More About Anthony Morgan III

There is no supporting documentation for the majority of the genealogical information found online about Anthony Morgan. For that reason I was reluctant to accept the theory that he was the father of our ancestor Charles Morgan who died in Warrick County, Indiana in 1832 primarily because he stated in his Revolutionary War pension statement that he was born in 1757 in Fauquier County, Virginia. There is no question that Charles Morgan (1680-1766) of Fauquier County, Virginia and Anthony Morgan (1686-1749) along with their siblings, Bridgett and Ann were the children of Anthony Morgan and his wife Elizabeth of Old Rappahannock County because their births are recorded in the North Farnham Parish Register. Brother Robert Morgan although not recorded in the births of Old Rappahannock was named, along with Anthony, as a step-son of John Ware in his 1703 Westmoreland County, Virginia will. From that point on with the exception of Charles Morgan whose life and family is well documented in the records of Fauquier County, the family history becomes fragmented and murky.

1679 POA by
Anthony & Elizabeth Morgan

The other principal theory of Charles Morgan of Warrick, Indiana was that he was the son of Benjamin Morgan and Phoebe Settle of Fauquier. Benjamin was the documented son of Charles Morgan (born 1680), but in depth research of Benjamin's family after they relocated to Wilkes County, North Carolina around 1775 and before migrating to Tennessee where Benjamin died, proved that our Charles Morgan could not have been Benjamin's son. Apparently all of the children of Benjamin and Phoebe Settle Morgan had been incorrectly attributed to his brother John Morgan and Phoebe's sister Martha Settle. There are no records that John Morgan married Martha Settle in Fauquier or elsewhere and deed records of Wilkes County establish that Benjamin's son Charles was living in Wilkes County in 1784. Charles Morgan (born 1757) was living in South Carolina from around 1775 according to his RW pension statements so he could not have been the Charles Morgan of Wilkes County. Likewise the only John Morgan found in Wilkes County was a younger John, who would also have been the child of Benjamin and Phoebe Morgan. A Capt. John Morgan referred to in various undocumented Morgan theories was actually living in Surry County during the Revolution in the portion that later became Stokes County. That John Morgan has no known connection to the Morgans of Fauquier County. See blog post Morgan Family Myths with research details and citations.

Once the theory of Benjamin Morgan as Charles' (born 1757) parent had been investigated and proved false, thorough research of Anthony Morgan was the only avenue to pursue. Anthony Morgan II remained in the Rappahannock area and is named as a step-son along with his brother Robert in the 1703 will of John Ware of Westmoreland County whom his widowed mother Elizabeth had married after his father's death. In Richmond County on the first of July 1711, Anthony married Ann Duncan. Autosomal DNA of numerous descendants of Charles Morgan of Warrick County, Indiana has high cM matches to Duncan family members. See the post Identifying our Morgan DNA in this blog which further establishes the connection to Anthony Morgan's family.

In February of 1721, Anthony bought 250 acres in Westmoreland County which he sold to Willoughby Newton on 15 July 1728. In that deed, Anthony Morgan is described as "of Richmond County". In January of 1727, Anthony had purchased 100 acres bounded by the Marshy Swamp in Richmond County from James Thomas. From that point he appears to be located solely in Richmond County. In 1740, Anthony sold the mill, referred to in other documents as "Morgan's Mill", along with forty acres to Willoughby Newton [DB9 p667-669]. It was in Richmond County that he died sometime before the 5th of March 1749 when his estate was inventoried [WB5 p598].

1740 Deed by Anthony Morgan II

Anthony Morgan III appears first as the administrator of the estate of Anthony Morgan II in Richmond County in 1749. On January 30th, 1750, he sold to William McClanahan the 80 acres of land in Richmond County described as the land where Anthony Morgan deceased formerly lived adjoining the mill. In that 1750 deed Anthony Morgan is described as "of Prince William County" and his wife, Mary, signed a release of her dower rights. Countless Ancestry trees and websites espouse a theory that Anthony Morgan III married a Mary Wilson in Brunswick County, Virginia and that their children were born there but primary sources are never provided. Obviously from the evidence found in Richmond County, Anthony had married his wife Mary (for whom there is no documentation of a surname) in one of the counties in Virginia's Northern Neck where Anthony is recorded during this period of time. As documented in another recent blog post Finally Found - our Morgan Family Ancestor, the Dumfries Store ledger proved that Anthony Morgan was a resident of Prince William and Fauquier (formed from Prince William in 1759) counties at least through 1763. At last there was some evidence that the third Anthony Morgan had actually been living in Fauquier at the time our Charles Morgan said he was born there.

Before leaving Fauquier County, Anthony Morgan executed a Bill of Sale to Bennett Price on behalf of Andrew Cochran Esqr. in payment of a debt. Anthony deeded two slaves, a bay mare, several head of cattle and two feather beds to Cochran in payment of the eighty Pound debt on 28th of March, 1763 [DB2 p71]. This was apparently prior to Anthony and his family leaving that area of northern Virginia for he is next found on the tax lists of Surry County, North Carolina in 1771 along with Samuel Morgan and Anthony Morgan, Jr. Again in 1772, Anthony Morgan and Samuel were listed on the tax lists of Surry County but Anthony, Jr. was not. After 1772, Anthony and family apparently moved on to South Carolina where by Charles Morgan's account in his RW pension statement, he was living in 1775. Maybe at a future time, Anthony Morgan will be found living for a few years in some Virginia county along the great wagon road through Virginia's Shenandoah Valley on his way to Surry County, North Carolina.

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Other posts on the blog about this Morgan Family -
Morgan Family Myths
Identifying Our Morgan DNA
Finally Found - our Morgan Family Ancestor

Mourning Pryor in Calloway County

Kentucky's Jackson Purchase

For as long as I have been working with Pryor genealogy, the date and place of death of Mourning Thomson Pryor White, Jonathan and James Pryor's mother, has been a mystery. There was much speculation and many theories, the most commonly accepted one was that she had died sometime before 1820 probably in Logan County. There are even unsubstantiated reports that Mourning, along with Jobe family relatives, attended the Old Mulkey Meeting House (Baptist) near Tompkinsville, Kentucky in Monroe County and that she lived to be past 100 years. The fact that no historical records for Mourning Pryor White had been located after 1817 resulted in any number of unfounded claims.

Since Family Search has been adding more documents to their online catalog in recent months, I began to search the Calloway County records based upon having been told many years ago that Jonathan Pryor and extended family had lived for a time in Calloway County before settling in Graves County. The first year of tax lists for Calloway County was 1823 and to my delight, in the tax lists for that year were both Jonathan Pryor and Mourning White!

1823 Tax List of Calloway County, Kentucky

After locating Mourning in Calloway County, I began searching all of the counties adjacent to Logan, where Mourning, Jonathan and James Pryor were last recorded and Calloway where they appear in 1823. Mourning White along with James and Jonathan Pryor were last recorded in tax records of Logan County in 1817 after which they could not be found. A search of all the counties west of Logan toward the Jackson Purchase was fruitless. My next plan was to start searching the Tennessee counties just below the Kentucky state line, but I decided to search one last county in Kentucky first. Simpson County, Kentucky is adjacent to Logan to the southeast and it's western boundary is only a few miles from the area along the Red River where the Pryors' land is recorded. The 1819 tax list of Simpson County shows James and Jonathan Pryor along with Mourning White. In 1821 Mourning is still listed there but James and Jonathan had left, presumably preparing for the family's move to Calloway County.

James and Jonathan Pryor are both found in Graves County tax records beginning in 1824 and in all subsequent years thereafter, but there is no further record of Mourning. I believe we can assume that she either died in Calloway County circa 1823 or moved into Graves County with her sons where she later died. After so many years of not knowing what became of Mourning Thomson Pryor White when our Pryor ancestors moved to the Jackson Purchase, I have been extremely pleased to find that she came to the Jackson Purchase along with them.