Brickwall for Morse Ancestor who migrated from North Carolina to MS in early 1800's

Question

Joel B (or maybe C, but I think B) Morse (maybe Moss, but probably not) born in 1792 (maybe 1782, but I think 1792), according to family oral history, shot and killed a dishonest merchant in North Carolina (or maybe South Carolina).  The story goes the sheriff told him, "If I catch you, I'll have to hang you.  But everyone is really glad about what you did, if you disappear during the night, I'll just say I couldn't find you."  So he disappeared into the night and ended up in Mississippi.

His life and descendants in Mississippi  (and now beyond) are accounted for.  I have been reading North Carolina deeds, wills, findagrave posts, genealogies, whatever I can find, to look for a family that is missing a Joel.  Actually my family has been doing this for several decades with no success.  

I would be grateful for any clues or help in finding a corresponding family in North (or South Carolina) that has a family oral tradition of a Joel that shot a cheating miller and ran away and was never heard from again.  I know what happened to him!

Answer 1

Maybe DNA might help.  Are you confident he kept the same surname when he fled to Mississippi?  What about newspapers? I've had luck on ChroniclingAmerica.gov from time to time. One frustrating thing about old newspapers is that they very often just given a persons initials rather than the full first name.  Makes searches more difficult.  One helpful piece of info that you obviously know but which is not stated in your post is that Joel Morse married in Mississippi in 1813 so his alleged flight from the Carolinas was sometime prior to that.

Comments

Yes, I've read newspapers. What I can find and certainly not all of them yet.  A murder of a local businessperson and the disappearance of the suspect would certainly make the papers.

I've wondered about the name change, too.  I've saved in my notes a NC "Moss" family that could have had a child at that time.  

And I'm sending messages to DNA matches on 23andme.   I'm just hoping for a breakthrough.  My sister and some cousins have worked on this off and on for decades.  
 

I appreciate your time to make a response.

Answer 2

Joel C Morse

United States Census, 1850

Name	Joel C Morse
Event Type	Census
Event Year	1850
Event Place	Copiah county, Copiah, Mississippi, United States
Gender	Male
Age	68
Race	White
Birth Year (Estimated)	1782
Birthplace	North Carolina
House Number	1147

Household	Role	Sex	Age	Birthplace
Joel C Morse		M	68	North Carolina
Elizabeth Morse		F	42	Mississippi
John Morse		M	12	Mississippi
A S Morse		M	10	Mississippi
Mary E Morse		F	7	Mississippi
William S Morse		M	5	Mississippi
Joel C Morse		M	2	Mississippi

Citing this Record

"United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4LH-TDC : 12 April 2016), Joel C Morse, Copiah county, Copiah, Mississippi, United States; citing family 1150, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

View the original document. The original may contain more information than was indexed.

United States Census, 1850

Household ID	1150
Line Number	2
Affiliate Name	The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
Affiliate Publication Number	M432
Affiliate Film Number	371
GS Film Number	443583
Digital Folder Number	004200042
Image Number	00158

Comments

We've got that census record.  I'm descended from one of the older children that had already left home.  He's a good bit older than his wife, Elizabeth Trim. He married her after the death of his first wife, Nancy.

Answer 3

I could also see "Joel" being a middle name or something to further hide his identity,  If you could find his middle name (I saw it was B or C) it may be worth following up on the first and middle being flipped.
I can't think of a particularly good way to target all this.  It sucks that he was skilled enough to hide your geneology, but at least he was skilled enough to avoid being hung!

Comments

Maybe look into Moris or Morris surnames too?
He would've been a about the right age for the War of 1812- but may have been "on the run" before then, but not yet settled. The War with Spain is a little close to his death, but there may be war records for his father or other male relatives.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-G5ZD-9GFM?i=1001&cc=1916219 a Joel Morse in Mass. regiment.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-95Z8-SDTT?i=1684&cc=1916219
Theres a Joel Moris in New York

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-L1RN-Q8J?i=541&cc=1880762
Sir Payton J Morris in North Carolina (The J may be your Joel?)

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-95ZD-9L9G?i=1132&cc=1916219
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-95ZD-9L1B?i=1134&cc=1916219
Two records of a Stephen J Morse in New York

There are more with just surnames on 1812 records as well

There are four records of different J Morris's in North Carolina for the 1810 census.

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You got me hooked with that story. If you can find out when he celebrated his birthday it may help. Its too early for social security i think and I'm assuming a death certificate would only have what the family knew on it...