Morgan

Morgan Family Portrait, approximately 1906

My Morgan Connection

My Great Grandmother, Olive Leigh Morgan Dadmun was the eldest child of Olive Branch (O.B.) Morgan and Hope Alice Davis.  She married Edward Turner Dadmun and their daughter, Hope Alice, was my maternal grandmother.

We knew a few tantalizing tidbits about the Morgans.  We knew they were Scots, and we knew O.B. had been a soldier during the Civil War, and that he had been wounded in the Battle of Saylers Creek (which is often incorrectly referred to as “Sailors Creek”).  He was a merchant of some means in Petersburg after the war, and built a fine home in Richmond.  And we knew he was buried in Hollywood Cemetery.

The Morgan Line

My mother and I took a day during the Thanksgiving weekend to visit Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg to locate the graves of some of the Davis, Morgan and Dadmun relatives.  While trolling the cemetery records to look up gravesites, I was able to find information in the listings regarding parents for people buried there.  Then, by looking at the stones and gathering the “loving husband of/loving wife of” information, I have been able to assemble a picture of O. B. Morgan’s family that is much more clear than the suppositions we made based mostly on the census records.  Here goes.

James Morgan and Isabella (Michie) Morgan were husband and wife from Fife, Scotland.  They emigrated to the US in the fall of 1816 (more on that later).

James and Isabella had 4 children for sure.

Isabella (1812)
William (1814)
George Branch (1816)
Andrew (1818).

According to census records, George Branch Morgan was born at sea in September, 1816.  This kind of pins the date they emigrated, as the earlier children were born in Fife, and Andrew was born in Chesterfield County, VA.  George was married to Ann Elizabeth Peyton.  Although there are no direct indications that G. B. Morgan was O. B.’s father, his other siblings had other children and families, and O. B. was still living with George in 1850 – and family lore indicates this is the father of O. B.  Ann died in 1848 when O. B. was only 4, and his father died in 1851, leaving O. B. orphaned at the tender age of 7.

Now, refer to the 1860 census record, where we find O. B. living in the company of James Morgan and Isabella Morgan.  James was his grandfather, and Isabella his spinster aunt who kept house for James, whose wife (the elder Isabella) had died in 1846.  I have not found concrete record of the “Catherine Morgan” listed on the 1850 census as having been a second wife of George Branch, but I suppose it is possible, although she appears not to have been left in charge of O.B. after the death of his father.  Might have been a cousin or other relative.

Old James Morgan (the immigrant) died in July 1862.  This left a 17 or 18 year old O. B. essentially unattached and ready to join the Confederate Army.  The Lunenburg Artillery was encamped at Chaffins’ Bluff in Petersburg, and O. B. signed up.  By the end of the war, he was the Sgt. Major, the senior enlisted man in the outfit.  That’s the guy who gets everything done, handles making all the work assignments, and takes care of the other enlisted men.  Quite an accomplishment for a “young nipper” and is further evidence of his solid character.

More to follow…..

5 Responses to Morgan

  1. Page says:

    I think your George Branch Morgan may have been the husband of Susanna Catherine Morgan who is buried at Blandford in Petersburg. I’ve been trying to connect Susanna to my Anderson family because she’s buried in the Nichols family owned plot. Susanna’s (1825-1876) headstone reads that she was the wife of GB Morgan. In the will of James McD. Anderson, he mentions Susanna and her son, George P Morgan.

    Any thoughts?

    Page

    • Dave says:

      Not sure about his one. She may have been a second wife of George B. Morgan, as there is indeed a “Catherine Morgan” listed on the 1850 census along with George and son, Branch. Pretty sure Anne E. Peyton was Branch’s mother who died in 1848 from complications following childbirth. She is buried with George and is listed in the Blandford records as having been his wife. It seems plausible that George may have married again. Further complicating things, there are graves in Blandford for a Catherine Morgan and a Susanna Catherine Morgan. I did not find any notes on either one identifying parentage or husband, so either could be the one, I suppose. The census identifies the Catherine Morgan living with George B. Morgan as 22 years old, so birth years for either of the Blandford Catherine’s are close, within 2 to 4 years.
      Anyway, hard to say without one or two more pieces of information. Thanks for contacting me!

  2. Don Hopkins MD says:

    I recently purchased a photo album which came directly from descendants of the Morgan/Brander families of Petersburg. Both families immigrated from Scotland and were closely tied by marriage, etc. I purchased it because of my interest in Robert E. Lee photos and in the album is a photo, perhaps the only one in existence, of George Minnis, a photographer of Lee during the war. There was also a fairly common CDV of Lee and Jefferson Davis. I am not sure what I will do with the photographs, total 49 in album, after I continue my research on them. The Virginia Historical Society and the Chrysler Museum were both interested in the album I purchased in Petersburg and I had to pay a high price. For instance there are photos of perhaps two Isabella Morgans, Andrew Morgan, probably Catherine Morgan, some Branders and others . If you think you might have an interest in them I will let you know when I finish my research on the photos and their photographers. However, I had to pay 4 figures for the album and cannot give them away. I do feel they should mostly stay together. Don Hopkins MD; author “Robert E. Lee in War and Peace, a Photographic History of a Confederate and American Icon.” (Savas Beatie, 2013)

  3. Page Nichols says:

    If you send me your email address, I can send you a copy of the Virginia Chancery records that prove that Catherine was the 2nd wife of George Branch Morgan. James McDowell Anderson was the executor of estate for George in 1861, when he died. James Anderson was the brother of my ancestor, Susanna Eppes Anderson Nichols. This document mentions the children of George as: Branch (son of Georges by previous marriage) plus George’s and Catherine’s children together, George P and Isabella Morgan.

    • Dave says:

      Thank you for the note! I have found that chancery case in the Virginia Memory collection online, and that appears to clear things up lot. I read it slightly differently on the identity of Isabella Morgan. I read that line as:
      “…that subsequently your Complainant qualifies as guardian of her infant son George P. Morgan and Miss Isabella Morgan qualifies as guardian of Branch Morgan, a son of her deceased husband by a former marriage; …”
      I have read through a lot of chanceries and this makes it appear that Isabella was Branch’s mother, when in fact she was his spinster aunt. The part, “…son of her deceased husband by a former marriage” refers back to the complainant, Susan C. Morgan and not to Isabella. That also explains why the 1860 census shows Branch living with James and Isabella.
      Anyway, thanks so much for bringing this up! This is very helpful, as was your previous tip about the two Catherine Morgans buried in Blandford!

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