Monday, August 2, 2021

PIM

 

Isom Pemberton Morton, Son of George C. Morton




I've found that all are in agreement that Ezekial Morton and his wife, Betsy (Elizabeth Brumbelow Morton), had at a minimum a dozen children. Some family trees add a 13th child and others, even add a 14th. I'm here today to explore one of them, to which my DNA gives a little creedence. The paper trail of the descendants of Ezekial Morton and Elizabeth Brumbelow Morton is a little rusty. 


Ezekial and Betsy frist show up in the census records of North Carolina as a young married couple living in Anson County with one young son under 10, and both of them were under 25 years of age. 

Name:Ezekiel Morton
Home in 1800 (City, County, State):Fayetteville, Anson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10:1 John D.
Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25:1 Ezekial
Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25:1 Betsy
Number of Household Members Under 16:1
Number of Household Members:3

That son should be John D. Morton, born in 1799.


Name:Ezekiel Morton
Home in 1810 (City, County, State):Palmer, Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10:2 William & Hezekiah
Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 15:2 John & Joseph
Free White Persons - Males - 26 thru 44:1 Ezekial
Free White Persons - Females - Under 10:1 Hannah
Free White Persons - Females - 26 thru 44:1 Betsy
Number of Household Members Under 16:5
Number of Household Members Over 25:2
Number of Household Members:7

Ten years later, in 1810, the young family has moved to the area of Palmer in what was then Montgomery County, NC, and is now Stanly County, NC. Listed on that same page of families living in "Palmer" were John Burrows, Solomon Burrow (Burris), Ambrose Huneycutt, Henry Underwood, Dempsey Hathcock, Edward Almond, Malichi Harwood, Hardy Hatley, William Hatley, Martin Almond, Isaac Burleson, Jacob Greene, Demarcus Palmer, and Thomas Castles, all very familiar names to anyone who has done any research at all on the families living in the western part of the county, around the present communities of Red Cross, Endy, Frog Pond or Big Lick. 

The family size is now 7, they have 2 sons between 10 and 15 and two under 10, and just one daughter under 10. We can easily presume these 5 to be John (1799) and Joseph (1801) as the 10 to 15, Betsy probably being pregnant with Joseph at the time of the last census, William (1802) and Hezekiah (1803) as the under 10 year old sons, and Hannah (1810) as the only daughter, keeping in mind that record and age-keeping in those days was not always an exact science, although certain old tombstones had age down to nearly the minute. 

Name:Egeril Morton[Ezekiel Morton]
Home in 1830 (City, County, State):West Side Pee Dee River, Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5:2 Levi C. and Allen G. (1825 & 1827)
Free White Persons - Males - 5 thru 9:1 Ezekial John (1822)
Free White Persons - Males - 15 thru 19:1 Jesse (1811)
Free White Persons - Males - 50 thru 59:1 Ezekial
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 14:2 Susanna & Nancy (1818 & 1816)
Free White Persons - Females - 15 thru 19:1 Dicey (1813)
Free White Persons - Females - 40 thru 49:1 Betsy
Free White Persons - Under 20:7
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:1
Total Free White Persons:9
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):9

The 1820 census for Montgomery is missing, so there is a 20 year jump to the 1830 census. In 20 years, a child could have been born,  married and out on there own, especially if that child was a girl. I've borne witness to that in my own family tree, especially in between the 1880 and 1900 census's as most of the 1890 census was lost to fire.

The Ezekial Morton family in 1830 was a family of 9, but this was not complete as the older children were in their 20's and 30's and out on their own, starrting their own families. He is now noted as living on the West Side of the Pee Dee River, the area we now call Stanly County. There are 3 young females and 4 males. 

There are a total of 14 Morton families in Montgomery County in 1830. They are divided into "East Pee Dee", the side that remained Montgomery County, and "West Pee Dee", the side that would become Stanly County. 

East Pee Dee boasted the households of David Jr., Dominick, Edward, Jincy, and Thomas.

West Pee Dee contained the households of Ezekial, George, James, 2 Johns, Joseph, Samuel P. and two Williams.

I must mention here that Samuel P. Morton was none other than the Rev. Samuel Parsons Morton, and another ancestor of mine on my mother's side of the family. While he was buried at Red Hill Church in Anson County, he was born and grew up around Ebenezer Church in Stanly. Ebnezer is now Badin Baptist and slap dab in the middle of the town of Badin, which was not in existence when GGGGGrandpa 'Crying Sammy' was born. 

With this knowledge, I can divide the Stanly County Mortons into two basic groups, the Badin area/ Eastern Stanly Mortons and the Red Cross/ Big Lick Western Stanly Mortons. 

For instance, James Morton and Samuel P. Morton were listed within a few households of each other. So was one of the John's and one of the Wills. 

Joseph, was of course, my line to Ezekial, his second born son. 

Name:Joseph Morton
Home in 1830 (City, County, State):West Side Pee Dee River, Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5:2
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29:1
Free White Persons - Females - Under 5:1
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29:1
Free White Persons - Under 20:3
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:2
Total Free White Persons:5
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):5

So we have Joseph as a young man in his 20's and he and his wife have 3 little children under 5.


Name:John Marton[]
Home in 1830 (City, County, State):West Side Pee Dee River, Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5:1 Joseoph Calvin 3 (1827) named for Johns' brother.
Free White Persons - Males - 15 thru 19:1 Unknown, maybe a hired hand, maybe a family member hired to help with the farm.
Free White Persons - Males - 30 thru 39:1 John D. 
Free White Persons - Females - Under 5:2  Minty 4 (1826) Sarah 1 (1829)
Free White Persons - Females - 5 thru 9:2  Betsy 6 (1824)
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29:1 Sarah, his wife
Free White Persons - Under 20:6
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:2
Total Free White Persons:8
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):8

Of the two John Mortons, one has a household of 6 and lives two homesteads from Samuel P. Morton, the other has a household of 8 and lives among Western Stanly names and one page over from Ezekial. My bets are on the family of 8 John being John D. Morton, Ezekial's oldest son. The age of the children work, with just one out of place.


Name:Will Morton[]
Home in 1830 (City, County, State):Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5:1 Alexander
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29:1 William
Free White Persons - Females - Under 5:3 Unknown
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29:1 Frances
Free White Persons - Under 20:4
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:2
Total Free White Persons:6
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):6

Of the two Will Morton's, one lives two households from Sammy, the other lives actually in Tyson community. I would place my bets on this Will being the son of Ezekial. The problem with this, is that the census shows 3 little girls under 5. If this is the right William, those little girls are unknown. 


Name:John Folks
Home in 1830 (City, County, State):Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5:1
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29:1 John Fowlkes
Free White Persons - Females - 15 thru 19:1 Hannah
Free White Persons - Under 20:2
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:1
Total Free White Persons:3
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):3

The last of Ezekial's older children to be found on their own is his oldest daughter, Hannah. She married with a small son, and not yet 20.

The one known child of Ezekial not accounted for in this census was Hezekiah. Perhaps he was the additional young man in John's household, however, he should have been a bit older. 

This brings up the subject of the George Morton in the 1830 census. This George is between 40 and 50 years old. This is definitely NOT George C. Morton.


By 1840, Ezekial Morton has passed away and Betsy is listed as the Head of Household. 

Name:Betsy Martin[Betsy Morton]
Home in 1840 (City, County, State):West Pee Dee River, Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 14:1 Allen G.
Free White Persons - Males - 15 thru 19:2 Ezekial J. & Levi C.
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29:1 Susannah
Free White Persons - Females - 60 thru 69:1 Betsy
Persons Employed in Agriculture:2
No. White Persons over 20 Who Cannot Read and Write:1
Free White Persons - Under 20:3
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:1
Total Free White Persons:5
Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves:5

There are now 11 Morton household listed in Montgomery County. We can break them down into West Pee Dee and East Pee Dee, as they were enumerated separately. The ones listed in West Pee Dee were: Betsy, David Jr. (another David was in East Pee Dee), Hezekiah, Jessee, John, Joseph, Samuel P., William and William Sr. No sign of a George. Hezekiah, Jessee, John and Joseph were of course, sons of Ezekial and Betsy. Of the two Williams, one was living fairly close to Joseph and very close to Green D. Morgan, who married his sister, Dicey, and Mark Morgan, who married his sister Nancy. The other William, by virture of his neighbors, John Melton, G. W. Thompson, Kirks and others, seemed to be living around the Swift Island area, so we'll peg him as being the East Stanly William Morton. The other two Mortons on the Eastern side of West Pee Dee were GGGGGrandpa Samuel P. Morton and David Jr. 


Name:Elizabeth Morton
Gender:Female
Age:75
Birth Year:abt 1775
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1850:Almonds, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Cannot Read, Write:Y
Line Number:19
Dwelling Number:505
Family Number:506
Household MembersAge
Green P Morton23
Elizabeth Morton23
William Morton3
Sophia Morton1
Elizabeth Morton75


By 1850, the Mortons had expanded all over the county as sons and grandsons struck out on their own. Hezekiah was no more, but left his widow, Susannah, with their children. Betsy was still alive and living with her son, Allen Green (or Green Allen, it was interchangeble) Morton and his young family. They were right next door to her son, ( my line), Joseph and Margaret Almond, and oldest son John's son, (Joseph) Calvin Morton (Jr.), named for his uncle. 

I don't see where George Crogan Pemberton "Pem" Morton fits in. We do find George for the first time in a census in 1850, where he is living with his wife, Mary, and their little girl in Harris Township, which is the Northeastern section of the county. 

Name:George C Morton
Gender:Male
Age:30
Birth Year:abt 1820
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1850:Harris, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Occupation:Farmer
Industry:Agriculture
Real Estate:83
Line Number:5
Dwelling Number:322
Family Number:323
Household MembersAge
George C Morton30
Mary Morton22
Sarah S Morton1

This is probably the land he bought on December 14 1849, just months before this census was taken, from David Safely. In Book 3, Page 6, of the Stanly County Deed Books, we see where George bought 82 acres for $82 from David Safely that was located on both sides of the Salisbury Road and on the waters of Grassy Creek, meeting the property line of Wiley Safely.

Just two years later, on February 11, 1851, he bought 40 acres for $100 from Noah Thompson and his wife, Tabitha, that seems to have adjoined the previously purchased property. This lot, obviously much more valueable due to the purchase price for half the size, was also located on both sides of the Salisbury Road and both sides of Grassy Creek and also ran with Wiley Safely's line. 





But the 1849 deed was not the first record I find for George Morton in Stanly County, instead, he is first found in the Minutes of the Pleas and Quarters Court in the February 1846 Session on a charge of Bastardy. George C. P. Morton, about 26 years old,  had fathered a child out of wedlock with one Polly Kirk, about 18. He was ordered to pay $30 at the May 1846 term of court, $15 at the May 1847 term of court and $15 at the May 1848 term of court. 

The child was a little girl that Polly Kirk named Eliza Sophronia Kirk (Morton). 

Name:Eliza S Kirk
Gender:Female
Age:4
Birth Year:abt 1846
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1850:Freemans, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Line Number:10
Dwelling Number:196
Family Number:197
Household MembersAge
Parham Kirk27
Sarah E Kirk49
Mary S Kirk22
William D Kirk15
Eliza S Kirk4

In 1850, she and her mother, Mary "Polly" Smith Kirk, were living with Polly's family in a home headed by her younger brother, Parham, with their mother, Sarah Stone Kirk, and their youngest brother, William Deberry Kirk. 

Mary Smith Kirk did not stay single, Smith being her middle name, and not her maiden name, by the way. On February 25, 1853, Mary S. Kirk, now 25, married Rev. John Wesley Middleton, son of John Littlleton and Betsy Carter Littleton. 




In 1860, Eliza was still living with her Grandmother and Uncle Parham, while her mother had started a family with Rev. Littleton.


Name:Eliza Kirk
Age:14
Birth Year:abt 1846
Gender:Female
Home in 1860:Stanly, North Carolina
Post Office:Albemarle
Dwelling Number:221
Family Number:221
Attended School:Yes
Household MembersAge
Perhan Kirk37
Sarah E Kirk55
Eliza Kirk14
Sarah Kirk9


Eliza ended up getting married, herself, on September 8, 1869 to John M. Jenkins. She was 23. Eliza named her parents as G. C. Morton and Mary S. Littleton.




Eliza Sophronia Kirk Morton Jenkins lived a long and productive life. She and John Jenkins raised a family of  7 children in the New London area, where Eliza died at the age of 84 on June 16, 1830. They were: Parham (1870), Sarah Elizabeth (1873),Mary Ada (1875),Sophronia Tommie (1878), Dora Kron (1872), William M. (1876), and Charles E. (1887). 


Name:Mrs Eliza F Jenkins
[Mrs Eliza F Morton] 
Gender:Female
Race:White
Age:84
Birth Date:abt 1846
Birth Place:Stanly
Death Date:26 Jun 1930
Death Place:New London, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Father:Geo Morton
Mother:Polly Kirk
Spouse:J M Jenkins


She, and her family, fully knew who her parents were, even though her father had left for Missouri in 1855. We last (and first) saw George in 1850 with a wife, Mary and a daughter, Sarah. Somewhere around 1848, after his bond payments, or court-ordered child support, for Eliza Sophronia Kirk stopped, he married another Mary Kirk. 

Mary Smith Kirk Littleton was born on February 27, 1828 and died on July 4, 1886 in Stanly County. 

She was the daughter of Parham Kirk (1782-1854) and Sarah Elizabeth Stone Kirk (1802-1884).

The Mary "Polly" Kirk he married was born November 12, 1826 in Stanly County, NC and died Oct 17, 1887 in Webster County, Missouri. 

She was the daughter of Alexander Kirk (1797 - 1858) and Louisa Forrest Kirk (1802-1881).

Since Parham Kirk Sr. and Alexander Kirk were brothers, sons of  John Lewis Kirak and wife, Sarah Mary Steele, Kirk, that made the two Polly Kirk's first cousins. So to wrap all of that up, in 1846, George C. Morton had a relationship with Polly Kirk, daughter of Parham that resulted in the birth of a little girl, Eliza. He then married her older cousin,  Polly Kirk, daughter of Alexander. Both girls even had brothers named Parham. Got that?

Name:Mary Morton
Gender:Female
Age:22
Birth Year:abt 1828
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1850:Harris, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Line Number:6
Dwelling Number:322
Family Number:323
Household MembersAge
George C Morton30
Mary Morton22
Sarah S Morton1

So, lets go back to 1850 for a minute. George and family lived in Harris Township. The previous December, he had purchased land on Grassy Creek along the Salisbury Road, from David Safely. His closest neighbors were Parkers, Carters, Calloways, Millers, Kirks and Crowells. That helps to place whereabouts he lived.

Name:George C Merton
Residence Date:1850
Residence Place:Harris and Ridenhour, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Number of Enslaved People:2

There was another detail about George C. Morton that set him apart from the Ezekial Morton family, he owned 2 slaves. Ezekial and his family did not. I do not know if the two enslaved people came to him through his wife, Polly, as some of  the Kirks were slave owners, but in 1850, George is listed with a 35 year man and a 15 year old boy.

So here begins a bit of mystery, between 1851 and 1860, George and family moved to Missouri. The mystery is that there is no record of him selling his land before he moved. What happed to the land?

Name:George C Morton
Age:40
Birth Year:abt 1820
Gender:Male
Birth Place:North Carolina
Home in 1860:Marshfield, Webster, Missouri
Post Office:Marshfield
Dwelling Number:661
Family Number:657
Occupation:House Carpenter
Personal Estate Value:450
Household MembersAge
George C Morton40
Mary Morton33
Sarah L Morton11
Martha J Morton9
Adam S Morton6
Nancy P Morton2
Robert C Morton1/12


The 1860 census shows him in Marshfield, Webster County, Missouri, working as a House Carpenter, with Mary and 5 children. The older 3 children, Sarah, Martha and Adam, were born in North Carolina, and the younger two, Nancy and Robert, were born in Missouri. 




George Morton was registered for the draft in Missouri as a Mechanic and birth year of 1819. Also from North Carolina was a David Melton. They likely had traveled together.




George died in Webster County, Missouri on February 28, 1864. I can not determine if his death was the result of anything having to do with the Civil War or not, for cetiain, but there are hints that it was. He was 44 years old. All I can find is that he served in a Civilian capacity and credited with providing supplies. Missouri was a hotbed of division in those years.


The Mortons had settled in Marshville, the county seat of Webster County, Missouri, about the time it was founded, in 1855. Webster County is located "on the summit of the Ozark Range", and noted for being well-watered and of pleasant climate.



During the Civil War, the area was divided by persons supporting both sides and others attempting to stay out of the melee altogether. George Morton died near the end of the War, at the age of 44, so I don't know what his level of participation was in it. He has no record of serving as a soldier, but in this area of neighbor against neighbor, it appears he might have gotten caught up in it as a civilian casualty. He was briefly mentioned in the 1889 book , "History of Laclede, Camden, Dallas, Webster, Wright, Texas, Pulaski, Phelps, and Dent Counties, Missouri" published by The Goodspeed Publishing Company, in a  paragraph concerning his future son-in-law, William A. Martin.


William A. Martin.  Among the men of Webster county, Mo., who have 
attained prominence as tillers of the soil and stock men, may be men-
tioned Mr. Martin, who was born in Marion county, Tenn., March 19, 1841
but was reared to manhood in Webster county, Mo., whither he came with
his parents, James D. and Catherine (Thompson) Martin, in 1852.  The 
father was born in Virginia, and after attaining manhood went to Tenn.,
where he was married, and after a few years' residence in that state,
moved to St. Louis county, Mo.  In August, 1861 he joined Company B,
Twenty-fourth Missouri Infantry, and served until his death in May, 
1864 at Pleasant Hill, La.  William A. Martin enlisted at the same time
in the same company as his father, and was at the battle of Pleasant
Hill, and in a great many skirmishes, and was severely wounded in the
right shoulder by a gunshot at the former engagement, being in the
hospital at New Orleans and Memphis for about five months.  He received
his discharge at St. Louis, January 11, 1865, homesteading the same
year the farm of 200 acres where he now lives.  He has about 150 acres
under cultivation and well improved, and his farm is situated about
eight miles from Marshfield.  He has always supported the measures of
the Republican party, and in the fall of 1884 was nominated and elected
sheriff of Webster county, and ably filled the duties of that office
for two years.  Since then he has resided on his farm.  February 19,
1865 he was married to Miss Mary L. Turner, who died in Webster county,
on the 16th of April, 1868, and he took for his second wife Miss Sarah
L. Morton, a native of North Carolina, and daughter of George Morton,
who died during the war.  Two children were born to his first marriage,
Laura M. and Charles F.  The following are the children of his last
marriage: Mary S., and James P. and Matilda C. (twins).  Mrs. Martin
is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he belongs to the
A. O. U. W. and G. A. R.


From "History of Laclede, Camden, Dallas, Webster, Wright, Texas, 
Pulaski, Phelps and Dent Counties, Missouri" The Goodspeed Publishing
Company, 1889.

"Miss Sarah L. Morton, a native of North Carolina, and daughter of George Morton, who died during the war."

From the 'Ozarks Civil War' Collection, I found the following information at the following link:

https://ozarkscivilwar.org/regions/webster


When the Civil War began, most residents did not want to get involved in the conflict. There were very few slaveholders in the county, so there were few strong feelings on the slavery issue. However, after the Confederate victory at Battle of Wilson’s Creek, residents began to choose sides. The Confederate troops began to victimize the residents who supported the Union, and by August of 1861, most pro-Union residents fled to Rolla. They did not return to the area until it was back in Union control.

And after  the War, the citizens went into a veil of silence, wanting to forget the terror and tragedy of War, and to return to an era of peace and to rebuild and reestablish their quiet and solemn existence.

With George gone, the story moves on with his widow, Mary and their children, some who had been born since the 1960 census.


Mary 'Polly' Kirk, daughter of Alexander and Ludie Forrest Kirk and wife of George C. Morton


1870

Mary Kirk Morton had been joined in a community of women by her mother, Louisa Forrest Kirk and her younger sister, Francis. 


Name:Mary Morton
Age in 1870:44
Birth Date:abt 1826
Birthplace:North Carolina
Dwelling Number:84
Home in 1870:Ozark, Webster, Missouri
Gender:Female
Post Office:Marshfield
Occupation:Keeping House
Cannot Write:Yes
Personal Estate Value:200
Inferred Children:Martha J MortonAdam S MortonNancy P MortonIsham P MortonGeorge P Morton
Household MembersAge
Mary Morton44
Martha J Morton19
Adam S Morton17
Nancy P Morton12
Isham P Morton8
George P Morton6
Louisa Kirk69
Frances Kirk34

Her older daughter, Sarah Louisa Morton, had already married William A. Martin and started her own family. Son Robert, an infant in 1860, is not in the household, so he evidentally died as a child. She still has Martha Jane, Adam S, Nancy Paralee and her two sons, Isaham Pemberton and George Parham Morton, who were born after the census. In fact, Mary was pregnant with George Parham, who was born on July 1, 1864, when George C. Morton, his father, died on February 28, 1864. My heart goes out to this strong pioneer woman.


Marshfield, Webster County, Missouri

These families were caught in the crossfire of warring factions in an area that was of primarily Union sympathies and occupation, with sizeble pockets of Confederate Guerrillas, and marauding bands of deserters, bushwhackers and jayhawks, all raiding and robbing the local citizens for supplies.

But Polly was not alone. Not only was she joined by her mother and sister, Francis "Franky" Kirk, a closer look at the 1870 census reveals she was living right next door to Nancy Calloway from North Carolina.

Nancy was also a sister of Mary and a daughter of Louisa Forrest Kirk.

Nancy had married Parham Calloway, also from the Eastern side of Stanly County, NC. You might notice the name "Parham" was quite common in these families, hailing back to an earlier family name of perhaps a common female ancestor.

Add to that, Sarah L. Morton Martin, George and Polly's oldest girl, is living in High Prairie, Webster County, just east of Marshfeild, and right next door to Isaac Calloway.

All in all, I found 3 Calloway brothers who had migrated at the same time as George Morton to Webster County; Parham, his brother-in-law, Robert Smith Calloway and Isaac Freeman Calloway. Add David F. Melton to that and one can begin to envison a Wagon Train from Stanly County, NC to Webster County, MO.


Wagon Train by R. G. Williams



It's worth a mention that Mary's sister Martha, had married Henry Harrison Melton, a probable cousin of David. 

The Calloway brothers were the sons of Col. John M. Calloway and his wife , Elizabeth Smith. Col. John M. Calloway was the brother of my ancestor, Job Calloway. They lived roughly in the area we know call Badin, in Stanly County. Job's daughter, Vashti, married Rev. Samuel Parsons Morton and became my 4th Great Grandparents, as I have previously mentioned. Remember that.


Isaac Freeman Calloway and wife Louisa Shook

Finding Nancy Kirk Calloway opened up a narrative that also opens a window to the life and death of George Morton and family.

Parham Calloway served in the Webster County Home Guard, along with his brother, Isaac Freeman Calloway, aka "Freeman", and their nephew, Newton M. Calloway, son of their older brother, Robert Smith Calloway, who seems to have arrived in Webster County, first, via Tennesee, where Newton was born.

Freeman survived, but Parham was killed the same year as George Morton, 1864, just a few months later,  later, in June. So Mary and her sister Nancy were widowed about the same time, and both Civil War widows. It seems all of the Webster County Home Guard with Stanly and Montgomery County origins that I can find, were on the Union side.
Name:P... Callaway
Side:Union
Regiment State/Origin:Missouri
Regiment:Webster County Regiment, Missouri Home Guard
Company:C
Rank In:Private
Rank Out:Private
Film Number:M390 roll 8

It is unknown what skirmish or incidents took the lives of Parham Calloway and George C. Morton, but breif synopses of the families experiences exists within family stories kept alive through papers and memories passed on through the generations.



Restored Calloway Cabin, Webster County, Missouri

The cabin of Parham and Nacy Calloway still exists and has been lovingly restored by the county of Webster. 
Some history of the cabin and its restoration can be found in the link below. 



A story passed down through the family is breifly mentioned in the link, but is told in more detail below, posted by Earlene Price on July 22, 2011 as recounted from the papers of Mary Calloway Downer. 

During the Civil War, Parham and Nancy Callaway lost most of their livestock to marauding parties.  Not long after Parham's death and a short time before the Battle of Hartville, a number of Confederate troops were camped at the springs along the Marshfield-Hartville road.  They somehow found out about two bay mares that Nancy had hidden and sent a detachment to get them.  Nancy would not tell them where the mares were, so the troops searched the premises.  When they could not find them, they went back to the house and told Nancy if she didn't tell where the horses were hiddden they would take the daughter (Mary Ann) who was about 16 years old.  Nancy then relented and told them where the horses were hidden.  After they found the horses, they went back to the house and told Nancy that if she would send her "little boy," (James P. aged 14) to the camp with them, they would give him some horses.  He was given two very poor horses with harness and saddle sores so bad they were useless to the army.  James took them home, healed the sores and put some flesh on their bones.  They made a good team for a number of years. 

 

(This story was found among the effects of Mary Callaway Downer.)


It is not hard to imagine the Mortons livng in a similar cabin and Mary Kirk Morton experiencing similar horrors as her sister during the war years. 

1880 and beyond

The restoration years of the 1880's find Polly living in High Prairie with her two youngest sons, George and Isham. 

Name:Mary Morton
Age:54
Birth Date:Abt 1826
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1880:High Prairie, Webster, Missouri, USA
Dwelling Number:10
Race:White
Gender:Female
Relation to Head of House:Self (Head)
Marital Status:Widowed
Father's Birthplace:North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:North Carolina
Occupation:Keeping House
Cannot Write:Yes
Neighbors:
Household MembersAgeRelationship
Mary Morton54Self (Head)
Isaam P. M. Morton18Son
George P. Morton15Son

The family seems to have made themselves a little community in the high meadows of the North Ozark hills. Son Adam and his young family lived next door and oldest daughter , Sarah Martin and her family lived nearby.

This would be Mary's last census. She outlived George, but did not live a long life. Mary "Polly" Kirk Morton died on October 17, 1887, at the age of 60. She was buried in the Moore Family Cemetery in Webster County, Missouri. 

This brings me back to the begining, to the reason for this post, an answer to the question: Was George Crogin Pemberton Morton a son of Ezekial Morton and Besty Brumbalow Morton?

My guess would be No.

I don't find anything that connects him to that family or their circle. One thing you find out in genealogy is that certian connected families seemed to run in circles, even from one state to another.  Families that were connected in Virginia, stayed connected and intermarried in the Carolinas, then the same on to Arkansas or Alabama, then on to Texas and further west. 

But this begs a further question; if George was not a son of Ezekial and Betsy, why am I related to, or share DNA with, several of his descendants, as they show up in my Thru-Lines?

I believe I have an answer to that.

George C. Morton did have a circle of his own. He was connected to the Kirk and Calloway families. He was not a West Stanly Morton. He was an East Stanly/ Badin area Morton. It is my belief that I share DNA with his descendants because he was related to my other Morton ancestor; Rev. Samuel Parsons Morton. 

Now, I don't know how he was related, but I believe the relationship was a close one. Sammy Morton married a Calloway, Vashti Calloway, a cousin of the Calloway brothers that the George C. Morton family migrated to Missouri with. George C. Morton was born around 1819 or 1820. Samuel P Morton was born in 1805, 14 or 15 years older.

And then , I came upon this clipping:


Written by Mrs. G. D. Reynolds and published in the Stanly News and Press on Dec. 12, 1953.






This gives the information that  George C. Morton had been a Deputy Clerk in  the early years of this county, but also names Rev. S. P. Morton as his father. While people did marry early sometimes in those days, I still believe this was a tad too early. Right off the bat, I can see that it is wrought with several errors, the writer even contradicting herself in the same article. 

Consider the following excerpt; "History says his only son, George went to Texas after the death of his mother, Vashti, who was the daughter of Isaac Calloway."

A) George went to Missouri, not Texas.
B) Vashti died in 1846, George left for Missouri in 1855, nearly a decade later.
C) Vashti was born in 1812. George was born in 1819 or 1820. There is no way she could have been his mother.
D) Vashti was the granddaughter of Isaac Calloway, not his daughter. She was the daughter of Job Calloway.

The article then goes on to mention a daughter who married G. W. Turner of Anson, which is my line, that daughter being Elizabeth Wincy Morton Turner, and another who married Thomas Hall. 

Wincy Elizabeth Morton Turner





She then goes on to mention a second son, Stephen Ferninand L. Morton, who moved to Van Buren County, Arkansas. and gave power of Attorney to John Freeman  to settle his part of the Calloway estate, after naming George as the only son. Sammy actually had 5 daughters with Vasthi: Adaline, Susan Jane, Wincy Elizabeth, Mary and Sarah Ann. He had two sons with her, the afore mentined  Stephen Ferdinand, who married Nancy Pennigton, and George Arnold Morton, born in 1841, whom the article may have mixed up with George C. Morton. George Arnold Morton DID go to Texas, but not after his mother died, as he was only 5 years old, more like 30 years after his mother died., but I see where the confusion could come in .

Rev. S. P. Morton remarried after his first wife died, to Lucy Ingram, and had two more sons , James and Lewis, making a total of 4 known sons and 5 daughters. 

CLIPPED FROM

The Biblical Recorder

Raleigh, North Carolina
01 Jul 1885, Wed  •  Page 2



As in all things , I have a theory, derived from an obituary from the Biblical Recorder, which was written at the time of his death, not 70 years later. This obituary states that his father died when he was 18 years old (around 1823) and that as the oldest son (indicating more sons), he assumed his fathers place in the family and raised his siblings. My theory is that George Crogin Morton was the brother of Rev. Samuel P. Morton and that Sammy raised him. George would have been 4 or 5 in 1823. It works. 

To further test my theory, I went back to Thru-Lines on ancestry.com and took a closer look at his descendants that I am a match with genetically. I looked at the shared matches. The first thing I noticed was that the shared matches were on my mothers side of the family, not my  Dad's side, which the Ezekial Morton line was. While many of them have no definite connection, many of the shared matches had the notation "common ancestor".  A few of the common ancestors were William Carr Morton and Lucy Taylor, who are supposedly the parents of Ezekial Morton. That would show on anyone who has them as the grandparetns of George C. Morton. But overwhelmingly, I kept finding the common ancestors to be Samuel P. Morton or either his daughter, Elizabeth Wincy Morton Turner and her husband, G. W. Turner, my 3rd Great Grandparents.  This supports my theory that the relation is through a connection to Rev.  Sammy P. Morton. 

The children of George Crogin Pemberton Morton were:

With Mary Smith Kirk Littleton:
- Eliza Sophronia Kirk Jenkins 1846-1930 both in Stanly County, NC. Married John M. Jenkins.

With Mary "Polly" Kirk Morton:

1) Sarah Louisa Morton Martin  b 1849 Stanly County, NC - Died 1931 Marshfield, Webster County, MO.
Married  William A. Martin.

2)Martha Jane Morton b 1850 Stanly Co., NC d 1852 Marshfield, Webster Co. NC. Married Joseph T. Moore.






3) Adam Samuel Morton b 1853 NC d 1931 Marshfiled, Webster Co. MO.
Married Matilda Margaret Martin. 

4) Nancy Paralee Morton b 1858 Webster Co. MO d 1947 San Joaquin, California.
 Married William Henry Yandle. 

Nancy Parlee Morton Yandle and grandchildren.




5) Robert C. Morton b 1859 d before 1870.

6) Isham or Isom Pemberton Morton b 1862 Marshfield, Webster Co. MO d 1848 Jaspar County, MO.

7) George Parham Morton b 1864 posthumously 4 months after his father's death in Marshfield, Webster  County, MO d 1944 Amarillo, TX.
Married Malissa "Lissie" Goodnight.








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