Leland Ray Morrison (1907 - 1948)

Born 1 Oct 1907 in Plankinton, Aurora, South Dakota, United States

Ancestors

Son of Orin Leamon Morrison and Iva Reed (Furman) Morrison

Husband of Elva Carolyn (Jeffers) Wilsey — married 2 Apr 1927 (to 26 Sep 1932) in Rochester, Monroe, New York, United States

Husband of Violet Marion (Pung) Morrison — married 27 Jun 1933 (to 27 Apr 1939) in Towanda, Bradford, Pennsylvania, United States

Descendants

Died 31 May 1948 at age 40 in Lockport, Niagara, New York, United States

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Lee Morrison has English ancestors.

Lee Morrison has French origins.

Lee Morrison has Dutch Ancestry

Lee Morrison is the descendant of a New Netherland settler.

Biography

Early Life

Leland Ray "Lee" Morrison was born on 1 October 1907 in Plankinton, Aurora, South Dakota to Orin Lemon Morrison and Iva Reed Furman. His father was a farm laborer who became a Marshal in Plankinton for a few years before being elected Aurora County Sheriff, a position he served in for approximately two or three years. He went back to farm work when he was done with public service.

Leland and his siblings were mainly raised in the City of Plankinton. He was a laborer in his youth who completed up to the 8th grade. His family were members of the Presbyterian religion. At the age of 16 or 17, he was charged with petit larceny and convicted.

Adulthood

He moved to Rochester, Monroe, New York - where his maternal grandparents were from - at age 18 with his mother and most of his siblings and married Elva Carolyn Jeffers on 2 April 1927 in Rochester, with whom he had three children: Beulah M, Lloyd Richard, and Norma Jean.

The family lived in Rochester before moving to Elva's hometown of Wolcott, Wayne County. They also lived temporarily on Howard Street in Syracuse, Onondaga, New York in 1929, where Leland worked as a shipper. Back in Rochester, he worked as a lineman for Rochester Gas & Electric. Elva filed for and was granted divorce in Wayne County on 26 September 1932.

Leland remarried to Violet Marion Pung on 27 June 1933 in Towanda, Bradford, Pennsylvania. At this time, Leland worked as a truck driver and lived in Rochester. Together they had five children who were all born around the Rochester area: Leon Joseph, Gerald Gene "Jerry", Florence Edith, Janet May, and Violet Marion "Dolly". They moved from Rochester to Fairport, then to Walworth, Wayne County, before settling in a duplex on the farm of Mrs. Alice Swarthout in Torrey, Yates County. Leland was a volunteer firefighter for the Village of Dresden Fire Department at this time.

Prison

On 24 April 1939, three days before Violet died due to complications from childbirth, Leland was arrested by Yates County Sheriff Jay Fitzwater and Deputy Charles Kipp on a warrant charging him with second-degree rape involving a 17-year-old girl.

While awaiting action from the grand jury as a prisoner at Yates County Jail, he suffered from a sudden attack of acute appendicitis and was rushed to the hospital in Penn Yan to undergo emergency surgery.

He was indicted by the grand jury on May 16th and sentenced a couple days later to 5 years at Attica State Prison by Yates County Supreme Court Judge Nathan D. Lapham. A month later he was brought back to Penn Yan for re-sentencing due to a legal technicality that required an indefinite sentence; he was thus sentenced to 3-6 years.

He was imprisoned at Attica until 25 April 1940, where his inmate number was 5650. He was subsequently transferred to Wallkill Correctional Facility due to good behavior, where he was inmate number 2304. He was paroled on 29 April 1942, which is the day he registered for the World War II draft in Wallkill.

After Prison

Once out of prison, Leland lived on Moul Road in Parma, Monroe, New York and was employed on the farm of George Chase. He ultimately moved back into Rochester by 1944, which is where he would remain for the rest of his life. He worked primarily as an auto mechanic and general laborer.

Along with his brothers Irven and Harley, Leland was a locally known stock car racer and partook in various races all over Western and Central New York over the course of many years, and would occasionally act as track manager for them. He was a member of the Rochester Roadster Racing Association.

Death

Leland was killed in a single-car accident during a Memorial Day race on 31 May 1948 at the Niagara County Fair Grounds in Lockport, Niagara, New York before an audience of around 1,000 people. His car suddenly swerved to the inner rail near the home straightaway. The car spun out, flipping four times and pinning Leland underneath the wreckage. He died in an ambulance en route to Lockport City Hospital.

Leland was buried three days later in Oakwood Cemetery in Penfield.

Obituary

A funeral service for Leland Morrison, 40, of 4 Wayne Pl., a stock car racing driver, who was killed when his racer overturned Memorial Day (May 31, 1948) at the Niagara County Fairgrounds, Lockport, will be conducted at 2 p.m. tomorrow in the Van Horn Funeral Home, Webster.

Surviving are two daughters, Mrs. Robert Brundridge and Miss Norma Jean Morrison; a son, Lloyd R., all of Wilcox; four sisters, Mrs. Pearl Heaveron of Rochester, Mrs. Agnes Jacobs of Penfield, Mrs. Vivian Schilstra and Mrs. June Geil, both of Walworth; four brothers, Bert of Webster, Jess of Macedon and Clarence and Irven of Rochester. Burial will be in Oakwood Cemetery.

Note: Leland's five children with Violet Pung were not mentioned in his obituary.

Sources

• "South Dakota, Department of Health, Index to Births 1843-1914 and Marriages 1950-2016," database, FamilySearch, Leland Morrison, 01 Oct 1905; citing Birth, Aurora, South Dakota, United States, South Dakota Department of Health, Pierre. (Mistake with birth year, should be 1907.)
• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch, Leland R Morrison in household of Orrin L Morrison, Plankinton, Aurora, South Dakota, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 5, sheet 6A, family 117, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1476; FHL microfilm 1,375,489.
• "South Dakota State Census, 1915," database with images, FamilySearch, Leland R Morrison; citing State Historical Society, Pierre; FHL microfilm 2,283,686.
• "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch, Leland Morrison in household of Orin L Morrison, Plankinton, Aurora, South Dakota, United States; citing ED 8, sheet 10A, line 22, family 7, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 1714; FHL microfilm 1,821,714.
• "South Dakota State Census, 1925," database with images, FamilySearch, Leland Morrison; citing 482, State Historical Society, Pierre; FHL microfilm 2,368,911.
• Leland Morrison in U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995. Ancestry.com, Rochester, New York, City Directory, 1929.
• Leland R Morrison in U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995. Ancestry.com, Syracuse, New York, City Directory, 1929.
• "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch, Leland Morrison, Rochester, Monroe, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 87, sheet 12A, line 17, family 270, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1451; FHL microfilm 2,341,186.
• "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch, Lee Morrison, Attica Town, Wyoming, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 61-5, sheet 19A, line 19, family , Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 2816.
• Lee R Morrison in U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995. Ancestry.com, Rochester, New York, City Directory, 1944.
• Lee Morrison in the U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995. Ancestry.com. Rochester, New York, City Directory, 1948.
• "New York, County Marriages, 1847-1848; 1908-1936," database with images, FamilySearch, Marriage of Leland R Morrison and Elva C Jeffers, 2 Apr 1927, Monroe, New York, United States; citing ref. ID 2276, county clerk offices from various counties, New York; FHL microfilm 831,363.
• Marriage of Leland R Morrison and Elva C Jeffers in New York State Marriage Index, 1881-1967. Ancestry.com, New York State Department of Health; Albany, NY, USA, 1927.
• "Get Marriage Licenses". Newspapers.com, The Evening Times (Sayre, PA), vol. XLI, no. 77, 29 June 1933, pg. 2.
• "Car Injures Boy." Newspapers.com, The Democrat and Chronicle [Rochester, New York], 9 June 1934, pg. 13.
• "Keuka Lake Water Finds Another Outlet Into Seneca", pictured in fire truck. NYS Historic Newspapers, Chronicle-Express (Penn Yan, NY), Vol. CXVI, no. 3, 19 January 1939, pg. 1.
• Arrest mention, 4th paragraph down in 4th column. NYS Historic Newspapers, Penn Yan Democrat, Vol. 122, no. 3, 28 April 1939, pg. 5.
• Rushed to hospital while awaiting trial due to acute appendicitis, last full paragraph in third column. NYS Historic Newspapers, Chronicle-Express (Penn Yan, NY), vol. CXVI, no. 19, 11 May 1939, pg. 5.
• "Sentenced to Attica Prison". NYS Historic Newspapers, Penn Yan Democrat, vol. 122, no. 7, 26 May 1939, pg. 1.
• Re-sentenced due to legal technicality, 6th paragraph down in 3rd column. NYS Historic Newspapers, Penn Yan Democrat, vol. 122, no. 12, 30 June 1939, pg. 4.
• The People of the State of New York vs. Lee Morrison. Office of Yates County Clerk, Penn Yan, New York. 24 April 1939 to 20 June 1939.
• Lee Morrison in New York State Prison Records. New York State Archives, Albany, New York. Record series 21833.
• "New York, Yates County, Swann Vital Records Collection, 1723-2009," database with images, FamilySearch, Lee Morrison in entry for Violet Pung Morrison, 27 Apr 1939; citing Death, Penn Yan, Yates, New York, United States, Yates County Genealogical and Historical Society and Oliver Museum and Underwood Museum, Yates.
• Lee Ray Morrison in U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 [database on-line]. Ancestry.com, Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
• "Racing Meet Lists 16 Cars." Newspapers.com, The Democrat and Chronicle [Rochester, New York], 13 July 1946, pg. 14.
• "Machine Hurtles Into Rail Crowd in Opening Race." Newspapers.com, The Post-Standard [Syracuse, New York], 12 August 1946, pg. 2.
• "Roadster Races Slated Sunday at Caledonia Track." Newspapers.com, The Democrat and Chronicle [Rochester, New York], 6 November 1946, pg. 25.
• "Roadster Auto Racers." Newspapers.com, The Democrat and Chronicle [Rochester, New York], 20 April 1947, pg. 56.
• "Auto Race Card Listed Sunday." Newspapers.com, The Democrat and Chronicle [Rochester, New York], 18 September 1947, pg. 28.
• "Roadster Racing Association." Newspapers.com, The Democrat and Chronicle [Rochester, New York], 19 March 1948, pg. 34.
• "New York, State Death Index, 1880-1956", database, FamilySearch, Leland Morrison, 1948.
• "Racing Driver Killed Competing in Lockport." fultonhistory.com, The Evening News of the Tonawandas, 1 June 1948, pg. 6.
• "Last Rite Set For Race Driver". Newspapers.com, The Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, New York), vol. 116, 2 June 1948, pg. 25.
• "Lockport," lower-lefthand corner. fultonhistory.com, The Jamestown Post - Journal, 4 June 1948, pg. 15.
• "Morrison Killed in Lockport". Google Books, The Billboard [magazine], 12 June 1948, pg. 50.
• Find A Grave: Memorial #119869353