Born at Old Henderson Montgomery Co., NC

In 1792, the town of Henderson established at the confluence of the Yadkin (Pee Dee) and Uwharrie Rivers as the third seat of Montgomery County, North Carolina. The first county seat being Tinsdale (or Tindalsville) on the west bank of the Yadkin River, which suffered an epidemic of typhoid fever early on. The Montgomery County Heritage books reference other county seats, Blakely, Stokes, and Lawrenceville. Many early county records were lost due to courthouse fires but many people registered records again and copies can be found at the Register of Deeds office in Troy, the fifth and final county seat of Montgomery.

It is in Henderson that Alexander Morgan was born on 18 June 1809. Based on the 1810 Census for Montgomery County, NC, several Morgan males qualify as Alexander’s father, Hardy, Zachariah, Jonathan and Mark. One female, a Selby Morgan, qualifies as possibly a grandmother that raised him.

The 1810 Census for Montgomery County shows only six residents in Henderson, none of them with the surname Morgan; in Hattom, located close to Henderson, lives Hardy Morgan who shows one male child under the age of ten years. Also in Hattom lives Charles Morgan, no males under ten years of age. Joseph Morgan, my ancestor; I know that the male under ten years of age in his household is Matthew Morgan, born 1809, my 4th Great Uncle. Zacha(riah) Morgan listed one male under ten years of age.

Not much found on Selby Morgan. Based on the 1810 Census, she lived in Capt Chappell’s district, what is now, I think, the Candor area, was over the age of 45. With Selby lived two males under the age of ten, one female between 10 and 15 years of age and 1 slave. I find no other information on her. I have included her only because she is a candidate according to the Census record.
In Capt Williams district, possibly near what is now Pekin, lives Wil Morgan with no males at all and J. Morgan also with no males.

In Wagster, current day Stanly County, lives Jonathan Morgan with three males under ten years of age and Mark Morgan with two males under ten years of age. I believe Jonathan and Mark Morgan are part of the Drury Morgan line (more on him in another post).

Hardy Morgan first found in 1810 on the Census for Hattom, Montgomery, NC with one male under 10 years and 3 males 16 thru 25. Obviously, one of the males 16 thru 25 is Hardy and the only female, listed as 16 thru 25, is most likely his wife. The other two males are too old to be his children and are possibly some relation to him or his wife. There are other scenarios, of course. Perhaps the other two males are work hands or perhaps the child is his nephew. Hardy looks to have been born around 1789, give or take a few years.

The 1820 census is mostly intact, but six counties have lost census records. Those counties are Currituck, Franklin, Martin, Montgomery, Randolph, and Wake. Montgomery being where Hardy Morgan lived we will have to move on to other sources other than the 1820 Census to discover more about him.

In the years 1821–1823, Hardy Morgan became an elected official in the House of Commons for Montgomery County. The lower house of the General Assembly of North Carolina known as the House of Commons between 1760 and 1868 (Wikipedia).

From 3 Mar 1823 until 15 Jul 1836, a Post Office established at Morgan's Store, owned by Hardy Morgan and where, in 1825, someone stole a horse belonging to Hardy Morgan. He ran an ad in the Fayetteville Weekly Observer offering a $25 reward.

A fellow researcher has provided me clues on where Morgan's Store might have been located. In 1834, the store was on postal route 2166, between Chisholm's Store and Lawrenceville. Another researcher I spoke to says that Simmons Tan Yard, noted in the article, was where Troy now is, Narrowsville was near where Narrows Dam currently is on the Stanly side of the river. Yet another researcher offered that Wind Hill became Eldorado before 1870, the name changed by J.H. Davis postmaster at the time. J.H. Davis was a mineralogist, from New Jersey; he most likely came to Montgomery County because of the gold in the area.

Our collaboration seems to have narrowed down Morgan’s store location to near where the Uwharrie River bridge is today on Hwy 109. Here is what that area looks like today. Other than the bridge, I imagine not too much has changed.

In 1826, Hardy Morgan was on a Committee of Arrangements with several other Montgomery County men who planned that year’s Fourth of July celebrations.

Hardy also served as a Justice of the Peace; also known as a magistrate, for the county. In 1828, “Hardy Morgan took out a warrant against all three (Lewis, Griffin and Blakely) on a charge of counterfeiting” and a trail was conducted against the three where no evidence was found and the case dismissed. Later, an article written (a portion shown below), "in justification of the three magistrates, whose conduct has been so unjustly censured for discharging their duty in dismissing three men, charged with counterfeiting, against whom neither proof nor suspicion of guilt was elicited on their trail."

The 1830 Montgomery County Census shows the Hardy Morgan family living East of Pee Dee and Yadkin River. In his household are 2 males under 5, 1 male between 10-15, 1 male between 15-20, 2 males between 20-30, Hardy is shown to be between 40-50 years of age, 2 females 5-10, 1 female 10-15, 1 female 15-20, and the wife of Hardy showing to be between 30 and 40 years of age.

On the 5th day of January 1833, Hardy Morgan, an acting Justice of the Peace, took a sworn statement from Zachariah Morgan on behalf of John Stewart. Zachariah states that he was 12 or 13 years old at the close of the Revolutionary War. He was well acquainted with John Stewart and knew that John had served in the war. Zachariah also states that he was living in Chatham County at the same time that John Stewart was.

This is the first piece of tangible evidence that I have found that actually connects any Montgomery County Morgan with Chatham County. While I still do not know whom Zachariah is or how he is related to my Morgan’s, this one document lends credence to the statements that I have read over the past months that the Montgomery County Morgan’s came from Chatham County.

According to the file, John Stewart was born in Chatham County, North Carolina on May 24, 1762. John “enlisted in the fall of 1780 and served three months as a private in Captain William Cage's Company of Light Horse, Colonel John Litteral's North Carolina Regiment. He enlisted again in the summer of 1781 and served three months as a private in Captain Joseph Rosser's Company of Light horse, Colonel John Dudley's North Carolina Regiment. About 1784 John moved to Montgomery County, North Carolina and about 1836 he moved to McNairy County, Tennessee. He was allowed pension on his application executed April 8, 1834 while a resident of Montgomery County, North Carolina.”

The file includes the names of those who know John Stewart and can attest to his war service and to his character, Charles Morgan Sen, Edward Brewer Sen, Zachariah Morgan, Benjamin Bell Sen, Col Hardy Morgan and the Hon Edmond Deberry. The file also contains a statement from John’s sister, Elizabeth Russell.

In 1838, in The Weekly Standard, Eben Hearn, Sheriff of Montgomery County, publishes notice of a land sale. Land belonging to Alexander Morgan, 100 acres on Uwharrie River, for taxes due for years 1836 and 1837. Right above Alexander’s name is Hardy Morgan, whom I believe is related to Alexander – I just have not come across actual, tangible proof of the relationship.

Census year 1840 finds only two Morgan males listed east of the Pee Dee River, Hardy Morgan and Edmund Morgan. Edmund is new to the Census records and lists himself as between 40-50 years old. Where did he come from? In addition, where have all the children of the other Morgan’s from earlier Census records gone?

In 1842, in the United States District Court of North Carolina, Hardy Morgan, Farmer, files bankruptcy.

In 1844, Ebenezer F. Morgan in Montgomery County is handling a court case on behalf of Hardy Morgan. This is the same court case from 1842 that I mentioned in my post, “Exploring the Morgan's of Montgomery County, North Carolina part two.”

By 1850, the Census for Pontotoc, Mississippi includes Alexander F. Morgan (age 40) and Ebenezer F. Morgan (age 38) in the same household and in dwelling number 1846 is Hardy Morgan with wife Nancy and three of their children also listed is Caroline Beckerdite, age nine, whom is possibly a grandchild to Hardy Morgan.

I found Caroline on the 1860 Census in Mississippi, Marshall Township 5 Range 2 with Colin Beckerdite, age 52, who was born in North Carolina. Did Colin marry a daughter of Hardy Morgan? Is Caroline his daughter? Looking deeper, I found Colin on the 1840 Census in none other than, you guessed it, McNairy County, Tennessee. The same place that John Stewart migrated to in the mid-1830s.

Of even greater interest are my nine Beckerdite DNA matches at Ancestry. All of them leading back to Randolph County, North Carolina and all distant matches. I am looking forward to investigating if these matches connect to Colin Beckerdite and possibly finding a marriage record listing his wife as a Morgan.

Update: Caroline Beckerdite is the daughter of Colin and Caroline P. Morgan Beckerdite and the granddaughter of Col Hardy and Nancy Morgan. Caroline Morgan Beckerdite died 24 March 1843 in Marshall County, Mississippi.

The Guard (Holly Springs, Mississippi)
05 Apr 1843, Wed Page 2

At this time, I do not know who Levi Jarvis is but wonder if his wife could have been a Morgan or a Stewart. That investigation continues.

Update: The Jarvis's are the family of Elizabeth Jarvis who married Alexander F. Morgan. 

On 22 Dec 1850, Ebenezer F. Morgan married Martha Jones in Pontotoc, Mississippi. By 10 Jul 1860, the couple have migrated to Drew, Springhill, Arkansas with their children, Mary, John Russell (J.R), and Martha’s brother, A.C. Jones.
 

The year 1870 finds Ebenezer and family still in Arkansas, and far from the Uwharrie River that used to be his home. I wonder if he missed it at all. Two more family members have been added to Ebenezer’s family, Harriet and Martha. Between 1870 and 1880 Ebenezer passes on, his family remains in Arkansas with Harriet (Dollie) married to John Weaver with her own daughter, Ethel.

Whatever happened to Alexander Morgan who was born in old Henderson, Montgomery County, North Carolina? Before leaving for Arkansas, I believe Ebenezer Franklin Morgan published this ad in the Fayetteville Semi-Weekly Observer letting his family back home in Montgomery County, North Carolina know of the death of Alexander and his family in New Albany, Mississippi.

Alexander died from pneumonia on 24 Jan 1860 and is found on the 1860 Mortality Census schedule. His wife and children followed just a few short months later.

On Alexander’s grave stone is written “BORN At Old Henderson Montgomery Co., NC”

E.F. Morgan

11 Apr 1839, Willis Morgan and Bethany Bailey Delamothe entered into a marriage contract of their own making. It seems that Bethany was attempting to protect the dower left to her by her late husband, Henry Delamothe and Willis Morgan must have agreed as it looks like he probably wrote the marriage contract. Bethany signed her name with an X. The contract witnessed by E.F. Morgan and proven in court by the oath of E. Frank Morgan.

E.F. Morgan is Ebenezer Franklin Morgan and I am curious to know how he and Willis Morgan may be related. While I have found many Morgan’s in Montgomery and surrounding counties, I have yet to find any documentation that ties them all together. They all seemed to have done business together and some found in other states together. However, any tangible evidence to how they all related is only speculation on my part. The research currently available on the internet by other Morgan family members hinges entirely on the will of Charles Morgan of Chatham County, NC. My hope is to find something that either proves (or disproves) that Charles Morgan of Chatham is the common ancestor of my Morgan line.

On the 2nd day of March 1840, E.F. Morgan, of the county of Montgomery, sold to John Hall, of the county of Randolph, for the sum of $725, and lying on the east bank of Barnes Creek, land that included a Grist Mill and a Saw Mill. Two other tracts of land, known to many as the McCulloch tract and Spencer tract, sold to John Hall at this same time.

At the end of the deed the following was added, “the sd E.F. Morgan doth hereby by these presents exempt one acre & a half of the McColloch Tract of land to begin at McColloch’s last corner on Uwharrie River adjoining the lands of sd George Coggin as the same heretofore has been sold to sd Coggin by Hardy Morgan.” The deed witnessed by H. (Hardy) Morgan and A.H. Sanders, proven by oath in open court by A.H. Sanders. That raises the question if E.F. and Hardy Morgan owned this land jointly or if E.F. Morgan had bought the land from Hardy Morgan at some time in the past and somehow they all forgot the one-acre and a half had previously sold to George Coggin until the land sold to John Hall.

As noted in my previous Blog post, ‘Exploring the Morgan's of Montgomery County, North Carolina part two,’ Hardy Morgan took George Hearne to court in 1842. I had previously found a Newspaper article making publication for six weeks notifying George Hearn to appear at the next Superior Court held at the Court House in Lawrenceville, Montgomery County, NC. Based on my findings at the Register of Deeds office in Montgomery County, I take it that George did not receive the publication. He was long gone.

Ebenezer Hearn must have borrowed $161.74 from Hardy Morgan prior to 1842 and did not repay the money. Perhaps, the money was the remaining balance on the lands that were the undivided interest of Hardy Morgan. Whatever the reason, Hardy Morgan went to court and a fifa issued, a writ of execution after judgment obtained in a legal action for debt or damages. When Ebenezer died in 1842, Hardy Morgan took George Hearn, the son of Ebenezer Hearn, to court for his money. Two years later, in 1844, A.H. Saunders, High Sheriff of Montgomery County, received orders from the court to levy the goods of the judgment debtor.

A.H. Sanders, as ordered by the court, "seized into his hands...four negro slaves belonging to the estate of the sd Ebenezer Hearn dec'd." The slaves were "put up at public sale to the highest bidder for ready money upon the 25th day of February AD 1845 at the court house door in the town of Lawrenceville in sd county, at which time and place the aforesaid E.F. Morgan became the last and highest bidder at the sum of twenty five dollars..."

On the 6th day of February 1837, Hardy Morgan sold to Ebenezer Franklin Morgan, for $120, on Barnes Creek, 120 acres previously granted by the state of NC to Hardy Morgan in the year 1829.

There were many other deeds found that I could list here. However, none of the deeds I found included any hint of what the relationship was between E.F. Morgan and Hardy Morgan or any other Morgan.

The search continues.

DNA Testing the Morgan Line

The very painful process of sorting out my Morgan’s continues. It makes my Marks’ line seem easy in comparison. When I decided to take on my Morgan line, I asked a male cousin to Y-DNA test and he agreed. While patiently awaiting the results, I weeded through the existing records as well as the research found on the internet, wrote, and posted the three part Morgan series. The DNA results are finally in and we have matched another Morgan line from Montgomery County.

For those who are new to DNA testing let me say first that DNA testing does not magically produce a family tree. The results are a list of people who share DNA with the tester. Results compare against others who have also DNA tested. Secondly, the process involved in figuring out how our matches relate to us and where they fit into our family tree, is our responsibility to learn. There is a plethora of information on the internet in written and video form on DNA testing. A good place to begin is with Kitty Cooper’s Blog: http://blog.kittycooper.com/2013/11/what-to-do-with-your-dna-test/

My Morgan story begins with a wedding. But not one you would imagine. Bethany Bailey, age 18, daughter of John and Elizabeth Dennis Bailey, in 1826, married Henry Delamothe, aged 70 years, in Montgomery County. The legend, handed down to generations and most of it probably true based on the accounts left in the journals of Dr. Francis J. Kron, nephew-in-law to Henry. Henry enticed his niece, Mary Kron and her husband, Dr. Francis Kron, to come to America with thoughts that they would become his heirs, as he did not have any of his own. Something happened to cause a rift between Henry and Dr. Kron right after their arrival in America because Henry decided he was going to marry and produce an heir of his own. On August 21, 1826, Henry and Bethany married.

Henry Delamothe, originally from France, migrated to America in the early 1800s in hopes of finding wealth in the North Carolina gold rush. Henry quickly obtained a large tract of land in Montgomery County, to include the old county seat of Henderson.

Google images

By 1834, Henry, married eight years, still had no heir. Legend says that he concocted a scheme to enlist the help of a young man named Willis Morgan to produce an heir for him. According to Kron’s journal entry dated 1 Dec 1835, there may be some truth to the legend. In 1835, Bethany gave birth to a girl, named Nancy. A short time later, and apparently not part of the plan, Bethany gave birth to another girl and named her Elizabeth.

Henry Delamothe signed his will in 6 Sep 1838 providing Bethany her 1/3 dower and “whatever else the law may require.” He left his daughter’s and any subsequent heirs 50 cents each.

ancestry.com portion of the will of Henry Delamothe

Henry Delamothe passed away a short time later. He must have left a mark on Montgomery County as they were still talking about him in 1879. According to an article dated 3 Jul 1879, the grave of Henry Delamothe could still be seen, enclosed by a neat, stone, wall.

In Apr 1839, Willis Morgan and Bethany Delamothe entered into a marriage contract. It seems that Bethany was attempting to protect her dower left to her by her late husband and Willis must have agreed as it looks like he probably wrote the marriage contract. Bethany signed her name with an X.

Montgomery County RoD

The Morgan line that my cousin Y-DNA matches is the Willis Morgan and Bethany Delamothe line. It came as no big surprise to find that many of the Morgan’s in the same county all connected. It makes sense that they were all one family.

Expanding the search for the Morgan’s part three

There is much information found on the many Morgan’s in the Census’ of Montgomery County and the surrounding counties; including Chatham County, however, other than family stories, legends and a lot of assumptions, I do not seem able to tie the families together through documentation. I studied the Charles Morgan family from Chatham County, as there was a tremendous research effort across the internet to tie this family to the Montgomery County Morgan’s; other than some of the first names being the same, I am not able to definitively say these are the same families. There is just not enough of a paper trail.

Charles Morgan, Chatham County, who left a will, had six sons and two daughters listed in his will. He leaves the house, land and mill equally divided between all eight children. He leaves a bed and furniture to his granddaughter, Geane Stewart. His sons, Charles Jr and Joseph, appointed executors and the will witnessed by John Stewart and James Smith; dated 12 Nov 1787. The will probated in February session 1788. No wife mentioned.

Children of Charles Morgan as listed in his will:
Joseph Morgan, Charles Morgan Jr, Edward (or Edmond) Morgan, John Morgan, Zachariah Morgan, William Morgan, Hannah West, Rachel Stewart

Several names here show up in Montgomery County, Joseph (my own ancestor), Charles, John, Zachariah and William are names found in Montgomery County. Further searching in Chatham found a will for a Joseph Morgan, probated 1806. It is likely that this Joseph is the son of Charles, but it is only speculation, and not absolute proof. This Joseph looks to have died young. His wife lived to the year 1843 and he listed at least one underage child in his will.

Those mentioned in Joseph’s will are John Morgan, Rachel Richardson, Polly Brewer, son in law Abel Brewer, and Jemimah Morgan

Twice in the will, Joseph specifically states that he wishes his children to live peaceably on that part of the land whereon they currently live and to not remove or tear down the dividing line (a fence, an orchard and a field) between them and his ‘present wife’ and George Dismuke’s line. Joseph lists his wife last in the will, and names her as Ferreby Morgan. George Dismuke, John Morgan and Ferreby Morgan listed as Executors and Executrix of his will. The will, dated 3 Dec 1805 is probated 1806.

Ferreby Morgan's will dated 16 Oct 1843, probated 1843, and lists the following people:

Andrew Jackson Morgan, grandson
John Morgan, son
Zachariah Morgan, probably the son of Andrew Jackson Morgan
Polly Brewer, daughter, wife of Abel Brewer
Rachel Richardson, daughter, wife of Samuel Richardson
The children of my daughter, Jemima Taylor, who is now dead
Lucian Burnett, Executor
A.H. Dismuke, witness

It is obvious from the two wills that Joseph and Ferreby Morgan were married and the parents of the named children. Joseph looks to have died early and Ferreby never remarried. Zachariah is not mentioned in Joseph’s will and may be the son of Andrew Jackson Morgan. Although Ferreby does not mention Zachariah with any title, she has told us that Zachariah is her great grandson. She says about the remaining part of her estate, "I lend unto my son John Morgan during his life time and after his death to go to the above named Andrew Jackson Morgan and his issue (crossed out) Zachariah Morgan them and their issue." 

On Family Search, I found the guardian papers for the sons of a William Morgan, Chatham County, Alston Morgan and Nathaniel Morgan, dated 1809. It is possible that William is the brother of Joseph and son of Charles Morgan. There obviously is a close relationship to the Dismuke’s family and I wonder if Ferreby’s maiden name might be Dismuke. Perhaps George is her brother or uncle. George died in 1827 and she is not mentioned in his will.

I visited Orange County to see if I could connect the Morgan’s there to the Chatham County Morgan’s. Again, aside from some of the same first names repeated, I found no paper trail that definitively connects these Morgan’s together. The closet I came to a connection is with John Morgan, Orange, 1807. Lands in both Orange and Chatham are specifically stated and I feel safe in assuming that this John had a connection to both Orange and Chatham Counties.

On to the Tax Lists
I found William Morgan and Gowing Morgan on the tax list for Montgomery County between the years 1779 and 1780. I found a William Morgan in Anson County with a land grant from 1769. This possibly is the same William Morgan. This particular Morgan line seems to have been in the area of what is now the Uwharrie National Forest for a very long time.

Muster Rolls
Hardy Morgan and Joseph Morgan both found on the Muster Rolls for Montgomery County in the year 1812, as is William Morgan. Of interest, William Morgan is found on the Muster Rolls for Anson County in 1814.