William Morgan and Amelia Brewer

Fold3

William Morgan was born about 1789 probably in Montgomery County, North Carolina. His parents may have migrated from Chatham County, North Carolina to Montgomery County, North Carolina around 1788, about the same time that John Stewart and his wife, Rachel Morgan, migrated there. Most internet research I read says that William was the son of Zachariah Morgan, the son of Charles Morgan Senior, from Chatham County, North Carolina. This claim looks to have originated from a 1908 statement given by Catharine Lavinia Morgan Layman, William and Amelia Morgan’s daughter, when she submitted a Cherokee application claim. In answer to questions 7, 16, 21 and the Remarks section, Catharine states that her grandfathers are Abel Brewer and Zachariah Morgan.

Ancestry

Some researchers believe that Zachariah Morgan died prior to 1840 in Chatham County, while others believe he was the illegitimate child of Hannah West, and that after a stay in South Carolina, he migrated to Kentucky. Y-DNA testing has proven that there are two distinct Zachariah Morgan’s. My male cousin’s Y-DNA does not match those who claim descent from the Zachariah Morgan line in Kentucky.

However, we do match a Moses Alston Morgan line from Tennessee. Collaborating with this match, I found out that Moses Alston Morgan was born 1803 and died in 1860. His parents were William Morgan and Martha Polly Reeder. The Reeder line is from Shenandoah, Virginia and Martha’s mother was Lydia Morgan. The family lived in Wilson County Tennessee prior to 1800, yet Alston maintains he was born in North Carolina. Both surnames, Morgan and Reeder (Reader), are found in early Montgomery County, North Carolina records. Y-DNA testing has taken my research to Tennessee.

Update: I have been working through my cousins Y-DNA matches and MAY have finally broken through a brick wall with one of the matches who descends from Alston Morgan (1803-1860). The Y-DNA match had claimed that the parents of Alston Morgan were William Morgan and Martha Reeder. However, after more than a year of researching William and Martha Reeder Morgan, I now think these two have been confused as the parents of Alston Morgan.

Alston's father is most likely Anderson Morgan born about 1783 in Chatham County, North Carolina

FTDNA Morgan Project

I know for sure that, prior to 1809, there was a Zachariah Morgan who lived in Montgomery County on the road leading from Fisher’s ferry to Fayetteville; joining the land of Andrew Dennis, my forth-great grandfather. Andrew Dennis lived on Cedar Creek, current day River Road area. 100 acres of Zachariah’s land sold for taxes due in 1809, 1810, 1811 and 1812. Zachariah Morgan also had two land grants entered 1816 and 1825, but neither were issued.

Newspapers, Digital NC, NC Land Grants, Google Maps

Zachariah Morgan is in Montgomery County as late as 1833, because in an interview conducted by Hardy Morgan, Zachariah vouches for John Stewart for his Revolutionary War pension transfer to Tennessee. No relationship between John and Zachariah is noted in the file, but it does state that Zachariah was 12 or 13 years old at the close of the Revolutionary War, making his birth around 1770.

This date puts Zachariah at about 19 years of age when William would have been born. It is a bit unusual for this period for a 19 year old to be out of his father’s home or without a legal guardian as the adult age back then was 21 years. If Zachariah were the child of Charles Morgan Senior from Chatham County, he would have been 17 years old when his father died. I am not able to find any guardian papers for Zachariah. It is a stretch, no doubt, to believe that Zachariah is William’s father, but the possibility does exist.

Ancestry

William may have grown up near the town of Henderson, at the confluence of the Yadkin (Pee Dee) and Uwharrie Rivers. Based on his War of 1812 pension file at Fold3, William seems to have had some education, as he was able to sign his name.

Digital NC

In October 1813 at the age of 24, William volunteered at Henderson for six months service in the War of 1812. He served a term of six months beginning in Feb 1814 and honorably discharged at Salisbury, Rowan County on the 11th day of August 1814. Both Hardy Morgan and my fourth great grandfather, Joseph Morgan, served in the War of 1812 with the Tenth Company, detached from Montgomery Regiment. 

Fold3

Of note, there were two William Morgan’s from Montgomery County who served in the War of 1812. William Morgan Senior and William Morgan Junior were both issued pay vouchers on 7 May 1815 for their service. Vouchers were issued in lieu of cash by the governor after the auditor had validated a claim. The vast majority were issued for military service by detached militia, either those called out to defend the coast in 1813 or companies ordered to rendezvous at Wadesboro in 1815. When a voucher was redeemed, it was cancelled by punching a hole through it. Both of these vouchers were redeemed. (digital.ncdcr.gov)

 

Digital NCDCR

Since the William Morgan I am writing about was not old enough to have a son to serve alongside him, I wondered if he was the junior and William Morgan Senior was his father. There was a William Morgan in Montgomery County as of the 1790 Census who had a son under age 16 and 6 daughters.

I also wondered if the two William Morgan’s were related at all. Sometimes the terms Senior and Junior were used to differentiate between an elder and a younger person of the same name who may not have been related at all. My questions were answered when I found in the file that the Auditor had noted William Morgan Junior served from 1 Feb 1814 to 15 Mar 1814 when noted as being deceased. That of course leads to another question. Who redeemed the pay voucher for William Morgan Junior dated 7 May 1815?

Based on the date of death for William Morgan Junior (the younger) I know this William Morgan is the man that married Elizabeth (maiden name unknown) and is the father of Mary Polly Morgan who married William Hamilton. Joseph Hamilton, son of William and Mary Morgan Hamilton, and grandson of William Morgan Junior (the younger) who died in the War of 1812, married my third great aunt Cyrona Anna Marks and Lee Thomas Hamilton, another son of William and Mary Morgan Hamilton and grandson of William (the younger) married Cyrona’s sister, Julia Ann Marks. There is a War of 1812 widow’s pension file for Elizabeth Morgan. After Elizabeth died, her daughter, and only surviving heir, Mary Morgan Hamilton, claimed the pension of William, her father.

It looks like there was some confusion with William Morgan Senior (the elder) who married Amelia Brewer, as the Treasury Department noted on his pension application both Senior and Junior. The two William’s were not father and son. They were listed as Senior and Junior only because they had the same name. 

Fold3

I learned from Amelia’s widow pension file at Fold3 that William married first, Nancy (maiden name unknown), prior to 1820, in Montgomery County. I have no idea who Nancy is or what happened to her. It is likely that she died either in childbirth or from some epidemic that struck the community of Henderson or even from an accident. Newpapers.com has no information and a search of what remaining records for Montgomery County exists, found nothing.

I have found only one clue that might lead me to believe that a child was born from the marriage of William and Nancy. On the 1870 Census for Jefferson County, Tennessee, there is a Charles Morgan, age 55 showing in the same household with William Morgan (age 82) and Amelia Brewer Morgan (age 67). Charles would have been born in 1815 and his place of birth is showing as North Carolina. He is too young to be William’s brother and too old to be a son of Abel Morgan, who is the son of William and Amelia, and listed as head of household in this Census.

William and Amelia married around 1820 making Charles 5 years old. The 1820 Census for Montgomery was destroyed or lost so I am not able to check that Census for a William Morgan. There is no William Morgan on the 1820 Census for Chatham County that I could find. Perhaps William and any children he and Nancy had were living with relatives.

At this time I have no idea who Charles Morgan, age 55, is on the 1870 Census for Jefferson, Tennessee. He is not listed in Jefferson County on the 1850 or the 1860 Census. 

Ancestry

Charles married, 8 Dec 1871, to Joannah Riddle in Jefferson, Tennessee and the two are found on the 1880 Census for Jefferson County living next door to Joannah’s father, James Riddle. Charles maintains his birthplace as North Carolina but claims he is only 56, making his date of birth 1824. If he was born in 1824, then he is the son of William and Amelia. However, Catharine Morgan Layman in her 1908 Cherokee Claim does not note him as a sibling.

 

Ancestry

In 1884, Charles and Joannah Riddle Morgan had a son and named him James. The 1900 Census shows Joannah, a widow, living with her son in Jefferson County, Tennessee. I am still researching James to find his descendants. I believe he may have married Mary Ethel Turner in 1911, but I am still trying to prove this connection. Joannah remarried to James C. Gervin in 1913. She passed away in 1931 in Jefferson County, Tennessee. 

Ancestry

William, as already noted, married second, Amelia Brewer, from Chatham County in Feb 1820/21. Thus far, all research I have read states that Amelia is the daughter of Abel Brewer and Mary Polly Morgan from Chatham County and the granddaughter of Joseph and Fereby Morgan. Catharine Morgan Layman’s Cherokee Claim also states her grandfather as Abel Brewer from Chatham County.

Joseph Morgan is the son of Charles Morgan Senior who died in Chatham County between Nov 1787 and Feb 1788. Both Joseph and Fereby Morgan mention their daughter, Mary Polly (Morgan) Brewer as the wife of AbelBrewer.  

 

Fold3

According to the Jefferson County, Tennessee 1850 Census, William and Amelia’s daughter, Catharine was born 1845 in North Carolina. Three-year-old Adeline was the first child born in Tennessee. Therefore, William and Amelia left North Carolina after Catharine’s birth in 1845 and arrived in Jefferson County before Adeline was born in 1847. 

Ancestry

On 20 Sep 1850, William Morgan, age 62 years, appeared before the Justice of the Peace in Jefferson County, Tennessee to apply for the bounty land, which he may be entitled to for his service in the War of 1812. William Baker and Samuel Price sign as witnesses.

 

Fold3

The 1860 Jefferson County, Tennessee Census shows William Morgan, age 71, with wife, Milly (Amelia) and children Sarah, Martha, John, Kate (Catharine), Adaline, Susan (Susannah) and Riley, who would be the last child born to William and Amelia.

Ancestry

On 11 Mar 1871, William Morgan, age 82, again appears before the Justice of the Peace in Jefferson, Tennessee. This time to claim a pension for his service in the War of 1812. He, once again, states that his wife’s name is Amelia Brewer and they married in Chatham County, North Carolina in the year 1820. James Fuller and Abel Morgan, son of William and Amelia, signed as witnesses.  

 

Fold3

On 13 May 1880, William Morgan died and was buried in Balch Cemetery in Jefferson County, Tennessee. His gravestone has partially sunk into the ground. 

Find-a-grave

The 1880 Jefferson County, Tennessee Census enumerated on 14 Jun 1880, one month after William died. Amelia is listed as a widow living with her son, Edmond, and his wife Sarah Edgar. Directly next door to Edmond is his son James Patteu Balch Morgan who is newly married to Almeda Acuff.

Ancestry

On 18 Jun 1880, Amelia applied to claim a widow’s pension. She provided the same information on her application that William had provided on his, verifying their date of marriage and the places where they had lived during their marriage.  Her application was approved 16 Sep 1880 for $8.00 per month. That equates to nearly $200 today.  

 

Fold3

Amelia Brewer Morgan died on 9 Feb 1893 and is buried beside her husband at Balch Cemetery in Jefferson County, Tennessee. Several of Amelia and William’s children are also buried here. 

Find-a-grave