Octava (Morrow) Thompson was my g-grandmother. The 1860 census for Christian Co. Missouri has her as, Octovo, male (in error), age 8 months old on the 5th of July, 1860 (so born around the first of November, 1859). This information conflicts with the birthdate given in Findagrave for Octava.

In the 1880 census when Octava was age 20, single and still living with her parents, the census taker recorded her as their "daughter", but yet again put "M" for "male" down as her gender. She married and had children, so there's no mistaking she was female. So I can only surmise that the name somehow had the census takers confused.

http://www.ozarkhistory.com/thompson.htm

http://www.ozarkhistory.com/morrow.htm

Morrow

by Howard Morrow and Roy Linton, from History of Marion County, Arkansas, edited by Earl Berry, c.1977.

John Morrow came from Dublin, Ireland. He was a knitter by trade. He was married in Scotland and when he came to America there were seven John Morrows on board the ship. One child died at sea, but it is not known whether it was one of this family. John Morrow located in Tennessee. It was at McMinnville, Tennessee, that his sons, Demosthenes Gracchus (Grack) and Baron DeKalb were bom. He and his wife were also parents of another son, Bone [Napoleon Bonaparte], and a daughter Laura.

D[emosthenes]. G[racchus]. (Grack) was born in 1823. He married Mary J. Kimberling and they were the parents of 12 children:

Cleopatra, who died when 18 [without issue];

Octavia, wife of Dr. J. I. Thompson [three sons];

Isophena, wife of Jess Horner;

Laura, who married Alfred Watts;

Thomas, whose first wife was Dora Williams and, after her death, he married Addie Ott;

Maggie, who was the wife of J. D. Sims;

Mason, who married Arizona Carson;

Albert, who married Mary Sasser; and

Dr. J[ohn]. J[ames]. Morrow, who married Hattie Curlee. Dr. Morrow, one of the leading physician's of North Arkansas, spent the latter part of his life at Cotter.

[The remaining three alleged children of Grack and Mary J. Morrow are not named here, and are presumed either to be unknown or to have died young.]
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B[aron]. D[eKalb]. Morrow [Octavia's uncle] was bom in 1828 and died in 1901. His wife was Catharine Adams, born in 1843 and died in 1915. She was a daughter of John Adams. Their children were: James Matthew, who married Laurana Stokes; Robert (Bob), whose wife was Myra Carson; Betty, wife of Sterling Weast; Hannah, wife of Jim Sims; John, who married Millie Carson; and Maud, the wife of Ed Watts.

Laura, sister of the Morrow brothers [Octavia's aunt], married a Medley and they were the parents of Sam Medley.

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The brothers led interesting lives. D[emosthenes]. G[racchus]. tried to enlist for service in the Mexican War but was rejected. All [the brothers Morrow] were members of a group who went to California during the gold rush in 1849, making the trip with oxen, and were successful in securing some gold. Again, in 1852, they made the journey to California, driving a herd of cattle. This time there was trouble with the Mormons. They returned by way of the Isthmus of Panama and were shipwrecked on the Bahama reefs. They, D[emosthenes]. G[racchus]. and B[aron]. D[eKalb]., were rescued some time later. Their brother Bone [Napoleon Bonaparte] had died on the trip to California as a result of a cholera outbreak.

After coming to Arkansas in 1861, both [surviving] brothers enlisted from Marion County in the Confederate Army and served until the end of the war. Before entering service, they had traded with two old squatters for land, B[aron]. D[eKalb]. getting 80 and D[emosthenes]. G[racchus]. 200 acres. They saw that they would have to leave, so they went to an old field and buried their money. They made an agreement that if only one survived, he would have all the money, but if both came back they would divide it. Of course, both came back, divided their money, and reared families on their farms in the Cowan Barrens community.

D[emosthenes]. G[racchus]. and B[aron]. D[eKalb]. Morrow, Bill Hamlet (grandfather of Bill and Keith Hamlet), Bluford Mears, and Alfred Cowan served under Lieutenant William (Billy [aka "Pillow"]) [Alexander] Thompson and all are buried in the Cowan Cemetery.

Some interesting stories are told about their experiences during the.war. D[emosthenes]. G[racchus]. had a narrow escape from death when a bullet clipped an ear, passed through his hair and seared his scalp. At another time, soldiers camped at a spring. A widow who owned the land had put poison in the water. Some of the soldiers drank it and died. Since that time the place has been called Poison Spring.

John Adams, father of Catherine (B[aron]. D[eKalb].'s wife), had a mill at the spring from which Yellville gets the city water. Jayhawkers killed him and took his hat, shoes and clothes to his home. They reported what they had done to the wife and daughters, who brought him to Cowan Cemetery and buried him in a shallow grave. They wrapped him in a blanket, for there was no casket. The girls were afraid animals would be attracted to the body, so they brought flat stones and covered the grave. A man named Jesse was hiding on a nearby mountain and would have helped the girls, but was afraid. The mountain is called Bold Jesse.

Another Morrow was Ed, a second cousin of D. G. and B. D., who came to Arkansas from Tennessee at a much later date. He married Araminta Page. They were parents of Mabel, Roy, Edna, Helen, and a son who died while young. Mabel married Roy C. Linton and their children are Gladys, Roy, Lloyd, Edna Ruth, Aileen, Shirley and Freda. Roy Morrow married Lula Pilgrim; Edna married John Fee, whose children were Orville and Fred; Helen never married.

There are still many descendants of the three Morrows [Grack, Baron DeKalb, and Laura] who live[d] in Marion County[, Arkansas]. Mrs. Tom (Addie) Morrow lives in Yellville and her children and grandchildren live in or near Yellville. Jim Morrow's son, Harry, lives in town; the other son, Howard, and a daughter, Nellie, wife of Burley Baker, live on nearby farms. Many of the grandchildren live in Marion County. Mabel Linton and some of her children and grandchildren are still in this county.

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Apr 14 2024, 22:33:06 UTC