John Morrison

The History of the Morrison Family..."
https://archive.org/details/historyofmorison00byumorr/page/74/mode/2up

John Morrison married (first wife unknown) and had it seems four children by her:

• (1) James Morrison, born in Ireland in 1675, died 1756 in Londonderry, New Hampshire.
• (2) John Thomas Morrison, born in Ireland in 1678, died 14 Jun 1776 in Peterborough, N.H.
• (3) Halbert Morrison, born in Ireland (1685?), died 6 Jun 1755 in Londonderry, N.H.
• (4) Martha Morrison, born in Ireland (1685?), married Thomas Steele, died 22 Oct 1759 in Londonderry, N.H.

John Morrison married his second wife Jeanette Steele (born 1654), and had four children by her:

• (1) Samuel Morrison, born in Ireland in 1710, died 21 Jun 1802 in Londonderry, N.H.
• (2) Hannah Morrison, born in Ireland about 1716, married Wm. Clendennin, 7 Jan 1802 in Londonderry, N.H.
• (3) Mary Morrison, born in Ireland about 1718, married Andrew Jack, died ?
• (4) Joseph Morrison, born 1720 (sources say on board the ship headed to New Hampshire), died in Londonderry, N.H. 1807

John Morrison, with wife Jeanette Steele, sailed to America in 1720, arriving in New Hampshire with their four young children .It also appears that John’s older sons - James, John and Halbert - sailed to America before him, landing in Boston in 1718 and then the two oldest, James and John, settled in Londonderry in 1719.Land records show that James and John deeded land to their father they obtained in 1719, making him also a landholder and charter founder of the town by his seniority.

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https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/morrison/7477/

FORUM ARTICLES SEARCH Home > Forum > Surnames > Morrison John Morrison, The Elder but not Centenarian Founder of Londonderry NH By Robert Lacy December 01, 2012 at 11:20:27

In researching one of my ancestors, I’ve come across what strikes me as a grand confusion concerning James Morrison, a protestant Scotch-Irishman fighting in Ireland in the late 1680’s, and the his son, John Morrison, likewise a participant in those battles and a subsequent founder of Londonderry, New Hampshire.Most texts and on line sites show his son John to have lived to the age of 108 years old, when in fact there is simply confusion between his and his father’s birth dates.

The problem is that nearly all ancestry.com sources and many books and articles cite the father James and son, John as having been born in 1628, and then by noting that the son died in 1736, claiming that John would have been 108 years old.Most citations also show his father, James, to also have died in New Hampshire (on the same day…).They go on to cite the incredible longevity of John (or James, depending on which one you are looking at), and noting John didn’t have his first of eight children until he was over 50.

The confusing and contradicting texts make it clear this needs to be settled out. I invite anyone with contrary or complementary evidence to add to this discussion and advance or undo my logic.

What one gleans from on line and published genealogy sources:

Robert Morrison, a Scot born in Glasgow in 1596, married Janet Sharp, born 1600.They appear to have had (at least) four children, all born in Glasgow:

• (1) John Morrison, born 22 Oct 1622 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland
• (2) Janet Morrison, born 6 Nov 1625 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland
• (3) James Morrison, born 27 Aug 1628, died 16 Feb 1717/18 in Londonderry, Ireland
• (4) Elizabeth Morrison, born 2 Aug 1630 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland, died 1708

The third child, James, is the focus on this discussion.It is not clear (at least to me) who James married, or if he had more than the one child (both need answers…), but his son was

(1) John Morrison, born 1650, probably in Aberdeenshire, Scotland The key issue is that John’s birth date is nearly always cited as also being 27 August 1628, which is the date I believe of his father’s birth.Both are listed as having died in 1735 in Londonderry, New Hampshire.In fact, the names James and John become intertwined in the family histories with great confusion, and no ancestry.com listing makes any sense in terms of dates of birth, marriage and their children.

But staying with James the father for the moment, he at some point immigrated to Ireland as part of the Scotch-Irish settlements, probably in the early 1670’s.There are references to “James Morison, a citizen more advanced in years” who actively participated in the Siege of Londonderry, Ireland in 1688-1689 (he would have been over 60).It is not clear if he is also the Captain James Morison, officer of the guard referred to during the siege.There is also a reference to John, and his son John would have been just shy of 40.Sources indicate they were present during the siege so perhaps James was the Captain.Articles also note that Captain James Morrison and John Morrison were among those branded as traitors bythe now-deposed James II, and that they left for America and founded Londonderry, New Hampshire.However, neither father James nor son John in our line left Ireland at the time of the Williamite Wars, and when John did leave it was with his grown and second-marriage younger children 30 years later.As noted in one text,“the Morisons who were young at the time of the siege of Londonderry, were the sturdy men who, in 1719, helped to found the settlement in Londonderry, N.H.”(Note there is no reference to one of the founders being 90 years old).

So at this point, I’m going to try to solidify the position (if not done by someone already) that the elder James Morrison never did emigrate to America, and that is son John was born about 1650, as set out on his marriage certificate, not 1628 .While there are some immigrants named James Morrison, none seem to me to be identifiable as a man would be over 90 at this point or have founded a clan in Londonderry, NH.

On the other hand, there is ample evidence that his son John and his children did emigrate to America (without his elderly father, if he was even still alive at this point) and that John is the charter Morrison member of Londonderry.

John Morrison married (first wife unknown) and had it seems four children by her:

(1) James Morrison, born in Ireland in 1675, died 1756 in Londonderry, New Hampshire. (2) John Thomas Morrison, born in Ireland in 1678, died 14 Jun 1776 in Peterborough, N.H. (3) Halbert Morrison, born in Ireland (1685?), died 6 Jun 1755 in Londonderry, N.H. (4) Martha Morrison, born in Ireland (1685?), married Thomas Steele, died 22 Oct 1759 in Londonderry, N.H. John Morrison married his second wife Jeanette Steele (born 1654), and had four children by her: (1) Samuel Morrison, born in Ireland in 1710, died 21 Jun 1802 in Londonderry, N.H. (2) Hannah Morrison, born in Ireland about 1716, married Wm. Clendennin, 7 Jan 1802 in Londonderry, N.H. (3) Mary Morrison, born in Ireland about 1718, married Andrew Jack, died ? (4) Joseph Morrison, born 1720 (sources say on board the ship headed to New Hampshire), died in Londonderry, N.H. 1807.

John Morrison, with wife Jeanette Steele, sailed to America in 1720, arriving in New Hampshire with their four young children .It also appears that John’s older sons - James, John and Halbert - sailed to America before him, landing in Boston in 1718 and then the two oldest, James and John, settled in Londonderry in 1719.Land records show that James and John deeded land to their father they obtained in 1719, making him also a landholder and charter founder of the town by his seniority.

In “the History of the Morison or Morrison Family” , it states that

The five Morisons designated by the term “charter” are the Morisons among the one hundred and nineteen men to whom the charter of Londonderry was granted in 1719.John Morison No. 1, who died in 1736, was father of all succeeding persons to No. [8], and grandfather of all between No [9] and No. 13.…”Listed are the following “charter” members from John and his children:

• (1) John Morison, died 1736 [clearly the John Morrison we are referring to]
• (2) Charter James Morison [would have been John’s oldest son]
• (3) Charter John Morison [his second son, known as John Thomas Morrison]
• (4) Martha Morison Steele [his oldest daughter]
• (5) Dea. Halbert Morison [his third son,a Deacon]
• (6) Samuel Morison [his fourth son, and the first by Jeanette Steele]
• (7) Hannah Morison Clendennin [nextdaughter]
• (8) Joseph Morison [last son]

(9) To (13) [grandchildren]

It would appear then that John Morrison, born in 1650 and dying in 1736, lived to the age of 86.While his oldest son James lived to the aged of 98 and another son (Samuel) lived to age 92, there seems no evidence John lived to age 108, unless one attributes to him the birth date of his father, who was born in 1628.

Another source from 1890 refers to the notable longevity of the founders of Londonderry, N.H., noting that of the town founders most lived an average of 79 years old, while six lived on to nearly ninety, two were over 90, and one founder, John Morrison, lived to see ninety seven years.It appears John in fact lived to the age of 86/87, not 97, but if he had lived to 108 it would not have gone so unnoticed at the time!His age derived from his marriage certificate is also consistent with the generations in his family and the age of his wife, four years younger.

Furthermore, it seems nearly totally implausible that John would be contemporaneously confused for someone named James (his father); or that the grandfather was also there in New Hampshire without notice.Sources have simply made the mistake of listing both John and his father James as being born and dying on the same day.The logical conclusion is that the father, James, never left Ireland/Scotland, and when sources list James as dying in Londonderry or his son John being born 22 years earlier than he was, these are just errors.

If one simply accepts that a very elderly James did not emigrate to New Hampshire with his son, already70 at the time, and that his son was born in 1650 which fits logically in the generations and follows the documentation, all falls into place.

Link:http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/morrison/7477/

Note: I don't know or have any documentation to credit of discredit the above info, but it does seem plausible. There is so much confusion on both father and son John Morrison, also, even having them married to the same woman and some sources have the father, John, as having three wives. If anyone has and info to help me out I would be most grateful if you would share. I am presenting this tree as written above. D.Glenn

John Morrison married Janet Still on 25 November 1669 at Aberdeen Parish, Aberdeen, Scotland. The Scottish Covenanters Index lists John Morrison as a Covenanter, a servitor to Lord Cardross and was banished.

The exact date of his banishment is unknown, but it appears that when John and his wife left Scotland, they were separated from their oldest 2 boys. Sons John and James appear in the marriage records in Campbeltown. John and Jeane had several more children in Ireland.

He died on February 16, 1736, in Londonderry, New Hampshire, having lived a long life of 94 years.

References

• https://books.google.com/books?id=OU0k2d8nl3IC&pg=PA550&lpg=PA550&d...
• https://books.google.com/books?id=rxkaAAAAIAAJ&q=john+morison#v=sni...
• http://www.londonderrynh.net/featured-columns/nutfield-rambles-with...
• http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/steele/3455/
• https://books.google.com/books?id=Xm8BDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA56&lpg=PA56&dq=...
• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=lamdem&id...
• https://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=desjal05...

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• GEDCOM Source Scottish Covenanters Index Drown, Isabelle McLean, comp. Ancestry.com Operations Inc 1,7021::0 1,7021::18893
• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Apr 20 2019, 0:06:56 UTC
• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Jun 24 2019, 1:55:45 UTC
• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Jan 19 2020, 1:17:20 UTC
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Morrison-1091

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• Reference: WikiTree Genealogy - SmartCopy: Sep 13 2023, 23:18:27 UTC
• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Dec 5 2023, 19:00:54 UTC