William Morrison Sr. (1704 - 1771)

Ancestors Descendants

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Birth 1.2 Migration 1.3 Land 1.4 Marriage 1.5 Children 1.6 Occupation 1.7 William's War with the Indians 1.8 Religion 1.9 Death and Burial 1.10 DNA 2 Sources 2.1 Footnotes 2.2 Bibliography

Biography

Birth

• William Morrison was born in Northern Ireland in March 1704.^[1]
• William was the son of James Morrison and Mary Simpson

Migration

His father had moved the family from Scotland to Northern Ireland, then afterwards to Pennsylvania. "William Morrison (1704/1771) was evidently born in Ireland, and he was about 31 years old when he came to America in 1735."^[2] "Formerly a resident of Colerain Township in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where he held the office of tax collector ..."^[3] "He was about 47 years old when he came as a pioneer to North Carolina [with his brothers James and Andrew] in 1751."^[4] He claimed to be the first white inhabitant of this "country".^[5] About a century later, a local newspaper recalls the details of their trek to North Carolina: “In 1751, there were four families of the name of Morrison, the ancestors of nearly all of the name in this region, which came from Lancaster county, Penn., and settled here. Their names were William, James, Andrew and Thomas; the latter, however, died in Pennsylvania, but his family came and settled on Fifth Creek: William and James built their cabins near together on Third Creek, not far from where Concord Church is — Andrew took up land below, in Rowan, and near Third Creek Church; his family has nearly all emigrated from this part of the Country. As they had been acquainted with George Davidson in Pennsylvania, they first directed their steps to his house; where they were met by a land speculator by the name of Higginbottom, whom they had seen before at the Hawfields, on the way. He directed them from their original intention to settle on the Pee Dee and piloted them to this region, then further west than any other white settlements.”^[6] "... by 1752 William Morrison had established himself along the upper reaches of Third Creek. There, he quickly entered into a position of patronage and prominence."^[7]

Land

William's possession of the land was formalized some time after his settling there, as occupancy required only habitation and improvement of the land. His homestead was “described as a ‘Messuge Tenement Plantation,’ which means simply that it was settled land with a house and the necessary farm buildings …”^[8] The plantation was surveyed on 12 July 1751.^[9] “Entries on Third Creek, dated November 19, 1750, were made to William and James Morrison. ... William Morrison’s home and mill [were] built in 1752 … about two miles below the McCulloch tract on Third Creek.”^[10] "His grant of 640 acres of land from the Earl of Granville had been signed in November 1753."^[11] The small community at the fork in the road known as "Morrison" (Morriſon) was founded by William.^[12]

Marriage

He married Margaret B. Hays (1715–1767) around 1733 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Children

They reared eight children in North Carolina. Their children were:

Name	Dates	Notes
William Jr.	1734-1821	married (1) Martha Miller; and (2) (unknown).
Rebecca	8 Aug 1738 - 11 Aug 1776	married Samuel Harris on 7 Aug 1758 in Rowan, North Carolina.
Mary	ca. 1738 - ca. 26 July 1817	married Robert King ca. 1761. They moved to Sumner County, Tennessee, sometime after 1787.
Hugh	ca. 1742 - 12 Dec 1821	Declared a "Lunatic". He was placed under the guardianship of his brother Andrew Newlin Morrison.[13]
Andrew Newlin	9 Jun 1744 - 31 March 1828	married Elizabeth Sloan, the daughter of Gen. Sloan, about 1766 in Rowan County, North Carolina.
Margaret	b. ca. 1745	married George Irwin, Sr ca. 1760.
Martha	b. ca. 1746	married John Foster.
Capt. Patrick	1747 - 16 Jul 1810	married Anne Foster on 9 Aug 1768 in Rowan County. He was a captain in the Revolutionary War. He lived on Snow Creek, then later moved to Tennessee.

Occupation

While initially his basic subsistence was pursued by farming and hunting, William was best known as a miller. “It was Bishop August Spangenberg,^[14] while making surveys of this section in November, 1752, trying to locate a suitable place for the Moravians to settle, who first mentioned Morrison's mill. It must have been a landmark and a welcome sight to tired surveyors struggling through the almost unbroken wilderness.” Writing from the forks of Little River, south of the Brushy Mountains, which would be near the present site of Taylorsville, Bishop Spannenburg says, "About fourteen miles from here lives a Scotch-Irish family; there is said to be a mill there but there is neither road nor way leading to it."^[15] The situation of William's house and mill may be seen on maps from the period.^[16] "From the tone of Spangenberg’s narrative, it is evident that William Morrison’s home was an important stopover for those hoping to take up land near the Catawba River. Late the following year, Morrison petitioned the Rowan County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions to have his mill 'being built and Erected' on Third Creek recorded as a public grist mill.^[17] Already on the road to local prominence, Morrison would be catapulted further by this mill which served the residents between the Catawba and Fourth Creek. Just as the settlers of the South Carolina Backcountry studied by Rachel N. Klein came to view the millers in their midst as men of importance because of the services they were able to provide."^[18]

The Governor and Council meeting on 31 December 1762, appointed William Morrison Justice of the Peace.^[19]

William eventually established a substantial plantation replete with slaves. "Morrison’s neighbors came to look upon him as a 'man of influence.'^[20] Indeed, in October 1754, when a dispute occurred between the Hall family and Michael Dickson of Third Creek, both parties requested that Rowan’s justices refer the matter to William Morrison for resolution.^[21] William Morrison’s stature continued to grow as evidenced by the honorific “Es[qui]r[e]” which follows his name in Rowan’s 1768 tax list. More than Morrison’s prestige grew, however. His fortunes increased also, with Morrison owning two African slaves in 1768."^[22]

William's War with the Indians

A Catawba in Traditional Dress

At a treaty negotiation held by the colonial commissioners and “King Hugler and sundry of his headmen and Warriors” of the Catawba nation, held on Thurs., 29 August 1754, William Morrison lodged a formal complaint. The record states, “Concerning the Indian Insult to him at his own house, some time before, when they came to him at his mill and Attempted to Frow [throw] a pail of water into his Meal Trough, and when he would prevent them they made many attempts to strick him with their guns over his head.” The Catawba explained that the offender had merely wanted the flour to be drinkable as it is according to their own recipes, and that the offender had been executed by them for the violence tendered their host.^[23]

“While at work grinding corn one morning he heard a turkey call in the thick woods nearby and was about to go out to shoot the wild bird when he realized it was not a natural turkey call, but an Indian trying to lure him out of the safety of the clearing and the mill. He slipped out the back of the mill opposite the woods from which the turkey call had come and, taking a wide sweep through the woods, came up behind the Indian who was lying in wait for the white settler to come out to shoot the ’turkey’. The Indian, according to the stories told today, came to his just reward.”^[24]

During the French and Indian War the Catawba were allied with the British. So subsequent problems came from other sources: “… the Indians once ran William Morrison and his family out of their home and burned all his property except the mill, which, on account of an Indian superstition, they were afraid to burn. The Morrison family took refuge in Fort Dobbs,^[25] the only real haven of safety for the scattered settlers in Western North Carolina for many years.”^[26]

"During the troubles with the Indians 1755-63, while the people above here were staying at Fort Dobbs, some men had a still in operation near Morrison's Mill on Third Creek above Watt's Mill, where Mr. Hart now lives. They had at one time some liquor read[y] to finish off and went over one evening just at night to attend to it. They started the fire three times and it went out every time. Becoming alarmed, they thought it was an indication of danger. Returning to the still early in the morning they discovered a party of Indians leaving the still house who had been lying in wait for them."^[27]

Religion

The Morrison brothers were Presbyterians. "There are traditions to the effect that the congregation which in 1775 became Concord Church had been meeting informally for a number of years prior to the date of organization. It is thought that worship began between 1750 and 1755, the meeting place having been at or near Morrison's Mill, a well-known place located on the waters of Third Creek about a mile south of the present church site."^[28] The first minister of the area, Rev. John Thompson, used Morrison's Mill as a "preaching station."^[29]

Death and Burial

According to his tombstone, he died 3 June 1771.

He and his wife are buried in the Old Morrison Cemetery, Loray, Iredell County, North Carolina,^[30] "The Morrison Cemetery [is] just off N.C. 90 west of Loray, N.C."^[31] "The Morrison graveyard is situated on an elevated plateau, between two branches about one-half mile northwest from the old mill, and a mile or so southwest from Loray. It is walled in with stone and about sixty yards square in area. In 1820, there was some rivalry between it and Concord graveyard, that resulted in both being enclosed with stone."^[32]

"On one headstone — a nice smooth soapstone slab — is the following unique inscription, both in lettering and substance: the letters being raised, and the "s" being executed as "ſ", as follows:"^[33]

The inscription on the stone reads:

"In fact his grave was opened and was preserved at Centre Churchyard, according to a North Carolina highway marker — I think it was descendants Sue Alice McCorkle Lee and Julia McCorkle Montgomery (McCorkle 1st cousins to my father Howard Ewing Huie) who gave permission sometime in the 1980s for removal and reburial of William Morrison. They visited sites in North Carolina and found the landowner who wanted to get the graves moved off his farmland. I may be wrong about this, as they didn't remember the precise Morrison first name upon their return to Tennessee."^[34]

DNA

NOTES:

William's Y-DNA haplotype has been determined:^[35]

• Kit #50301, William Morrison (b 1704, d 1771), origin: Scotland, Y-DNA haplotype: R-BY3104. It may be seen that it doesn't match that of his father James, or that of his other brothers, who were positive for R-FT20095. This because R-BY3104 is produced by a mutation of a thymine (T) to a cytosine (C) on the R-FT20095 segment of the Y gene.^[36]

DNA

MRCA: Alexander Still

• Paternal Relationship is suggestedby a GEDmatch test match between 9th cousins Lillian Pauley GEDmatch WA594280C1 and CC (not on wikitree) GEDmatch DH6442207, who share 26.2 cM over 4 segments, the largest of which is 7.5 cM.

MRCA: John Simpson

• Maternal Relationship is suggested by a GEDmatch test match between 9th cousins Sharon (Garrett) Glover GEDmatch M826829 and John Virnich GEDmatch A793652, sharing a 7.5cM segment on chromosome14.

MRCA: John Simpson

• Maternal Relationship is suggested by a GEDmatch test match between 8th cousins once removed Lillian Pauley GEDmatch WA594280C1 and Phyllis Mack GEDmatchT580100, sharing 14.5 cM over 2 segments, the largest of which is 8.4 cM on chromosome17.

MRCA: James Morrison and Mary (Simpson) Morrison

• Parental Relationship is suggested between 6th cousins once removed Michael MacPhail GEDmatch A379775 and Betty (Hale) Lindgren GEDmatch A805134, consisting of 12.8cM shared over 2 segments.

MRCA: James Morrison and Mary (Simpson) Morrison

• Parental Relationship is suggested by a GED test match between 8th cousins David Hughey GEDmatch QQ6893016 and Lillian Pauley GEDmatch WA594280C1, consisting of 46 cM over 7 segments, the largest of which is 9.4 cM on chromosome 20.

Sources

Footnotes

1. ↑ The date is inscribed on his tombstone.
2. ↑ Schroeder, The Heritage of Iredell County, p. 421.
3. ↑ "McKaughan, "“Barcelonia” Neckerchiefs, Teaware, and China Plates," 6 nt 27, citing Ramsey, Carolina Cradle, 65-66.
4. ↑ Schroeder, The Heritage of Iredell County, p. 421.
5. ↑ Inscribed thus on his tombstone (see below). Schroeder, The Heritage of Iredell County, p. 421. The word "country" is vague and wide, and can mean anything from Third Creek to the county itself.
6. ↑ Rockwell, p. 3b.
7. ↑ "McKaughan, "“Barcelonia” Neckerchiefs, Teaware, and China Plates," 6 nt 27, citing Ramsey, Carolina Cradle, 65-66.
8. ↑ Powell, 10d.
9. ↑ Granville Grants Deeds, Frame 886.
10. ↑ Watt, The Heritage of Iredell County, pp. 5-6. This tract was later sold to his brother Alexander in 1762.
11. ↑ Powell, 10c.
12. ↑ Of Morrison, it is said that it was a "former community in W. Iredell County on Fourth Creek near the present community of Loray. William Morrison (1704-71) settled there in 1750. Appears on the Collet map, 1770, and as Morrisons Mill as recently as 1901 on a map of the county. A cemetery with eighteenth-century tombstones marks the site." North Carolina Gazetteer, 116.
13. ↑ McKaughan, "“Barcelonia” Neckerchiefs, Teaware, and China Plates," 10-11, citing Rowan Court Min., 4 August 1774.
14. ↑

    August Gottlieb Spangenberg.

    Augustus Gottlieb Spangenberg (15 July 1704 - 18 Sept 1792), a Moravian missionary. "In 1752, accompanied by five associates, he made his way into the wilds of North Carolina, where he superintended the survey of a large tract of land that the church had bought of Lord Granville. It was a hazardous and difficult undertaking." Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography, V. 621.
15. ↑ Colonial Records [of North Carolina], Volume V, page 1, cited by Anonymous posting.
16. ↑ See Images.
17. ↑ McKaughan, "“Barcelonia” Neckerchiefs, Teaware, and China Plates," 6 nt 29, citing Rowan Court Min., 21 September 1753.
18. ↑ McKaughan, "“Barcelonia” Neckerchiefs, Teaware, and China Plates," 6.
19. ↑ Powell, 10c
20. ↑ McKaughan, "“Barcelonia” Neckerchiefs, Teaware, and China Plates," 6 nt 30, citing Rachel N. Klein, “Frontier Planters and the American Revolution,” An Uncivil War: The Southern Backcountry During the American Revolution. Ronald Hoffman, Thad W. Tate and Peter J. Albert, eds. (Charlottesville, Va., 1985), 45-46.
21. ↑ McKaughan, "“Barcelonia” Neckerchiefs, Teaware, and China Plates," 6 nt 31, citing Rowan Court Min., 13 October 1754.
22. ↑ McKaughan, "“Barcelonia” Neckerchiefs, Teaware, and China Plates," 6 nt 32, citing Linn, “Lists of Taxables in Rowan County, 1768,” 203.
23. ↑ Powell, 10c.
24. ↑ Powell, 10c-d.
25. ↑ "During the Cherokee uprising of 1755 Fort Dobbs (destroyed) named for Royal Governor Arthur Dobbs, was built under the supervision of Captain Hugh Waddell of Wilmington. The fort was 55 feet long, 40 feet wide, and 24 1/2 feet high. There were three floors, the top two each overhanging the one below. The fort was subsequently allowed to decay." North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Program > ID: MM-1, Marker Text: Early History.
26. ↑ Powell, 10c.
27. ↑ Rockwell, "RST Settlements in Iredell County".
28. ↑ Wilson, The Heritage of Iredell County, p. 106. She further states, "There is no proof of this tradition but one bit of evidence is the Morrison cemetery which served as a burying ground for the settlers in the area as early as 1753 and continued to be used until the present church cemetery was begun in 1822."
29. ↑ "Sometimes he baptised a score of infants at once.” J. R., "The Churches of Rowan".
30. ↑ Find a Grave.
31. ↑ Schroeder, The Heritage of Iredell County, p. 421.
32. ↑ posting in the Statesville, Iredell Co., NC, history room.
33. ↑ Pictures of this stone are found at Find a Grave. The inscription Ꜵ in the following is an approximation of a ligature of AD (for anno Domini). This reading from a picture of the stone itself is confirmed by Powell's reading (p. 10d).
34. ↑ Hui, The Morrison Family.
35. ↑ Morrison-Q project at FamilyTreeDNA.
36. ↑ GeneticHomeland.com > Ancestral DNA Marker Pedigree Display for R-BY3104.

Bibliography

• Colonial Records [of North Carolina], Volume V, page 1.

• Granville Grants Deeds: Folder 127-F, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh NC, microfilm call # S.108.256, Frame 886.

• Granville Grants Deeds: Folder 127-F, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh NC, microfilm call # S.108.256 frame. For William Morrison, 9 Aug 1762, Frame 894.

• Joshua Lee McKaughan, "“Barcelonia” Neckerchiefs, Teaware, and China Plates: Kinship, Status, and the Division of Fourth Creek Church," Journal of Backcountry Studies, Vol 3, No 1 (Spring 2008): 1-24.

• William S. Powell, "Powell Digs Up a Good Story About Wm. Morrison," Statesville Record And Landmark, Statesville, North Carolina, Thursday, October 17, 1946, Page 10.

• Marsha C. Hui, "The Morrison Family of Mrs. Robert McCorkle (1770-1848) of Rowan/Iredell County, North Carolina, and finally of Dyer County, Tennessee."

• J. R., "The Churches of Rowan," The Carolina Watchman (Salisbury N.C.), January 6, 1881.

• E. F. Rockwell, "First Settlements in Iredell County," Carolina Watchman (Salisbury, N.C.), 21 October 1847, p. 3b.

• Rev. E. F. Rockwell, "RST Settlements in Iredell County," An Historical Address Delivered in Statesville on the 4th of July 1876.

• Anonymous posting in the Statesville, Iredell Co., NC, history room. Cited in Marsha Hui (above).

• Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 20 June 2023), memorial page for William Morrison (Mar 1704–3 Jun 1771), Find a Grave Memorial ID 8726309, citing Old Morrison Cemetery, Loray, Iredell County, North Carolina, USA; Maintained by Dan Morrison (contributor 46615871).

• "The Heritage of Iredell County" by The Genealogical Society of Iredell County, Vol. 1. First Edition, first Printing edition (Statesville, North Carolina: The Genealogical Society of Iredell County, 1980) ISBN-13: 978-0894590870.

• W. N. Watt, #2, Iredell's First Pioneers, pp. 5-6 (Image 12 of 652);
• Mrs. Ralph A. Wilson, #104, Concord Presbyterian Church, pp. 106-107 (Image 114 of 652);
• Harriet Rumple Schroeder, #442, The Morrison Family, pp. 416-417 (Image 424 of 652);
• Joe Payne, #446, James Amos Morrison Family, 418-419 (Image 426 of 652);
• Harriet Rumple Schroeder, #450, The Thomas Morrison Family, pp. 421-422 (Image 429 of 652);
• James Philip Walker, #453, William Elias Morrison Family, p. 423c (Image 431 of 652).

• Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography, ed. James Grant Wilson and John Fiske, 6 vols. (New York: D. Apple and Company: 1900).

• North Carolina Gazetteer, edited by William S. Powell and Michael Hill (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010) 116.

• North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources > North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Program > ID: MM-1, Marker Text: Early History.

• FamilyTreeDNA > Morrison, Gilmore > Morrison Surname DNA Project - Y-DNA Colorized Chart (electronic text).
  • Morrison-Q project.

• GeneticHomeland.com > Ancestral DNA Marker Pedigree Display for R-BY3104 (electronic text).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

WikiTree profile Morrison-1088 created through the import of HAYER.GED on May 29, 2011 by Larry Hayer.

Imported by Tracy Hibbitts, Sunday, August 3, 2014.