Pvt Gadwell Gat Morris

Gad (Gadison) MORRIS

Essentials

Born: 1830; Franklin County, Georgia

Son of: James MORRIS and Lucy PARHAM

Married: Elizabeth WANSLEE, 6 January 1852; Rome, Floyd County, Georgia

Died: 21 March 1878; Winslow, Navajo County, Arizona

Page contents

One-minute history

Civil War record

Rumor of Cherokee blood

BY DARYL JAMES

FROM 'JAMES/HATCH ONE MINUTE HISTORIES' (1994)

    Gad (Gadison) Morris was born in 1830 in Franklin County, Georgia, to James Morris and Lucy Parham. He was the eighth of nine children born to his parents.

    Gad married Elizabeth Wanslee in Rome, Floyd County, Georgia, on Jan. 6, 1852, when he was about 22. The couple's first home was at Calhoun, Georgia. In this area they had their first 10 children. Their final child, Cicero, was born in 1871 after the family moved to Des Arc, Arkansas.

    In Arkansas the family was converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by two missionaries, Brother Boyle and John McCallister. Because of opposition from relatives and others, Gad and his family left Arkansas and moved west to Arizona. Before Gad had been converted to the Mormon religion, he was a faithful member of a Protestant congregation. He treated the minister of this congregation with kindness. One time he bought the minister a new suit, and every time he slaughtered an animal, he gave the minister meat. However, when Gad joined the Mormon religion, this minister was so angry that he "organized a mob to take care of Gad Morros."

    Gad and his family put everything they owned into two small wagons and were led, with other families who had joined the Church, by John Weimer and Nelson Beebe. They traveled during the winter in makeshift wagons. There were 36 wagons in the company. Gad had made his two wagons himself. After a difficult trip, Gad and his family settled at Brigham City, Ariz., on the Little Colorado River.

    One day after working in the field, on March 21, 1878, Gad complained to his wife that he wasn't feeling well. Without eating supper, he went to bed. After Elizabeth finished her spinning and the wheel was quiet, she called to her husband to inquire about how he was feeling. There was no answer. She called again and receiving no reply, she went to his bedside to find that he had passed away, probably of a heart attack.

-- Sources: 1. Privately published book of family history by Janet JAMES Morrison, including a short history of Gad Morris (author of the history is unlisted).

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Civil War Record of Gad Morris

COMPILED BY DARYL JAMES

WITH INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY ROBIN MARBLE, GREAT-GREAT GRANDSON OF GAD MORRIS

    Gad Morris fought for the South in the Civil War. Records indicate he enlisted as a private in Company C, 40th Infantry Regiment of the Confederate Army on 1 May 1862, while residing at Floyd County, Georgia. He was 31 or 32 at this time and married with seven children. His wife, Elizabeth Wanslee, would have been pregnant at this time with an eighth child, John Wesley Morris, who was born 4 November 1862.

    Apparently, the Union army captured Gad shortly after his enlistment. Union records list him as a prisoner of war on 4 July 1863 at Vicksburg, Mass., and indicate he was paroled two days later. However, records list Gad again as a P.O.W. on 15 July 1864 at Floyd County, Ga. Later that month, on 27 July 1864, Gad took an Oath of Allegiance at Louisville, Ky., and was released on condition that he remain north of the Ohio River. This information comes from the Roster of Confederate Soldiers of Georgia, 1861-1865; GARosterC; published in 1955 through 1958 by Longino & Porter.

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Rumor of Cherokee Blood

BY DARYL JAMES

WITH INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY ROBIN MARBLE, GREAT-GREAT GRANDSON OF GAD MORRIS

    A rumor persists among Morris descendants that Gadison Morris might actually be the child of a white father and Cherokee mother -- not Lucy Parham. This rumor is likely based on speculation that Gadison descended from Gideon Franklin Morris, a South Carolina man the right age to be Gadison's father. Gideon, born 2 April 1792 in Greenville, S.C., was married to a Cherokee named Rebecca Ka-ta-ti-he, born about 1816 in Macon County, N.C. She would have been about 14 and Gideon would have been about 38 when Gadison was born. Records indicate Gideon died in 1884 in Stillwell, Adair County, Oklahoma.

    Family historian Robin Marble, a great-great grandson of Gadison Morris, does not believe any relation exists, however, between Gideon Franklin Morris and Lucy Parham, James Morris or their son Gadison Morris. 

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Apr 27 2021, 21:07:15 UTC

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• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Nov 18 2020, 19:32:45 UTC