BIOGRAPHIES INDEX

The Morrison Family:
From New Jersey to Kentucky to Texas

By Steven R. Butler, Ph.D.

Introduction | John Morrison | David Morrison | Isaac Morrison | Samuel H. Morrison | Isaac F. Morrison | Emmerine J. Morrison

I am related to the Morrison family by virtue of the marriage of my maternal great-grandfather William Newton Jenkins to Emmerine Morrison, who was the daughter of Isaac Fisher Morrison and his wife Ada Ann (Richardson) Morrison.

The Morrison family is almost certainly Scottish or Scots-Irish in origin. Although I do not know the names of my immigrant ancestors in this line, it is a near certainty that they arrived in North America during the late 1600s or early-to-mid 1700s, a period of time during which thousands of other Scottish and Scots-Irish immigrants crossed the Atlantic, settling largely in the Appalachian region of the continent. My Morrison line has a history of residence in Somerset County, New Jersey, Hardin County and Edmonson County, Kentucky and Lamar County, Texas.

Our earliest confirmable ancestor in this line is John Morrison, who was born (according to some researchers) about 1705, place unknown. It is possible, although so far unproven, that he may be our immigrant ancestor in this line. At some point in his life he came to reside in or near the town of Basking Ridge, Somerset County, New Jersey--which is situated in the northern part of the state, just off present-day Interstate 287, near Bernardsville and the Great Swamp, about eight miles south of Morristown (and also not very far from the Morristown Battlefield National Historic Park). Unfortunately, our only known record of John Morrison is his will, dated 17 June 1751 and proved in Somerset County, New Jersey on 25 October 1753. It identifies him as a "yeoman," which is another way of saying that he was a farmer.¹

John Morrison's will, which was witnessed by three neighbors--William Flin, Levi Ayers, and John Roy, names as heirs his wife Margrete (surname unknown) and their nine children: James, Sarah, Marey, Martha, Margrete, Agnes, David, Isaac, and John. The last three are identified as being "under age." John Morrison's estate (real and personal, including the family Bible), which was inventoried on 22 October 1751, is shown as having a total value of £173.17.6 (173 Pounds, 17 Shillings, and sixpence).² The location of John Morrison's grave is presently unknown. Neither is it known by how many years his wife Margrete outlived him.

David Morrison, son of John Morrison and his wife Margrete, was born in New Jersey (probably in or near Basking Ridge, Somerset County) about 1742. On 01 November 1759, when he was seventeen years of age, a Basking Ridge neighbor named Joseph Kinnan was appointed his guardian.³ Two years later (on 23 January 1761), a man named William Hamilton, also of Basking Ridge, was appointed guardian of sixteen-year-old Isaac Morrison (together with John Hill of Elizabethtown, Essex County, as fellow bondsman) and in 1762, both David Morrison and his older brother James were appointed guardians of their fourteen-year-old brother, John. On 26 June1767, James Morrison, then living in Sussex County, New Jersey took over guardianship of Isaac. Thomas Anderson, likewise a New Jersey resident, served as fellow bondsman.⁴

In this detail from a 1778 map of New Jersey, Basking Ridge is misidentified as "Baskeridge." Courtesy Library of Congress.

David Morrison's precise whereabouts from 1762 to 1798--a period of thirty-six years, are uncertain although it is probable he continued to reside in New Jersey during all or most of that time. During the American Revolution (1775-1783), James, Isaac, and John Morrison all served in New Jersey regiments. Isaac, who held the rank of Captain, particularly distinguished himself (and was wounded in battle). Although David Morrison was only thirty-three years old at the beginning of the war in 1775, his name cannot be found on the roster of any New Jersey regiment. Either he served some unit raised in a different state (there is a David Morrison listed on the roster of a New York regiment), or he did not serve at all. Unfortunately, David Morrison did not live long enough to apply for a Revolutionary War pension, if he qualified for one. This is unfortunate; as a rule, pension records provide more personal information about an individual than military service records.

Sometime after reaching adulthood, probably in the 1760s, David Morrison married a young woman named Mary (surname unknown) and together they had the following eight children (not necessarily in birth order): Sally; Mary; Jesse; Isaac; Joel; William; Elizabeth; and Jane.⁵

Sometime during or after the Revolution, David's brothers James and Isaac went to Kentucky, where in 1785 they were delegates to a convention held at Danville, where they joined in recommending that Kentucky, which was then a part of Virginia, be made into a separate state,⁶ which was done on 01 June 1792. In 1797 Isaac also became one of the original founders of Elizabethtown, the seat of Hardin County, Kentucky.⁷

Unfortunately, in 1814 British soldiers burned a number of important public buildings in Washington, D.C., including the White House, the Capitol, and the Library of Congress, resulting in the destruction of the 1790 census records for both New Jersey and Kentucky, which was then a part of Virginia. There is also some speculation that the census forms were never actually forwarded to the capital at all and were simply "lost." In either event, we cannot know if David Morrison was still living in New Jersey in 1790 or if he had already made the journey west. We can be reasonably sure, however, that after David Morrison left New Jersey, he initially settled in Lincoln County, Kentucky. There, on 19 December 1798, his daughter Jane married Jonathan Richardson. On 11 April 1798 daughter Sally married Amos Richardson, the twenty-three-year-old son of William Richardson (both Amos and William are also my ancestors). The relationship of the above-named Jonathan Richardson to Amos, if any, is presently uncertain.⁸

This map of Kentucky was made in the late 1700s, before Hardin County and Elizabethtown were established. Courtesy Library of Congress.

David's brother Isaac Morrison died in Hardin County in 1799.⁹ Daniel Lamson Morrison, identified in his will as Isaac's only son, afterward removed to Ohio County, Kentucky, where he is listed in the 1810 census.¹⁰ Isaac's will also lists a James Morrison as a friend who had come "lately from the Mississippi," which is apparently a reference to someone unrelated (although they shared the same last name) and not to his and David's brother James.

Although David Morrison is not listed in the reconstructed Second Census of Kentucky (for 1800), there is no question that he was then living in Hardin County, Kentucky, where a bond, signed by him and Jacob Van Metre (or Van Meter) Junior on 29 June 1800 is on file in the county clerk's office. The document remarks that on that date, David Morrison was "sworn in as Coroner of Hardin County."¹¹ It is not known how long he held this position.

Our next notice of David Morrison is a deed dated either the 22nd or 23rd of August 1804, in which it is recorded that he and his wife purchased 1,000 acres of land, on "Rudes [Rhude's] Creek" in Hardin County from a David Cox and his wife Mathilda, for which David and Mary paid "one hundred and fifty pounds current money of Kentucky."¹² Unfortunately, the deed does not indicate whether the land was located on East Rhude's Creek or West Rhude's Creek.

The following year, on 15 June 1805, David and Mary Morrison sold 250 acres of their land to James Morrison (probably either David's older brother or Isaac's friend from "the Mississippi") for "five shillings current money of Kentucky."¹³

Sometime in 1807, at the age of about sixty-five, David Morrison died in Hardin County.¹⁴ Cause of death is unknown and unfortunately, the site of his grave has apparently been lost to history. Apparently, he left no will. His personal estate, which was inventoried on 04 August, included livestock of all kinds (sheep, cows, hogs, and horses), a wagon, a "rifle gun," household furniture, a saddle, tools of various kinds, two spinning wheels, and two beehives.¹⁵ There is no mention of any books, including a family Bible, which suggests that David Morrison was illiterate, which was not uncommon in those times. The total value of his personal estate was approximately £150, more or less. (Unfortunately, some of the figures on the inventory sheet are difficult to read but the value was certainly no less than £135.)

Mary Morrison outlived her husband by more than a decade, surviving well into the 1820s. The 1810 federal census for Hardin County, Kentucky records the names of both James Morrison (presumably David's brother) and Polly Morrison, who because "Polly" was a typical nickname in that era for anyone named Mary, I believe may be the widow of David Morrison. There is a problem however. The census also records that Polly (or Mary) had four male family members, presumably her sons, all of who were then between the ages of 16 to 26 (and which would have included my twenty-four-year-old ancestor Isaac, who should not be confused with his uncle Isaac Morrison who died in 1799). But there is also one male listed in Polly's household who is between the ages of 26 and 45. That makes a total of five males and Mary Morrison only had four sons. Furthermore, the 1810 federal census for Hardin County, Kentucky also includes a Jess Morrison and a William Morrison,¹⁶ which are the names of two of Mary's four sons. Presently, I am unable to account for these apparent anomalies.

I think it is worth mentioning that the 1810 federal census for Hardin County, Kentucky further records the residence of one Thomas Lincoln, who at that time was the father of a one-year-old son named Abraham (although the 1810 census only gives the father's name).¹⁷ While there is no reason to believe that we are related in any way to Lincoln family, there is no doubt that the then-future president and his parents were our ancestors' neighbors. It is therefore quite possible that they acquainted with one another.

Our earliest known ancestor in this line was Isaac Morrison, who was born about 1786 in New Jersey.¹⁸His father was the aforementioned David Morrison, a resident of Somerset County, New Jersey. Sometime during his childhood, but no later than the age of twelve, Isaac migrated to Kentucky with his parents and siblings.

Although Kentucky did not actually become a state until 1792, Americans had started settling the trans-Appalachian west as early as the Revolutionary War years. Kentucky was still mostly wilderness when the Morrison family arrived there in the late eighteenth century. Consequently, Isaac Morrison grew up on a frontier farm where he and his parents and his siblings almost certainly lived together in a crude log cabin, which was a very commonplace type of abode at that time.

Our earliest known public record of Isaac Morrison concerns a matter of some delicacy. On 13 July 1812, when he was twenty-six-years-old, Isaac was called to the Hardin County courthouse in Elizabethtown to answer a charge of fathering a "Bastard child" with a young woman named Rachel Watson. When Isaac's counsel (name not shown in the record) moved to have the case quashed, the motion was overruled. The following day, after hearing testimony from both parties, the court ruled that Isaac "is the father of the said Bastard child," charging him further "with the payment of fifty-five dollars for the support and maintenance of said child," to be paid in annual installments every 14 July through the year 1816. Obviously having no choice in the matter, Isaac "came into court and entered into and acknowledged his bond in the penalty of one-hundred and ten dollars with Jesse Morrison his security conditioned agreeable to the above order." A few months later, in February 1814, John Van Meter (spelled Van Matre in the marriage records of Hardin County) married Rachel Watson¹⁹ and presumably took her child, whose name, age, and sex are not noted in the court records, to raise as his own (this is currently speculation--no further record of the child has been sought).

What makes this case all the more interesting is that on the very same day (13 July 1812) he first appeared in court regarding the child he fathered with Rachel Watson, Isaac Morrison and his then-future-father-in-law Samuel Haycraft (a pioneer settler of Hardin County and one of the founders of Elizabethtown) posted a bond with the county court in the "sum of fifty pounds United States currency." The bond was a legal requirement that preceded his marriage to Haycraft's twenty-year-old daughter Elizabeth or Betsy (born March 16, 1792). (One cannot help but wonder what the bride-to-be thought about her future husband's indiscretion with Rachel Watson, or what Rachel thought about Isaac marrying another young woman instead of her.) The actual marriage took place six days later, on 19 July 1812.²⁰ Over the next several years, Isaac and Betsy Morrison had the following ten children, all of who are named in his will²¹ and each one of which was almost certainly born in Hardin County, Kentucky:

1. Samuel Haycraft Morrison, born about 1813, died after 1860 probably in Edmonson County, Kentucky.²²
2. Margaret or Peggy Morrison, born about 1814, died after 1850 probably in Kentucky.²³
3. Lucretia Morrison, born about 1818, died after 1850 probably in Kentucky.²⁴
4. Worden Polk Morrison, born November 6, 1819, married Susan Hodges (born January 29, 1842), died June 17, 1878 in Hardin County, Kentucky.²⁵
5. Malvina C. Morrison, born about 1822, died after 1860 probably in Rusk County, Texas.²⁶
6. Letitia Y. Morrison, born about 1823, date and place of death unknown.²⁷
7. Mary Morrison, date of birth unknown, date and place of death unknown.
8. Thomas C. Morrison, born July 29, 1825, died December 22, 1894 in Hardin County, Kentucky.²⁸
9. Caroline J. Morrison, born about 1826, died after 1860 probably in Kentucky.²⁹
10. William C. Morrison, born about 1830, died after 1860 probably in Kentucky.³⁰

Although Isaac Morrison was old enough to have performed military service during the War of 1812, none of the official rosters of soldiers from Kentucky for that conflict include his name.

Our next public record of Isaac Morrison is the 1820 federal census for Hardin County, Kentucky, which shows he and his wife with two male children less than ten years of age (Samuel and Worden). There are also three female children less than ten years of age in the household (Margaret presumably, and two others who cannot be accounted for). The families of John Morrison, Jesse Morrison, and Joel A. Morrison are listed on the same census page in close proximity.³¹ Thanks to Jesse Morrison's will, which was dated 1843 and filed for record in Hardin County, we know that he was Isaac Morrison's brother and that Joel A. Morrison was Jesse's son (and therefore Isaac's nephew).³² Jesse Morrison was married to Rebecca or Becky Van Meter (in 1802).³³ Later census records reveal that John Morrison was born in North Carolina. Consequently, it seems unlikely that he was kin to any of the members of our line, which originated in New Jersey.

In 1830, the federal census for Hardin County, Kentucky shows Isaac Morrison and his wife with two sons less than five-years-old (Thomas and William), one son from 10 to 15 years of age (Worden), and one son from 15 to 20 years of age (Samuel). Three of the daughters were from 5 to 10 years of age (Malvina, Letitia, and Caroline). There were also two young females from 10 to 15 years of age (Lucretia and Mary), and one female from 15 to 20 years of age (Margaret, also known as "Peggy").³⁴

On January 19, 1834 Isaac Morrison's oldest son, twenty-one-year-old Samuel, was married in Hardin County, Kentucky to Sarah Sally Gilliland, age twenty-three.³⁵ Later that same year, on October 20, Isaac's twenty-year-old daughter Margaret or "Peggy" was married in Hardin County to Elijah Willyard.³⁶

On May 16, 1839, Isaac Morrison's daughter Lucretia, age twenty-one, was married to John C. Arnold in Hardin County, Kentucky.³⁷

In the 1840 federal census for Hardin County, Kentucky, Isaac Morrison and his wife are shown with two sons aged 10 to 15 years, two sons aged 20 to 30 years, three daughters from 15 to 20 years of age and two daughters between the ages of 20 and 30. Unfortunately, these numbers do not exactly match what we know about this family. In 1840 Isaac should have had only one son aged 20 to 30 living at home, namely Worden, because by this time Samuel was married and living with his wife and children in a separate homestead. Perhaps the census taker or the person who provided the information simply made an error. Then there is the problem of too many daughters. By 1840, two daughters, Lucretia and Margaret, were married and living with their husbands in separate households. That leaves only four daughters at home but the census taker put down five. Furthermore, the daughters' ages do not entirely match what we know about this family from other sources. There are only two possible answers to this dilemma. Either there is a mistake in the census data or Isaac Morrison had more children than we know about.³⁸

On March 23, 1847, Isaac's daughter Mary married Abraham Van Meter (spelled Vanmetre in the county records), in Hardin County, Kentucky.³⁹ That same year, on October 14, Isaac's twenty-two-year-old son Thomas C. Morrison was also married in Hardin County, Kentucky. His bride was twenty-year-old Lucinda Woodring.⁴⁰

Thankfully, the 1850 census lists all household members by name. In that year, the federal census taker found Isaac Morrison and his wife (shown as Elizabeth instead of her nickname "Betsy") still living in Hardin County, Kentucky and with five grown children still at home: Worden P., age 30; Malvina C., age 28; Letitia Y., age 27; Caroline J., age 26; and William C., age 24. Thanks to this particular census we also know that sixty-four-year-old Isaac was born in New Jersey, while all the other members of the household, including his wife, were born in Kentucky. The census tells us further that he was a farmer with a thousand dollars worth of real estate.⁴¹ Although Kentucky was a slave state, Isaac's name is not among those county residents who were listed in a separate "Slave Schedule."

On December 9, 1851 Isaac's daughter Caroline married Squire Ash in Hardin County, Kentucky.⁴²

On March 23, 1852, twenty-year-old Malvina C. Morrison married Thomas M. Yates in Hardin County, Kentucky.⁴³

On January 24, 1854, Letitia Y. Morrison married Stephen Eliot in Hardin County, Kentucky.⁴⁴

Following Isaac Morrison's death on 21 June 1861 at the age of seventy-five, he was buried in the Franklin Cross Roads Cemetery. His will, dated 15 July 1854, was filed for record in the Hardin County courthouse at Elizabethtown, Kentucky on 20 August 1861.⁴⁵ It names Isaac's wife Betsy Morrison as his principal heir, giving her full title to the family farm and all property thereon, including all livestock and farming and household items and utensils, as well as any money he might have accumulated. In the event his widow were to remarry (and there seems to be no evidence that she ever did so) Isaac directed that Betsy sell the property, taking one third of the proceeds for herself and dividing the remaining two thirds among his children, namely son Samuel H. Morrison, daughter Polly Willyard, daughter Mary Van Meter, daughter Lucretia Arnold, daughter Malvina Yates, son Worden P. Morrison, daughter Letitia Eliot, daughter Caroline Ash, son William C. Morrison, and son Thomas C. Morrison. The will also names a granddaughter, Marrietta Arnold (obviously Lucretia's daughter), who was then living with Isaac and Betsey. Finally, Isaac named his son William C. Morrison as executor of his estate. Isaac's nephew Joel A. Morrison and son-in-law John C. Arnold witnessed the document.⁴⁶

Six years after Isaac Morrison's death, his wife Betsey, who died on 02 September 1868, was buried in Franklin Crossroads Cemetery, beside him. Both graves are marked with upright tombstones, although Isaac's has broken and therefore sits at an angle.

Some researchers maintain that Betsey Haycraft Morrison passed away in Pike County, Illinois but in the absence of any evidence and also the fact that Pike County, Illinois is nearly 400 miles from Hardin County, Kentucky, I believe this claim is in error.

Samuel Haycraft Morrison, born about 1813 in Hardin County, Kentucky, was the oldest child of Isaac Morrison and his wife Elizabeth or "Betsy" (Haycraft) Morrison. Samuel was obviously named for his maternal grandfather, Samuel Haycraft Sr., one of the earliest and most respected residents of Hardin County.

This map of Hardin County is part of a larger map of Kentucky, published in 1862. Courtesy Library of Congress.

Samuel H. Morrison had at least nine siblings, who are named in the preceding section. He grew up, in all likelihood, in a log cabin on a frontier farm where he was almost certainly exposed at an early age to all the pleasures and hardships that such a lifestyle entails.

On January 19, 1834, at the age of twenty-one, Samuel was married in Hardin County, Kentucky to twenty-three-year-old Sally Gilliland, daughter of James Gilliland.⁴⁷ Thanks to federal census records for 1850 and 1860, we know that they had the following named children:

1. Mary E. Morrison, born about 1835, date and place of death unknown.
2. Charles W. Morrison, born about 1836, died after 1860, place unknown.
3. Isaac Fisher Morrison, born September 2, 1840, died January 1, 1918 at Grant, Choctaw County, Oklahoma.⁴⁸
4. David G. Morrison, born about 1842, died after 1870, place unknown.⁴⁹

In 1840, Samuel H. Morrison was enumerated in the federal census for Hardin County, Kentucky on the very same page as his father Isaac Morrison, his brother-in-law Abraham Van Meter, and two of my other Hardin County ancestors, Amos Richardson and Isaac E. Richardson.⁵⁰ (See Richardson family.) For this reason, we may reasonably assume that Samuel's first four children, Mary, Charles, Isaac, and David, were all born in Hardin County.

Around 1842 Samuel's wife Sally died of some unknown cause (very likely complications of childbirth). She was about thirty-one-years-old. Her place of burial has been lost to posterity. On January 19, 1843, on what would have been his and Sally's ninth wedding anniversary, Samuel married her sister Polly (whose actual name may have been Mary owing to the fact that in those days "Polly" was a common nickname for women named Mary).⁵¹ Relying again on the federal census for 1850 and 1860, we know that Samuel and Polly had the following children:

1. Sarah C. Morrison, born about 1844, died after 1860, place unknown.
2. George M. Morrison, born about 1845, died after 1860, place unknown.
3. Alexander R. Morrison, born about 1846, died after 1860, place unknown.
4. William L. Morrison, born about 1848, died after 1860, place unknown.
5. Malcolm A. Morrison, born about 1848, died before 1860, place unknown.
6. Margaret J. Morrison, born about 1851, died after 1860, place unknown.
7. John M. Morrison, born about 1852, died after 1860, place unknown.
8. James D. Morrison, born about 1853, died after 1860, place unknown.
9. Latitia A. E. Morrison, born about 1856, died after 1860, place unknown.
10. Luther W. Morrison, born about 1858, died after 1860, place unknown.
11. Laura Ann Morrison, born about 1859, died after 1860, place unknown.

(Judging by their approximate years of birth, it appears that William L. and Malcolm A. Morrison were twins, but we have no evidence to confirm it.)

In 1850, Samuel H. Morrison was enumerated in the federal census for Edmondson County, Kentucky.⁵² (Brownsville, the county seat, is located about 55 miles south of Elizabethtown, the seat of Hardin County.) For this reason we cannot be sure if the last five children were born in Hardin or Edmonson County.

(It should be mentioned here that according to a letter sent by Mrs. Ruby Bryan of Raymond, Mississippi to my Aunt Inez Jenkins Hickman in June 1977, Samuel H. Morrison and his wife Ada Ann were not only married in Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky but also that their children were born there. She claimed that this information came from a Morrison family Bible. Although some of the information Mrs. Bryan supplied my aunt was probably correct, such as dates of birth, death, and marriage, I have no doubt whatsoever that she was completely mistaken about any members of the Morrison family being married or born in Bowling Green because that information simply does not match the public records of both Hardin County, Kentucky and the United States government.⁵³ This makes me wonder whether the Bible mentioned by Mrs. Bryan was contemporary to the time of the events it is supposed to record or if the information was placed in a later Bible and based on someone's apparently faulty memory.)

Samuel's wife and nine of his children are also listed in the 1850 federal census and his occupation is given as "Clergyman," although the sect or denomination is not indicated. This census records further that he owned real estate valued at $200.⁵⁴ Like his father Isaac, Samuel H. Morrison was not a slave owner.

In the 1860 federal census for Edmonson County, Samuel is listed as a farmer with $1,000 worth of real estate and $800 worth of personal property. His wife Polly and fourteen of his fifteen children are also listed. Only Malcolm A. Morrison, who must have died sometime between 1850 and 1860, is not named in this census.⁵⁵

Although Kentucky never seceded from the Union during the Civil War, its residents were almost evenly divided in their loyalty, with some supporting the federal government and others the rebel Confederacy. Although we do not know what sort of sentiments were harbored by Samuel H. Morrison, we do know that in May 1864, two of his sons, Isaac and David, enlisted in Company A, First Regiment Capital Guards, Frankfort Battalion-a Union organization that successfully repelled a Confederate attack against the Kentucky capital in June 1864. The two young men remained in uniform until January 1865, at which time they were discharged along with the rest of their company.⁵⁶

From all appearances, both Samuel H. Morrison and his wife Polly died sometime between 1860 and 1870 because in the 1870 federal census for Edmonson County, Kentucky, nine of Samuel's children are listed in the household of a thirty-nine-year-old farmer identified only as "M. Morrison," whose relationship to these children is not indicated. It is also unclear whether an eight-year-old Thomas N. Morrison, who is shown in this census as a member of the household of" M. Morrison" and his twenty-five-year-old wife Sarah C. Morrison, is the couple's son or if the boy is one of Samuel and Polly's children. Isaac F. Morrison and his brother David G. Morrison, who by this time were both married with families of their own, are listed on the very same page, obviously living in close proximity to their younger siblings.⁵⁷

Isaac Fisher Morrison was born on September 2, 1840 in Hardin County, Kentucky.⁵⁸ He was the third child and second oldest son of Samuel Haycraft Morrison and his wife Sally (Gilliland) Morrison.

Following the birth of his brother David in 1842, Isaac's mother died, probably from complications of childbirth. On January 19, 1843, his father Samuel married his aunt Polly Gilliland, who thus became his stepmother as well. She and Samuel had eleven children together, who were technically not only Samuel's half-siblings but also his half-cousins!

Although Kentucky was one of four slave states that officially remained in the Union during the Civil War (the others were Missouri, Delaware, and Maryland), its citizens were almost evenly divided between those who remained loyal to the United States and those who sided with the rebels. From all appearances the Morrison family remained uncommitted until May 13, 1864, when Governor Thomas E. Bramlette, "roused to desperation by guerrilla outrages," issued this proclamation: "Kentuckians! To the rescue! I want 10,000 six-months troops at once. Do not hesitate to come. I will lead you, Let us help to finish the war the and save our government."⁵⁹ On May 20,1864, Isaac F. Morrison and his brother David heeded the Governor's call, enlisting as privates in Company A, First Regiment Capital Guards, Frankfort Battalion. Although they were not formally mustered into service until June 27, 1864, this company took part in the defense of the city when Confederate forces led by General Morgan besieged the Kentucky capital on June 10, 11, and 12, 1864. For the remainder of their approximately eight-months term of service, which concluded on January 10, 1865, the Frankfort Battalion "protected the capital from the frequent incursions of guerrilla forces."⁶⁰

1863 Military Map of Frankfort, Kentucky. Courtesy Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Following the end of the Civil War, the twenty-six-year-old Union veteran was married to Mrs. Ada Ann Woodring,⁶¹ the eighteen-year-old widow of Addison Woodring (who was only twenty-five years of age when he died on October 1, 1865 after two years of marriage).⁶² Family lore holds that Ada Ann and her first husband had two children whose names were Lonnie and Latisha but only the girl can be accounted for in federal census records, where she is listed as Latisha Morrison, not Woodring.⁶³

Isaac F. Morrison and Ada Ann (her name is given as "Ady Ann" in Hardin County records) were married at the home of the bride's father, Isaac E. Richardson, on February 13, 1866.⁶⁴ Thanks to Mrs. Ruby Bryan of Raymond, Mississippi (one of Isaac and Ada Ann Morrison's granddaughters) and the federal census of 1870 and 1880 (which provides some verification), we know that this couple had the following children:

1. Samuel Loranzo Morrison, born November 21, 1867 in Kentucky.
2. David Andrew Morrison, born November 17, 1868 in Kentucky.
3. Lilly Bell Morrison, born June 27, 1870 in Kentucky.
4. Isaac Bishop Morrison, born May 8, 1872 in Kentucky.
5. Emmerine J. Morrison, born July 25, 1874 in Kentucky.
6. Sarah Janey Morrison, born September 18, 1876 in Kentucky.
7. Dyer Leonard Morrison, born January 18, 1878 in Kentucky.
8. Millard Fillmore Morrison, born May 7, 1880 in Kentucky.
9. Alice Berthy Morrison, born October 12, 1881 in Kentucky.
10. William Lester (or Lester William) Morrison, born February 5, 1884 in Kentucky.
11. Ambrose Bremnlet or Bramlette (perhaps he was named after the wartime governor of Kentucky, Thomas E. Bramlette?) Morrison, born March 5, 1886 in Lamar County, Texas.
12. Arthur Neil Morrison, born October 22, 1887 in Lamar County, Texas; died February 13, 1963 in Jackson, Mississippi. (Mrs. Bryan's father.)
13. Charlie Morrison, born (and died) May 20, 1890 in Lamar County, Texas.⁶⁵

A later federal census--the one of 1900--asked women how many children they had borne and how many of those were still living. To that question, Ada Ann answered fifteen and twelve, respectively. One of the three deceased children, of course, was Charles. Another was probably the aforementioned Lonnie Woodring; but who was the third one? I believe it was probably Samuel Loranzo Morrison, for the simple reason that I have been unable to find any information about him after 1880.

This family is listed in both the 1870 and 1880 federal census for Edmonson County, Kentucky, which was obviously the birthplace of the first ten children named above. The final three, as indicated, were born in Texas. Each census identifies Isaac F. Morrison as a farmer.⁶⁶

Although most of the 1890 federal census was destroyed by fire, an enumeration of all living Union veterans was taken that same year. Thankfully, this special census schedule has survived to the present day and Isaac F. Morrison is listed in it as living in Lamar County, Texas, which further confirms his departure from Kentucky in the 1880s. There is no information about the veteran's family. This census simply verifies that Isaac served in Company A, First Regiment of Capital Guards (he told the census taker he served nine months instead of eight, which may have simply been an honest mistake). It also tells us that he was deaf in his left ear and hard of hearing in the right.⁶⁷

In addition to telling us how many children Ada Ann Morrison bore, the 1900 federal census provides evidence that sometime between the birth of Lester in February 1885 and the birth of Ambrose in March 1886, the family of Isaac F. and Ada Ann Morrison journeyed from Kentucky to Texas, where they settled in Lamar County--a little more than a hundred miles northeast of Dallas and just across the Red River from Indian Territory.⁶⁸ We do not know however, whether they made the journey by train, which they could have done by that time, or by covered wagon. What led them to leave Kentucky and to settle in that spot in Texas is likewise anyone's guess.

This late nineteenth century map of North Texas shows Lamar County and the surrounding area. Courtesy Library of Congress

Precisely where the I. F. Morrison family settled upon arrival in Texas is unknown. It appears that they lived at least for a while in Paris, where Ambrose Morrison was born in 1886. Unfortunately, a search of Lamar County, Texas land records has uncovered only one deed, dated January 1, 1903, in which Benjamin F. Jenkins (brother of Thomas William Jenkins) and his wife sold 30 acres of land to Isaac F. Morrison "in consideration of" three vendor's lien nots for $61.66 each. This land, part of "the old Frankline L. Darnell survey," was located "on the waters of Pine Creek," nine miles north of Paris and just a mile or so south of a community called Powderly, almost directly north of Paris, the county seat, and was situated within the bounds of present-day Camp Maxey, a large federal military installation established in 1942, which is now a National Guard training facility. In 2001, my Aunt Inez Jenkins Hickman and I visited Camp Maxey, which is located on the west side of State Highway 271 near Powderly, to look for Casey Cemetery (where Ada Ann Morrison is supposed to be buried). I am happy to report that we found the cemetery, which was in a remote location and very overgrown, but could not find a grave marker for Ada Ann. During our search, we almost certainly passed through or very near the spot where the Morrison family farm existed.

The family of Thomas W. Jenkins, a Georgia-born farmer, also lived in this area. Not surprisingly, the younger members of the two families socialized with one another and in time, three marriages resulted. The first of these matrimonial partnerships was between David Andrew Morrison and Delilah Emma Jenkins, which occurred on February 12, 1893. The second was the marriage of my great-grandfather William Newton Jenkins to Emmerine Morrison on July 14, 1900. The third was the marriage of Isaac B. Morrison to Lizzie Jenkins.⁶⁹ It is interesting to note that as a result of the first two marriages, Emma Jenkins became Emma Morrison and Emmerine Morrison or "Emma" as she was also sometimes called, became Emma Jenkins!

Of course there were other Morrison weddings in Lamar County, Texas besides those discussed in the preceding paragraphs: On December 19, 1889, Lillie Bell Morrison married W. S. Luckey; on July 16, 1896, Sarah Jane Morrison married W. R. Killingsworth; and on January 28,1908 Arthur Neil Morrison married Della Gunter.⁷⁰

A photograph I inherited from my Aunt Nez after she passed away in 2009 shows eleven members of the Morrison and Jenkins families as they appeared around the turn of the twentieth century. It was taken out-of-doors on the Morrison farm, with the family's two-story frame house and outbuildings (apparently unpainted) clearly visible in the background. This photo is reproduced below.

Isaac F. and Ada Ann Morrison were still living in Lamar County when the federal census for 1910 was taken but only Lena was living with them.⁷¹ Some of their married children however, were still living nearby, apparently on adjacent farms and perhaps on land that was either given or sold to them by their parents.

In 1912, Isaac F. Morrison applied for a federal pension based on his Civil War service.⁷² He had made an earlier application for an Invalid Pension, in 1879, while living in Kentucky. Both applications were rejected because the unit in which he served was a state, not federal, organization, and was therefore not covered under any then-prevailing federal pension law.

Sometime after the 1910 census was taken, Isaac F. Morrison and his wife went to live in Grant, Choctaw County, Oklahoma, a tiny community that is only about 15 miles north of where they lived in Texas. How and when they disposed of their property in Lamar County, Texas is unknown.

On January 1, 1918, Isaac F. Morrison died at Grant, Oklahoma and was buried, according to grandson Robert Miles Morrison (son of David Andrew Morrison), in a cemetery two miles northeast of Grant. The only cemetery that comes close to meeting that description is Mount Olive Cemetery, located a little more than two miles north of the town (not to be confused with Mt. Olivet Cemetery in nearby Hugo, Oklahoma), but this is a traditionally black cemetery and Morrison was white. It's more likely that he was buried in Grant Cemetery, about two miles east of the town. However, if this cemetery is the place where he was buried, it appears that his grave was never marked, or if it was, the marker is either missing or obscured by soil. A brief notice in the Paris (Texas) Morning News reported on January 2nd that Emberson & Brown (a Paris undertaking parlor) had shipped a casket to Grant for him. Immediately following her husband's death, Ada Ann Morrison applied for a federal widow's pension, based on her husband's Civil War service. It was rejected for the same reason that his own application was rejected in 1912. No doubt destitute, by 1920 she had gone to live with her son, Millard Fillmore Morrison, and his family in Lamar County, Texas.⁷³

Only some of the graves in Casey Cemetery, near Powderly, Texas, have tombstones. No marker has been found for Ada Ann Morrison. Author photo.

Emmerine Morrison, also called "Emma," was born July 25, 1874 in Kentucky, probably Edmonson County. She was the fifth child and second oldest daughter of Isaac F. Morrison and his wife Ada Ann (Richardson, Woodring) Morrison.⁷⁵

Unfortunately, very little is known about Emmerine's early years. All we can be sure of is that she came to live in Lamar County, Texas with her parents and siblings about 1885, when she was eleven years old, and that she grew up on a farm near the small rural community of Powderly, Texas.

In 1874, when Emmerine was twenty, she gave birth to an illegitimate child,⁷⁶ who is has been said was the product of incest between Emma and her own father, Isaac, an allegation for which there is no apparent evidence (but also no reason to disbelieve). In any case, the child, a girl who was named Lena May, was born deaf and with a limited ability therefore, to speak intelligibly, a disability from which she apparently suffered throughout her relatively long life.

On July 14, 1900, twenty-six-year-old Emmerine was married in Lamar County, Texas to William Newton Jenkins, the nineteen-year-old son of a neighboring farm family. FN Afterward, they lived at Hinckley-a small community located on a railway line about four miles north of Paris, Texas. Together, they had the following children:

1. Lillie Pearl Jenkins, born June 21, 1901, died April 14, 1973 at Dallas, Dallas County, Texas.⁷⁷
2. William Ollie Jenkins, born June 7, 1902, died October 26, 1971 at Chicago, Cook County, Illinois.⁷⁸
3. Isaac Newton Jenkins, born November 15, 1903, died September 16, 1990, place unknown.⁷⁹

The marriage of my great-grandparents, William N. Jenkins and Emmerine Morrison, was exceptional for two reasons. First, because at the time of their wedding, Emmerine already had a four-year-old daughter named Lena May, who would today be called "hearing and speech impaired," or in the parlance of the time, "deaf and dumb." Lena was also "illegitimate" or "born-out-of-wedlock," as it was termed in those days. Secondly, Emmerine was seven years older than William, which was particularly unusual at a time in history when women were generally much younger than their husbands. At the time of their wedding in the summer of 1900, Emmerine was twenty-six and William only nineteen. Ordinarily, it would have been the other way around.

On March 4, 1904, less than four months after her son Isaac Newton was born, Emmerine Morrison died at her home in Hinckley of septicemia (blood poisoning), a condition that may or may not have been connected with her recent childbirth. She was only thirty years old.⁸⁰

Emmerine was buried in Faubion Cemetery, located about one mile northeast of Paris, Texas,⁸¹ where her grave is apparently unmarked.

Only a few graves in Faubion Cemetery, in Paris, Texas, have tombstones. No marker has been found for Emmerine Morrison. Author photo.

NOTES

¹A. Van Doren Honeyman, Documents Relating to the Colonial History of New Jersey, First Series, Vol. XXXII, Calendar of New Jersey Wills, Administrations, Etc., Vol. III, 1751-1760 (Somerville, New Jersey: The Unionist-Gazette Association, Printers, 1924), 230.

²Ibid.

³Ibid.

⁴A. Van Doren Honeyman, Documents Relating to the Colonial History of New Jersey, First Series, Vol. XXXII, Calendar of New Jersey Wills, Administrations, Etc., Vol. IV, 1761-1770 (Somerville, New Jersey: The Unionist-Gazette Association, Printers, 1924), 298-9.

⁵Hardin County, Courthouse, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Deed Book H, 82-84; Lincoln County, Kentucky marriages, http://files.usgwarchives.org/ky/lincoln/vitals/marriages/marriage_index_1781_1800_male.txt [Accessed 17 February 2012.]

⁵E. Polk Johnson, A History of Kentucky and Kentuckians, volume I (Chicago & New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1912), 88-9.

¹⁷ Samuel Haycraft Jr., A History of Elizabethtown, Kentucky and Its Surroundings, written in 1869 (Elizabethtown, Kentucky: Hardin County Historical Society, 1960), 27.

⁸ Lincoln County, Kentucky marriages, http://files.usgwarchives.org/ky/lincoln/vitals/marriages/marriage_index_1781_1800_male.txt [Accessed 17 February 2012.]

⁹ Hardin County, Courthouse, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Will of Isaac Morrison, signed November 28, 1798 and proven in court on March 26, 1799, Will Book A, 77-8.

¹⁰ U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Third Census of the United States, 1810: Population, Ohio County, Kentucky, 443.

¹¹ G. Glen Clift, compiler, Second Census of Kentucky, a privately compiled and published enumeration of taxpayers appearing in 79 manuscript volumes extant of tax lists of the 42 counties of Kentucky in existence in 1800 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1966), 210; Hardin County Courthouse, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Bond, signed by David Morrison and Jacob Vanmetre and recorded October 28, 1800, Will Book A, 144-5.

¹²Hardin County, Courthouse, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Deed Book B, 441-2.

¹³Hardin County, Courthouse, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Deed Book C, 272-3.

¹⁴ Hardin County, Courthouse, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Inventory of the estate of David Morrison, deceased, dated August 4, 1807 and proven in court on October 18, 1808, Will Book A, 320-1.

¹⁵Ibid.

¹⁶ U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Third Census of the United States, 1810: Population, Hardin County, Kentucky, 282, 290, 297.

¹⁷ U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Third Census of the United States, 1810: Population, Hardin County, Kentucky, 299.

¹⁸ U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Seventh Census of the United States, 1850: Population, Southern District 2, Hardin County, Kentucky, Dwelling & Family number 589, printed page 427, handwritten page 853.

¹⁹Hardin County KyArchives Court…Court Orders, Hardin County, Kentucky, July 13, 1812, source: Hardin County Court Order Book C, pp. 24-28.<http://files.usgwarchives.net/ky/hardin/court/courtord157gwl.txt> [Accessed 20 February 2012]; Hardin County KyArchives Court…Court Orders, Hardin County, Kentucky, July 14, 1812, source: Hardin County Court Order Book C, pp. 24-28. <http://files.usgwarchives.net/ky/hardin/court/courtord160gwl.txt> [Accessed 20 February 2012.]; Hardin County, Courthouse, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Marriage Record of John Van Matre and Rachel Watson, dated 19? February 1814, Marriage Book A, 44.

²⁰ Hardin County, Courthouse, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Marriage Bond of Isaac Morrison and Betsy Haycraft, dated July 13, 1812 and Marriage Record dated July 19, 1812, Marriage Book A, 9 & 43.

²¹ Hardin County, Courthouse, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Will of Isaac Morrison, dated July 15, 1854, filed for record August 20, 1861, Will Book E, 348-9.

²³ U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Seventh Census of the United States, 1850: Population, Southern District, Hardin County, Kentucky, page 449A; Hardin County, Courthouse, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Margaret Morrison to Elijah Willyard, Marriage Record dated October 20, 1834, Marriage Book B, 2.

²⁴ U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Seventh Census of the United States, 1850: Population, Southern District, Hardin County, Kentucky, page 426B.

²⁵ TO BE ADDED

²⁶U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Eighth Census of the United States, 1860: Population, Rusk County, Texas, page 192.

²⁷ U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Seventh Census of the United States, 1850: Population, Southern District 2, Hardin County, Kentucky, Dwelling & Family number 589, printed page 427, handwritten page 853.

²⁸ Hardin County, Courthouse, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Thomas C. Morrison to Lucinda Woodring, Marriage Record dated October 14, 1847, Marriage Book B, 159.

²⁹ U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Eighth Census of the United States, 1860: Population, McLean County, Kentucky, page 41.

³⁰ U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Eighth Census of the United States, 1860: Population, Hardin County, Kentucky, page 222.

³¹ U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Fourth Census of the United States, 1820: Population, Hardin County, Kentucky, printed page 9.

³² Hardin County, Courthouse, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Will of Jesse Morrison, dated June 17, 1843, Will Book E, 77-9.

³³ Hardin County, Courthouse, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Jesse Morrison to Becky Van Meter, Marriage Bond dated September 24, 1802, Marriage Book A, 3.

³⁴ U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Fifth Census of the United States, 1830: Population, Hardin County, Kentucky, handwritten page 338.

³⁵ Hardin County, Courthouse, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Samuel H. Morrison to Sally Gilliland, Marriage Record dated January 19, 1834, Marriage Book A, 231.

³⁶ Hardin County, Courthouse, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Margaret Morrison to Elijah Willyard, Marriage Record dated October 20, 1834, Marriage Book B, 2.

³⁷ Hardin County, Kentucky, Family 585, page 426B; Lucretia Morrison to John Arnold, Marriage Record dated May 16, 1839, Marriage Book B, 60.

³⁸ U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Sixth Census of the United States, 1840: Population, Hardin County, Kentucky, printed page no. 4.

³⁹ Hardin County, Courthouse, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Hardin County, Courthouse, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Mary Morrison to Abraham Van Metre, Marriage Record dated March 23, 1847, Marriage Book B, 154.

⁴⁰ Hardin County, Courthouse, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Thomas C. Morrison to Lucinda Woodring, Marriage Record dated October 14, 1847, Marriage Book B, 159.

⁴¹ U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Seventh Census of the United States, 1850: Population, Southern District 2, Hardin County, Kentucky, Dwelling & Family number 589, printed page 427, handwritten page 853.

⁴² Hardin County, Courthouse, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Caroline Morrison to Squire Ash, Marriage Bond dated December 6, 1851, Marriage Record dated December 9, 1851, Marriage Book C, 42.

⁴³ Hardin County, Courthouse, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Malvina Morrison to Thomas M. Yates, Marriage Record dated August 23, 1852, Marriage Book C, 50.

⁴⁴ Hardin County, Courthouse, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Letitia Morrison to Stephen Eliot, Marriage Bond and Record dated January 24, 1854, Marriage Book C, 67.

⁴⁶ Hardin County, Courthouse, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Will of Isaac Morrison, dated July 15, 1854, filed for record August 20, 1861, Will Book E, 348-9.

⁴⁶ Ibid.

⁴⁷ Hardin County, Courthouse, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Samuel H. Morrison to Sally Gilliland, Marriage Record dated January 19, 1834, Marriage Book A, 231.

⁴⁸ TO BE ADDED

⁴⁹ TO BE ADDED

⁵⁰ U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Sixth Census of the United States, 1840: Population, Hardin County, Kentucky, printed page no. 4.

⁵¹ Hardin County, Courthouse, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Samuel H. Morrison to Polly Gilliland, Marriage Bond and Marriage Record dated January 19, 1843, Marriage Book B, 113.

⁵² U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Seventh Census of the United States, 1850: Population, Edmonson County, Kentucky, Dwelling 619, Family 620, printed page 44.

⁵³ Letter from Ruby Bryan of Raymond, Mississippi to Inez Jenkins Hickman of Dallas, Texas, dated September 5, 1977.

⁵⁴ Ibid.

⁵⁵ Ibid.

⁵⁶ National Archives & Records Administration, Union Civil War service files of Isaac F. Morrison and David G. Morrison.

⁵⁷ U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Ninth Census of the United States, 1870: Population, Edmonson County, Kentucky, Dwelling 576, Family 579, written page 92.

⁵⁸ Letter from Ruby Bryan of Raymond, Mississippi to Inez Jenkins Hickman of Dallas, Texas, dated September 5, 1977.

⁵⁹ Capt. Thomas Speed, Col. R. M. Kelly, and Maj. Alfred Pirtle, The Union Regiments of Kentucky (Louisville: Courier-Journal Printing Company, 1897), 48.

⁶⁰ Ibid., 695; Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Kentucky, Volume I: 1861-1866 (Frankfort, Kentucky: Printed at the Kentucky Yeoman Office, John H. Harney, Public Printer, 1866), 755.

⁶¹ Hardin County, Courthouse, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Isaac F. Morrison to Ady [Ada] Ann Woodring, Marriage Bond and Marriage Record dated February 13, 1866, Marriage Book D, 46.

⁶² Hardin County, Courthouse, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Adderson [Addison] Woodring to Adyann [Ada Ann] Richardson, Marriage Bond dated October 12, 1863 and Marriage Record dated October 15, 1863, Marriage Book D, 17; Blue Ball Baptist Cemetery, Rineyville, Hardin County, Kentucky [http://www.interment.net/data/us/ky/hardin/blue_ball/index.htm; accessed June 24, 2010].

⁶³ U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Ninth Census of the United States, 1870: Population, Edmonson County, Kentucky, Dwelling 577, Family 580, written page 92.

⁶⁴ Hardin County, Courthouse, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Isaac F. Morrison to Ady [Ada] Ann Woodring, Marriage Bond and Marriage Record dated February 13, 1866, Marriage Book D, 46.

⁶⁵ Letter from Ruby Bryan of Raymond, Mississippi to Inez Jenkins Hickman of Dallas, Texas, dated September 5, 1977.

⁶⁶ U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Ninth Census of the United States, 1870: Population, Edmonson County, Kentucky, Dwelling 577, Family 580, written page 92; U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Tenth Census of the United States, 1880: Population, Edmonson County, Kentucky, Supervisor's District 2, Enumeration District 3, Dwelling 246, Family 257, page 30B.

⁶⁷ U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Eleventh Census of the United States, 1890: Special Schedule-Surviving Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines, and Widows, etc., Lamar County, Texas, Supervisor's District 124, Enumeration District 114, page 20.

⁶⁸ U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900: Population, Lamar County, Texas, Supervisor's District 1, Enumeration District 61, Dwelling 189, Family 194, sheet 10A.

⁶⁹ TO BE ADDED

⁷⁰ Rootsweb Database, Lamar County TX Marriage Records [http://gen.1starnet.com/marriages.htm; accessed June 25, 2010]; letter from Ruby Bryan of Raymond, Mississippi to Inez Jenkins Hickman of Dallas, Texas, dated September 5, 1977.

⁷¹ U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910: Population, Lamar County, Texas, Supervisor's District 1, Enumeration District 72, Dwelling 8, Family 8, sheet 1A.

⁷² U. S. Union Civil War Pension Application File No. 331633, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.

⁷³ U. S. Union Civil War Pension Application File No. 331633, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.; List prepared by Robert Miles Morrison of Coleman, Texas, dated May 26, 1980 and sent to Inez Jenkins Hickman of Dallas, Texas; U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920: Population, Lamar County, Texas, Supervisor's District 1, Enumeration District 124, Family 50, sheet 3B.

⁷⁴ Cemetery list prepared by Robert Miles Morrison of Coleman, Texas, dated May 26, 1980 and sent to Inez Jenkins Hickman of Dallas, Texas.

⁷⁵ TO BE ADDED

⁷⁶ I remember Emmerine's daughter Lena from my childhood, when she sometimes traveled from her home in Raymond, Mississippi to visit my Grand-Aunt Pearl (Lena's half-sister) and Pearl's husband, Earnest Hayes, who lived in East Dallas. Lena was certainly "deaf," but she was not actually "dumb" because I often heard her trying to speak, but the sounds that came out of her mouth were largely unintelligible and to a young child like me, a little disconcerting-although I had no real reason to be afraid. Lena was a small, frail-looking woman who probably wouldn't have harmed a fly.

When I first began my maternal family history research in 1977, I assumed that Lena was my great-grandfather's child and that he eventually married her mother, as they said in those days, "to make an honest woman of her." However, after I learned from census records that Lena was identified as his stepdaughter, I began to wonder about the identity of her actual, biological father, and futhermore, I wondered, was her disability the result of what people call "inbreeding." i.e., incest? Shortly before my Uncle Jack Jenkins passed away in 2001, he confirmed my suspicion, telling me in a telephone conversation (and by the way, without my asking), that Lena's father was her grandfather, Isaac F. Morrison. Unfortunately, I failed to ask how he came to know this. This begs the question: Is it true? Perhaps. Certainly my uncle believed so and of course it might also account for Lena's disability, as I had wondered all along. Unfortunately, it tends to cast my great-great-grandfather Morrison in a bad light, which troubles me. I hate to think that any of my ancestors were capable of such bad acts.

What I find astonishing is that if this tale is true and also, if the other members of the family knew about it, they seem to have accepted the situation with a remarkable degree of grace and discretion. From all appearances, neither his wife nor children ostracized my great-great-grandfather Morrison in any way, nor does it appear that Emmerine and her daughter were ever treated as outcasts. The fact that my great-grandfather Jenkins was willing to marry this young woman in spite of her exceptional situation also speaks volumes about the affection that he must have had for her.

⁷⁷ TO BE ADDED

⁷⁸ TO BE ADDED

⁷⁹ TO BE ADDED

⁸⁰ Lamar County, Texas Death Records, Book 1, p. 42, no. 414.

⁸¹ Ibid.

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