LEWIS MORGAN (1728 -- ca. 1800) OF BEDFORD COUNTY, VIRGINIA By ELIZABETH PEARSON WHITE, C.Gp., F.A.S.G.* National Genealogical Society Quarterly Volume 65, Number 3, Sept. 1977. Lewis Morgan of Bedford County, Virginia, was the earliest known progenitor of a numerous family who pushed westward over the Allegheny Mountains into Tennessee while the Revolutionary War was still raging. Even before the Revolution, this family lived on the frontier of civilization in the buffer zone between the Indians and the established areas of white settlement nearer the Atlantic coast, bearing the full brunt of the problems created by the steady push of pioneers into virgin territory. Lewis MORGAN was born in Brunswick County, Va., in 1728 in the area which became Bedford County in 1753/4. His given name was some- times spelled "Louis." Ross County, Ohio Families gives the name of his father as Thomas, called "first born in America, 1670."[1] "Family of Morgan", compiled by Appleton Morgan, gives a longer lineage for Lewis, saying that he was the son of Daniel Morgan, who was the son of Charles Morgan of Newport, apparently the son of Thomas Morgan of Bettws, Wales, 1587, whose father was John Morgan of Bassalleg. Lewis is supposed to have had two sisters: Elizabeth who married John Vordman, and Lettes who married A. Richardson.[2] However, this researcher has not been able to document these earlier generations. In 1750 in Bedford County, Va., Lewis married a daughter of Dr. Robert White and his wife, Margaret Hoge. Her name has been given as both ELIZABETH WHITE and CHRISTINA WHITE.[1,2,3] An account of the White family mentions three daughters, but names only one, "...Barbara who married Isaac Julian, and her two sisters who both married men by the name of Morgan."[3] (More than one hundred years later, in INDIANA, the Julians of Indianapolis were called "distant relatives" of Lewis Morgan's Indiana descendants.[4]) The account continues, illustrating the perils of living on the frontier: "Each of these Morgan sisters [nee' White] had children taken captive by the Indians. A daughter of one of them was released after a number of years but a son, Amaziah Morgan [born 1753], taken at about four years of age, was adopted into an Indian family and would not leave them, After he had grown to manhood he was taken in battle fighting against the whites and sollicited to remain with his kindred; but he was beguiled by his Indian wife into a canoe and made his escape down the Ohio River."[3] This same story was reported independently, as family tradition among the Ohio Morgans, "Amaziah [son of Lewis Morgan] was captured by the Indians at the age of five and brought to the Paint Creek area of Ross County, Ohio. His father heard where he was but was never able to get him back, Amaziah had three daughters. He was made a chief. Later he was killed fighting with the Indians at St. Clair's defeat when he was 32 years of age."[1] In public records Lewis is first mentioned in a list of tithes taken in 1750 for Lunenburg County, Va., forerunner of Bedford County. Recorded there is Thomas Morgan as head of a household with four tithes, including Thomas himself, Thomas, Jr., and Headly Smith. Next door is Luis Morgan with one tithe. From this record it would appear that Thomas Morgan, Sr., was the father of Thomas, Jr., and Lewis, especially since Thomas and Lewis Morgan appear together later (1781) in near-by Henry County. [5] In 1767 in newly formed Pittsylvania County's Camden Parish, the first meeting of the vestry, Church of England, was held at the courthouse on 21 June. The following February, at a parish levy, Lewis Morgan was allowed 50 lbs. of tobacco for six months' service as a lay reader. He was instructed to read at the chapels at Snow Creek and Potter's Creek and at the home of William Heard.[6] After the start of the Revolutionary War, Henry County was formed from Pittsylvania County in 1776. In the clerk's office is a list of inhabitants of Henry County who, renouncing their fealty to Great Britain, swore allegiance to the Commonwealth of Virginia 13 September 1777.[7] Among them was Lewis Morgan, age 50, obviously the same person born in Brunswick County in 1728. About 1780, Lewis with his wife and sons Thomas and Adonijah moved to Washington County, North Carolina -- the area which was to become the state of Tennessee. This migration is proven by a deed recorded at the Henry Courthouse 3 November 1781, which states, "Lewis Morgan and his wife Christian and Thomas Morgan and his wife [-?-] both of the state of North Carolina and county of Washington, for the sum of two hundred and fifty pounds, sell and convey unto Samuel Patterson. a certain parcel or tract of land being the plantation of the said Lewis Morgan formerly lived on near the ford and mouth of Chestnut Creek bounded by Isham Hodges on the upper [sic] and a survey the said Morgan made himself on the said Chestnut Creek containing 150 acres more or less. Signed: Lewis Morgan, Christian Morgan, Thomas Morgan, Sarey Morgan. Witnessed by, Tully Choice, Samuel Bolling, Jesse Kirby, William Choice... [Note 26 March 1782 -- Sarey Morgan listed as Mary Morgan in the Clerk's recording."[8] This deed accurately places Lewis and his family, in Washington County. N.C., where, between 12 June 1782 and 15 August 1783, his sons Adonijah and Thomas Morgan were paid for their active service as soldiers in the American Revolution from the counties of Washington and Suilivan. This area later became Greene County, East Tennessee. No places or dates of death for Lewis and Christina have been definitely ascertained. Children of Lewis and Christina (White) Morgan, probably incomplete, born in Bedford County, Va.:[1,2] i. Thomas[2] Morgan, b. ca. 1751. ii. Amaziah Morgan, b. 1753; died near Detroit, fighting on the side of the Indians at St. Clair's defeat, 1791; kidnapped by indians in 1758, married an Indian woman and had three daughters. + iii. Adonijah Morgan, b. 6 May 1755. ADONIJAH [2] MORGAN, third son of Lewis and Christina (White) Morgan, was born in Bedford County, Va., 6 May 1755. About 1780 he accompanied his parents to Washington County, N.C., settling in the area which became Greene County, Tenn. His name is recorded in "Tennessee Soldiers in the Revolution" for service from 12 June 1782 to 15 August 1783.[9] Adonijah married his first wife, CLEO COATS, in 1781. After her death and that of their son, Gabriel, Adonijah married, secondly, at Greene County, ISABELLA JEAN/JANE McMAHON "of Scotland," and fathered eleven more children.[2] About 1800 he took his family to Pulaski County, Ky., where he was recorded in the Census of 1810 as head of a family of eleven: 1 boy under 10, 1 boy between 10 and 16, 2 between 16 and 25, 2 girls under 10, 2 girls between 10 and 16, and one between 16 and 25. He and his wife were both over 45. He is said to have been a member of the State Legislature of Kentucky,[2] but proof has not been found. Several of Adonijah's younger sons settled in Ohio, but he and his wife went on to Indiana with their oldest son, Amaziah, named for the brother stolen by the Indians as a young child. Adariah Morgan, perhaps a mispelling for Adonijah, was appointed "lister" for Fayette County, Ind., in 1819.[10] Adonijah was recorded in the 1820 Census of Fayette County as over 45, with one son and one daughter, most of his children having grown up and married. He died there 27 December 1827, a Revolutionary War soldier who is not yet listed in Indiana records. His wife, Isabelle Jean McMahon -- called Jane by her Indiana descendants -- died in 1829.[4] Children of Adonijah Morgan [1,2] by first wife, Cleo Coats: i. Gabriel[3] Morgan, b. Washington Co., N.C., 1782; d. young. By second wife, Isabelle Jean/Jane McMahon: + ii. Amaziah Morgan, b. Greene Co., Tenn., 25 Dec. 1786 [4] iii. Lewis Morgan, b, Greene Co., Tenn., 13 Nov. 1788; d. Jackson Co., Iowa, 20 Mch. 1852: m. (1) 1807, Sarah Matthews of Pulaski Co., Ky.; m. (2) Nancy Evans; m. (3) Mary Causey; m. (4) Ann Elizabeth Fain; 17 children. He was a member of the Indiana State Legislature and one of the founders of Franklin College. iv. Ibby Morgan, b. Greene Co., Tenn., 1790. v. John Blair Morgan, b. Greene Co., Tenn., 1791; d. Ross Co., Ohio, 1866; m. 1820, Elizabeth McDonald of Ross Co. vi. White Morgan, b. Greene Co., Tenn., 11 Apr. 1794; d. Ross Co., Ohio, 20 Feb. 1869; m. 1820, Maria Louisa McDonald, dau. of John McDonald and Katherine Cutright; twelve children. vii. Dorcas Morgan (no further information). viii. Ruth B, Morgan, b. Pulaski Co., Ky. ix. Margaret Morgan, b. Pulaski Co., Ky,, 1802; d. 1827. x. Adonijah Morgan, Jr., b, Pulaski Co., Ky,, 1804; d. Dade Co., Mo.; m. Betsey Matthews; at least one son, William W. Wick [4] Morgan m. Nancy Worley. Lived in Fayette Co., Ind., Census of 1820; moved to Missouri in 1840. [11] xi. William F. Morgan, b. Pulaski Co., Ky. xii. Jane Clo Morgan, b. Pulaski Co,, Ky. AMAZIAH [3] MORGAN, son of Adonijah and Isabelle Jean/Jane McMahon, was born at Greene Co., East Tennessee, 25 December 1786 moved with his parents to Pulaski Co., Ky., around 1800. About 1811, he and some of his brothers went to Ross Co., Ohio. Three months before the War of 1812 was declared, Amaziah enlisted as a mounted ranger in the Ohio Militia for a term of 12 months. He was honorably discharged at St. Mary's in March 1813. The following August he was drafted at Ross Co. and served as a Captain in the 1st Regiment, Ohio Militia, commanded by Col. John McDonald, and was regimental adjutant for three months. [4,12] On 1 January 1815 Amaziah married MARY FORD of Ross County. There were many Fords there at that time, but her parentage has not been ascertained. [1,2,4] Their first two children were born in Ohio before the family moved to Fayette County, Ind. in 1818 where Amaziah was recorded in the Census of 1820. He and his wife were between the ages of 26 and 45. They had two sons under 10, a daughter under 10, and a man and woman between 16 and 25, possibly a married brother or sister, lived with them. His father, Adonijah, Sr., and brother, Adonijah, Jr., lived nearby. When the government opened new land for settlement west of Fayette County in October 1820, Amaziah bought a tract from the office at Brookville -- land located in Section 25 which became Union Township, Rush Co., Ind., in 1821. He was one of three county commissioners who selected the site for the courthouse, 17 June 1822, being listed as Amz Morgan. [13] The other commissioners were his second cousin, John Julian, and John Perkins. The county seat was named Rushville. The only street west of Main Street was called Morgan Street. One historian states that Amaziah was one of the most distinguished and able of the early political leaders and exerted a wholesome influence on the pioneer community. "He was tall and erect, with well-cut features, and a full and clear black eye, alike capable of expressing the fiercest passion or the most tender emotion." [14] Amaziah served as State Senator from 1826 through 1838. He was called "General" because, from 1826 on, he served in the Indiana State Militia as a Colonel, Brigadier, and Major General. He was appointed as a commissioner to treat with the Indians and supervised the removal of the Miami tribe beyond the Mississippi in the autumn of 1838, an experience which must have reminded him of stories of his uncle's fateful kidnapping as a small child. A year later, while returning from an Indian conference on horseback, he contracted a violent cold and died 10 October 1839 at his home in Rush County in his 54th year.[4,10] Amaziah made his will 16 September 1839, witnessed by his friends, James Hinchman, James Curry, and Adam Carty. It was recorded 2 November 1839 in Rush County Probate Court. His wife had already died, so his heirs were his children: sons Oliver H. P. Morgan, John T. Morgan, Lewis T. R. Morgan, Adonijah B. R. Morgan, and William H. H. Morgan. His daughters were listed as Eliza Jane Morgan, Betsy Leniza Morgan, and Tabitha Minerva Smelzer. He gave his executors power to dispose of his real estate "so there is a sufficiency of money ... to remove [his heirs] to the West and to provide one year's provisions ... to be one common stock amongst my sons and my daughters ... so long as any of them remain together and I direct that the residue of my Estate be applied to the purchase of Western lands...." He signed his will "Amz Morgan." [15] Amaziah named Oliver and John executors of his estate, calling them "my worthy and esteemed sons." Because John was still a minor, the court instead appointed James M. Ross as executor. In 1840 the brothers took the estate into their own hands. On 28 April 1851, John T. Morgan, guardian for his youngest brother, William Henry Harrison Morgan, applied to the U.S, Government for bounty land due the heirs of Amaziah Morgan for his service in the War of 1812- The application, duly sworn and witnessed, said, "... William H. H. Morgan is the only child of Amaziah Morgan, deceased, under twenty-one years of age." As the only minor heir, William received Bounty Land Warrant #14663-160-50. [12] Amaziah's instructions to "go west" were ignored, except for William, who settled in Clay County, Ill.[4] Children of Amaziah and Mary (Ford) Morgan: [1,2,4,15,16] i. Tabitha Minerva Morgan, b. Ohio, 1816; m. John Smelzer; at least one son, Amaziah Smelzer; lived at Rigdon, Grant Co., Ind. ii. Oliver H. P. [4] Morgan, b. Ohio, 1818; d. Tennessee, after 1850; m. 1844 Julia A. two children, George F., b. 1846, Tabitha, b. 1848;[16] appraiser of real estate in Rush County. iii. John T. Morgan, b. Fayette Co., Ind., 1820; m. Rush Co., Ind., 26 Oct. 1845, Catharine Phillips; called "of Ripley, Ind." in 1890; lived at Normal, Grant Co.; twelve children. [17] iv. Eliza Jane Morgan, b. Rush Co., Ind., 1825; m. Aug. 1856, as his second wife, Harrison A. Woodruff, lived at Tipton, Ind. [18] v. Betsy Leniza Morgan, b. ca. 1827; m. ___ Power; lived at Hackleman, Grant Co., Ind. vi. Adonijah Bolivar R. Morgan, b. Rush Co., Ind., 1829; studied medicine under Dr. Jefferson Helm;[16] became a country doctor; d. before 1890. vii. Lewis T. Ripley Morgan, b. Rush Co., Ind. ca. 1831; d. after 1850. [16] viii. William Henry Harrison Morgan, b. Rush Co., Ind., 19 July 1832: d. Larkinsburg, Clay Co., Ill., 17 Apr. 1917; m. Charity C. Eytchison (b. 1841, Clay Co., Ill., d. Iola, Ill., 1928; dau. of Elijah Eytchison and Margaret Williams); ch.: Asa Oliver[5], Frank, Olive, Austin, Elia, Wilmer, and John.[19] NOTES AND REFERENCES *P.O. Box 297, Winnetka, Illinois 60093. This study was undertaken at the request of Mrs. Alvin H. Schlueter (Mildred Ruth Morgan) of St. Louis, Missouri, with whose kind permission the findings are published. This work could not have been accomplished without the excellent resources of The Newberry Library, Chicago, Illinois. 1. Ross County Genealogical Society, "Ross County, Ohio Families, Bicentennial Edition" (Chillicothe, Ohio, 1976), pp. 175, 178. 2. [James] Appleton Morgan, "Family of Morgan" (Westfield,N.J.,n.d.),pp.31,33,92,93. 3. "White Family" Virginia Magazine of History (Richmond, 1915) 23:195. 4. Letters in the William H. English Papers, "Biographies of the Legislators," Indiana Historical Society Library, Indianapolis, Indiana. Other relatives of Gen. Amaziah Morgan, in addition to his children, were (in 1890): nephews Hon. A. W. Morgan of Topeka, Kans.; Gen. T. J. Morgan, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Washington, D.C.; J. Morgan Green of Goodland, Ind., John M. Latta and Dr. J.B.F. Morgan of Ohio. Nieces were Mrs. G. Overstreet of Franklin, Ind.; Mrs. T.R. Brown of Indianapolis, Mrs. Jane Hough of Denver, Col., Mrs. Hester A. Wharton of Armourdale, Kan., and Mrs. W. B. Chambers and Mrs. A. J. Chambers of Pratt, Kan. Listed as more distant relatives were the Hon. George W. Julian of Irvington and Judge Jacob Julian of Indianapolis, recalling the story that Amaziah Morgan's grandmother was a sister of Barbara White who married Isaac Julian about 1750 in Virginia. 5. Landon C. Bell, "Sunlight On the Southside" (Phila., 1931), pp. 135, 136. 6. Maud Carter Clement, History of Pittsylvania Couniy, Va., (Lynchburg, Va., 1929), pp. 116, 117;"Colonial Churches in Pittsylvania County," Virginia Magazine of History, 12:174. 7. "Henry County," Virginia Magazine of History, 9:139. 8. Lela C. Adams, Abstracts of Henry County, Va., Deed Books I and II (Bassett, Va. 1975), p. 95. 9. Penelope Johnson Allen, "Tennessee Soldiers in the American Revolution" (Bristol, Tenn., 1935), p.26. 10. Frederic Irving Barrows, History of Fayette County, Ind. (Indianapolis, 1917), 1:159. 11. R. A. Ludwick, "History of Dade County, Mo., and Her People" (Greenfield. Mo., 1917), 2:196,197. 12. National Archives, Washington, D-C., Bounty Land Application of John T. Morgan. guardian for William H. H. Morgan, in the right of Ens. Amaziah Morgan, War of 1812; Ohio Adjutant General's Office, Roster of Ohio Soldiers in the War of 1812 (repr. Baltimore, 1968), pp. 35, 114, 153. 13. M. M. Alexander and C. G. Dill, "Sketches of Rush Co., Ind." (Rushville, Ind., 1915), pp. 11, 12,42. 14. A. L. Gary and E. B. Thomas, "History of Rush County. Ind." (Indianapolis, 1921), pp. 264-265. 15. Rush County Probate, Book I:132,133; II:164. 16. Census of 1850, Rush County, Ind. 17. Benjamin G. Shinn, "Blackford and Grant Counties, Indiana" (Chicago and New York, 1914), 2:920. 18. Charles Blanchard, ed., "Counties of Howard and Tipton. Indiana. Historical and Biographical" (Chicago, 1883), p. 264. 19. Family records in possession of Mrs. A. H. Schlueter, St. Louis, Missouri. Copied 1995 for private use by Dennis Nicklaus. The NSGQ granted their permission for me to post this on the internet. they also noted that the copyright was jointly held by the author of the article. I have not been able to contact the author.