2016-07-11T10:00:23","date_gmt":"2016-07-11T14:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/morrison-q.com\/wp\/?p=3759"},"modified":"2016-07-11T20:19:32","modified_gmt":"2016-07-12T00:19:32","slug":"dennis-morrison-ancestry-recent-developements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/morrison-q.com\/wp\/?p=3759","title":{"rendered":"Dennis Morrison Ancestry – Recent Developements"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reference: Reports in Morrison-Q entitled \u201cAncestry of Dennis Morrison\u201d, dated October 1, 2010, authored by John A. Morrison and James J. Morrison – Ancestor\u00a0<\/strong>of Dennis Morrison, dated August 18, 2009 (posted October 1, 2010), and authored by John A. Morrison<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Recently, William Byrd Morrison of Camden, Arkansas, joined Morrison-Q.\u00a0 Even more recently, William received his y-111 DNA results from FTDNA.\u00a0 His DNA is only one genetic distance from the y-111 DNA of Dennis Morrison; his DNA is only one genetic distance from me.\u00a0 Dennis\u2019 y-111 DNA differs by two genetic distances from mine at y-111.\u00a0 All three of us are identical at y-67.<\/p>\n

These results suggest that we – William, Dennis, and myself – share a common ancestor, probably more recently than either of the four brothers James, Thomas, William and Andrew Morrison, the ancestors of everyone in Morrison-Q.<\/p>\n

For almost ten years, I and my associates have been examining Dennis Morrison\u2019s ancestry, which is certain from Dennis back to his 2x Grandfather, James J. Morrison, who was present in Calhoun County, Arkansas, in the 1860 census.\u00a0 Of ancestors before James J., Dennis has no knowledge.<\/p>\n

James J. Morrison is enrolled in that census as being born in Tennessee and 25 years of age.\u00a0 His whereabouts between birth and 1860 have not been ascertained, despite exhaustive examinations by \u201cIllinois\u201d Jim Morrison and myself.\u00a0\u00a0 Also listed in the 1860 census of Calhoun County, Arkansas, was George Henry Morrison, 23 years of age,\u00a0 born in Tennessee, and W. P. Morrison, aged 60, born in Tennessee.<\/p>\n

All three men were still in Calhoun County\u00a0 in 1870.\u00a0 The referenced report indicates that James J. and George H. may have been brothers (in addition to being born in Tennessee and near the same age, names of children suggested kinship).\u00a0 At the same time, the presence of an older Morrison of such age that he could have been the father of the two, is suggestive.\u00a0 W. P. was also born in Tennessee and would have been in his mid-thirties when James J. and George Henry were born.<\/p>\n

However, no documentary evidence has been found that definitely associates any one of these three people with any one of the others.<\/p>\n

The inability to find a single one of these three people in the 1850 census was particularly frustrating, but at the same time their mutual absence from the census suggested that they might have been \u201clost\u201d together.<\/p>\n

The closeness of Dennis\u2019 DNA to my own also suggested that W. P. (later census entries identified him as Wm. P., or William) might be a descendant in my own ancestral line.\u00a0 Absent a paper trail, I did what genealogists are cautioned not to do.\u00a0 I looked for a Morrison descendant in my line that might be their parent.<\/p>\n

There was a candidate:\u00a0 William Morrison, grandson of\u00a0 my 4x grandfather William of Burke County.\u00a0 The candidate William was born in 1799, married in 1823 and was the father of one daughter born in 1824 (these facts from the Revolutionary War pension documents of his father, also William Morrison.)\u00a0 My candidate was present in the Dickson County, Tennessee, census in 1830.\u00a0 He was a beneficiary of the estate of his father William of Dickson County (the Revolutionary War pension petitioner), who died in 1835.\u00a0 Records in Dickson County indicated that the younger William lived in Benton County, Tennessee (about 40 miles west of Dickson County) in 1838, when he sold his birthright to a man named Patterson for $200.00.\u00a0 Records in Benton County indicate that he bought land there around 1839 or 1840.\u00a0 In 1842 he conveyed (presumably sold) his land to a man named Shirley.\u00a0 He and his family numbered nine people in the 1840 Benton County census:\u00a0 2 males under 5 years of age; 1 male aged 5-9; 1 male aged 10-14; a male aged 30-39; 1 female under 5; 1 female aged 5-9; 1 female aged 10-14; and a female aged 30-39.\u00a0 After September of 1842, this entire family vanished from public records.<\/p>\n

Not only is the above William a candidate to be Dennis Morrison\u2019s ancestor; none of the other male grandchildren of William Morrison of Burke County named William qualify as a candidate.<\/p>\n

The male children of William of Burke County were:\u00a0 James, born ca. 1754; William (the Rev. War pensioner who left N.C. for Tennessee in 1796), born 1757; John, who moved to Rutherford County, NC, in 1802, born ca. 1764; Andrew, born about 1767, who died in Burke County in 1811; and Thomas, probably born after 1770, who it seems never married.<\/p>\n

James only had one son, Thomas.<\/p>\n

John, my 3x grandfather, had at least eight sons, one of whom, William, was born in 1795.\u00a0 However, the records are clear on this man: he left Rutherford County shortly after 1830 and moved to Macon County, North Carolina.\u00a0 He died there about 1865.<\/p>\n

Andrew, who died in 1811 in Burke County, left several sons, one of whom was named William.\u00a0 The record is clear about this man, too.\u00a0 He married in North Carolina and journeyed with a man named Ballew to what is now Laclede County, Missouri, where he died in the early 1830\u2018s.<\/p>\n

Thomas, the remaining son of William of Burke, had no children.<\/p>\n

Both \u201cIllinois\u201d Jim Morrison and I have searched diligently for any member of my candidate\u2019s family, recognizing at the outset that we had only three names to work with: William, born in 1799; his wife Naomy (Knight), whom he married in 1823; and his oldest daughter, Nancy Jean, born in 1824.\u00a0 Not one of them was found.<\/p>\n

What became of this family? The public records were scoured and yielded not a single clue.<\/p>\n

Under these circumstances, it is easy to see where my imagination took me.<\/p>\n

Could the W. P. Morrison of the 1860 Calhoun County, Arkansas, census, aged about 60, be the younger William Morrison from Dickson and Benton County, Tennessee? That man would have been 61 in 1860.\u00a0 Check – the census says he is 60.\u00a0 He would have had two sons, aged between 20 and 25 in 1860.\u00a0 Check – James J. is 25 and George Henry is 23.\u00a0 The eldest daughter, born in 1824, would have been 36 years old by 1860 and probably married long before.\u00a0 Naomy, born between 1801 and 1810, would have been 50 to 59 in 1860.\u00a0 Perhaps she had died before then.\u00a0 Nothing contradictory to my suppositions is present in the available information.\u00a0 Three things are consistent with my suppositions.\u00a0 One: all three men were born in Tennessee; \u00a0Two: William\u2019s age is correct within census accuracy;\u00a0 Three: both James J. and George Henry\u2019s ages are correct within expected accuracy..\u00a0 Where are the others?\u00a0 We don\u2019t know, and may never know.<\/p>\n

Having the knowledge that the three men existed in 1860 in Calhoun County led to a search for them before that date.\u00a0 What was learned was interesting and somewhat useful, but inconclusive.<\/p>\n

First, it was learned that William P. Morrison, of Bradley County, Arkansas, was \u00a0 granted 40 acres of land at the General Land Office of the United States at Champagnole, Arkansas on March 1, 1855; it appears this land was in the present day county of Calhoun, in Arkansas.\u00a0 Except for the middle initial of \u201cP\u201d, this man could be our candidate.\u00a0 Even though William was never identified with a middle initial while in Tennessee, we know that his mother\u2019s maiden name was Patton.<\/p>\n

Second, there is a possible faint clue from the 1850 United States Census (Slave Schedule).\u00a0 One William B. Morrison was reported to have been the owner of a female slave, aged 35.\u00a0 She was black.\u00a0 B is easily confused with P, both orally and in writing.\u00a0 Perhaps this was our W. P. of 1860.<\/p>\n

Things come into better focus upon examination of Ancestry\u2019s Arkansas Marriages, 1820-1849, which is data taken from the original courthouse records.\u00a0 It is recorded that\u00a0on May 14, 1855, Wm. P. Morrison, married Cynthia Farmer in Calhoun County.\u00a0 On January 31, 1859, Wm. P. Morrison married Sarah A. Morgan in Calhoun County, Arkansas.\u00a0 (The source was the same as above.)\u00a0 The 1860 census showed that W. P. and Sarah A. Morrison\u00a0 lived in Calhoun County.\u00a0 Sarah was then 24 years of age.\u00a0 There were two children, aged 3 and 3 months, respectively.\u00a0 But that is not all.\u00a0 On April 7, 1870, Wm. P. Morrison married Mrs. Sarah A. Mauldin.\u00a0 (Same source as before.)\u00a0 Now the 1870 census showed the family still in Calhoun County.\u00a0 After that they have not been found.<\/p>\n

The information reported in the above paragraph was examined, first, before 2010.\u00a0 Some years later, other Arkansas Marriage records were found.\u00a0 One of these (Arkansas Marriages, 1837-1957) indicated that the first of these three marriages was between William P. \u00a0Morrison, born in 1833 and Cynthia Fanner (Farmer).\u00a0 Who is this fellow?\u00a0 Examination of the original record expands the information:\u00a0 the bridegroom was not just William P. Morrison, but William P. Morrison, Jr. \u00a0\u00a0This record was found by\u201cIllinois\u201d Jim\u00a0\u00a0 Furthermore, Jim learned that William P. Morrison, Jr., died on November 11, 1858, leaving a son, James H., a little more than one year old.<\/p>\n

Cynthia Morrison, his widow, married Joseph H. Callaway in Calhoun County in 1859.\u00a0 James H. is present in the family of Cynthia and Joseph Callaway in the 1860 census.\u00a0 How about that!\u00a0 So the old man was not the 1855 bridegroom.\u00a0 One more fact must be mentioned before we leave William P. Morrison, Jr.\u00a0 Having been born in 1833, he would have been between 5 and 9 in the 1840 census. Had Jim found another brother in the family of William Morrison of Benton County, Tennessee, in the 1840 census? \u00a0That appears to be the case.<\/p>\n

But who bought the 40 acres of land, Junior or Senior?\u00a0 We don\u2019t know, but it was probably the elder man.\u00a0 All will become clearer, but first we need to talk about George H. Morrison.<\/p>\n

He comes to light in Calhoun County in 1859, when he married Julia King.\u00a0 In 1860, this family is listed in the Calhoun County census, George being about 23 and born in Tennessee.\u00a0 So William P. Morrison, Jr, was born in 1833; James J. Morrison was born in 1835; and George Henry Morrison was born in 1837, all in Tennessee.\u00a0 Wm. P. Morrison was born in Tennessee about 1800.\u00a0 James J. Morrison later named his eldest son George Henry.\u00a0 George Henry the elder named his eldest daughter Naoma.\u00a0 William Morrison of Dickson and Benton Counties in Tennessee married Naomy Knight;\u00a0 his mother\u2019s maiden name was Patton!\u00a0 In 1840, he had three sons born between 1830 and 1840; one was between 5 and 9, the other two were aged under 5!\u00a0 It all ties together, yes?<\/p>\n

Back to George Henry the elder.\u00a0 He, alone among these people, can be traced, census by census, until 1910, always in Calhoun County, Arkansas.\u00a0 He was married thrice, and fathered children with each wife.\u00a0 His eldest son, James W., is the direct ancestor of William Byrd Morrison.\u00a0 I have searched for several years, even have visited the area twice, to find a male descendant of George Henry who would be willing to have his DNA tested.\u00a0 These searches yielded nothing, then William Byrd came along and had his test done and joined Morrison-Q, all of the time ignorant that I had been looking for \u201chim\u201d or one of his cousins.\u00a0 Serendipity beats persistence, sometimes.\u00a0 Happy day!<\/p>\n

So, to summarize all of what we know:<\/p>\n

We have prospective brothers, James J. and George H. Morrison, whose respective descendants, Dennis Morrison and William Byrd, have y-111 DNA results that differ by only 1 genetic distance.\u00a0 A third prospective brother, William P. Morrison, Jr., had a son named James H.\u00a0 Did James H. leave male descendants?\u00a0 If so, is there a living male descendant?\u00a0 If so, can we locate them, and persuade them to have their y-DNA tested?<\/p>\n

William Byrd\u2019s y-111 DNA differs from my own by only one genetic distance.\u00a0 It is clear that we are very close kin \u00a0(William Byrd is my closest y-111 match among the Morrison\u2019s in Morrison-Q).\u00a0 I have had my Full Y test done and have those results.\u00a0 The plan now is for William Byrd to test for the specific SNP\u2019s R-Y5649 and R-FGC5577,\u00a0which are the most recent two SNP\u2019s for the ten Morrison-Q members who have had their Full Y tests.\u00a0 The terminal SNP for nine of these men is R-FGC5577.\u00a0 The tests are inexpensive and can be completed in a short time.<\/p>\n

Further, \u201cIllinois\u201d Jim has learned that their are four living male descendants of William P. Morrison, Jr.\u00a0 We know their names and places of residence, again thanks to the diligence of \u201cIllinois\u201d Jim Morrison.<\/p>\n

One of them, Richard Morrison, lives in Camden, Arkansas, and is an acquaintance of William Byrd Morrison.\u00a0 William Byrd is arranging to have Richard do his y-37 DNA.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, we would like to know if we all descend from William Morrison of Burke County.\u00a0 At present we have y-DNA from six men who descended from William of Burke They are:<\/p>\n