Finally found - our Morgan Family Ancestor

There is a copious amount of undocumented, inaccurate information floating about the internet regarding our ancestor Charles Morgan. After many years of searching Virginia's Northern Neck for some tidbit of documentation to identify the father of this ancestor who stated in his 1832 Revolutionary War pension application that he was born in Fauquier County, Virginia in 1757, I think I've finally found something of consequence.

The Benjamin Morgan and Phoebe Settle lineage which I spent years investigating proved to be incorrect. I shared the details of that research in a blog post five years ago. Benjamin Morgan was the son of Charles Morgan, born 1680 to Anthony Morgan and his wife Elizabeth. Charles' birth is recorded on the 28th of September, 1680 in Farnham Parish, Rappahannock, Virginia. Deed records in Wilkes County, North Carolina proved Benjamin's son Charles to have been incorrectly attributed to his brother John Morgan and couldn't have been our Charles.

The other most frequent theory found in countless sites on the internet is that he was the son of Anthony Morgan and Mary Wilson of Brunswick County, Virginia born 1764. Charles own words in his pension statement disprove Brunswick County as a place of birth and 1764 as a date. Anthony, born circa 1720 to 1730, was the son of Anthony Morgan, brother of Charles Morgan above, and Ann Duncan of Westmoreland County, Virginia. Like Charles, Anthony's birth is recorded in Farnham Parish, Rappahannock, Virginia on the 20th of November, 1686. Over the years I've frequently searched but could find no record of an Anthony Morgan living in Fauquier County, until recently when I happened upon the index of customers recorded in the Dumfries Store Ledgers of Prince William County.

Index of Customers at Daniel Payne's Dumfries' Store

Fauquier County was established on May 1, 1759, from Prince William County which fits exactly the time of our Charles Morgan's birth. At the time he was born it would have technically been Prince William County. The excerpt at right from the index of Daniel Payne's Dumfries Stores Ledger documents that Anthony Morgan was living in the Prince William County area from at least 1758 to around 1763. These records of Anthony Morgan's residence in Prince William County finally make it feasible that he could have been Charles' father. This family connection also coincides with an abundance of fairly large autosomal DNA matches on chromosome 4 to other descendants of Charles Morgan as well as to members of the Duncan family.

Much research of this family is still yet to be done. In reviewing all the sites which list Anthony Morgan as marrying a Mary Wilson in Brunswick County, Virginia and most of his children having been born there, none of them cite any sources. The only Morgan I have been able to find historical records for in Brunswick County is a Robert Morgan 1726 through 1745. It is highly likely that Robert may be another of the children of Anthony and Elizabeth Morgan of Westmoreland County. The widow Elizabeth Morgan married John Ware after Anthony Morgan's death and Robert Morgan was listed along with his brother Anthony as sons-in-law (stepsons) in John Ware's 1704 will.

One of the primary online sites proffering Anthony Morgan's marriage to Mary Wilson and living in Brunswick County, Virginia is the SARRETT/SARRATT/SURRATT Families of America where I found the following citation - "In 1755, Anthony MORGAN III was appointed constable in the room of Lazarus Taylor." This cites the source as Ibid., O.B., 1754-1755, p 221 but makes no reference to the county where this is recorded. Research of Lazarus Taylor in northern Virginia indicates that he was a resident of Northumberland County who settled in 1744/45 on Marrs Run on land believed to be located in Hamilton Parish, Prince William County, which later became part of the newly formed county of Fauquier. If Anthony's appointment as constable was in the Fauquier area, it is further repudiation of the theory suggesting Anthony was living in Brunswick County during this period.

Another potentially significant find is an Anthony Morgan recorded in the tax lists of Surry County, North Carolina in 1771 and 1772 along with an Anthony Morgan, Jr. and Samuel Morgan in 1771. Anthony's cousin Benjamin Morgan, son of Charles of Fauquier County, migrated to neighboring Wilkes County, North Carolina around that same time. This may suggest that Anthony left the Fauquier area at the same time as his cousin, settling in North Carolina briefly as he migrated to South Carolina.

Our Morgan mysteries are definitely not resolved yet, but I believe that Anthony Morgan's listing in Daniel Payne's Dumfries ledger is a huge step toward finding Charles Morgan's lineage and ultimately our immigrant ancestor.

Identifying Our Morgan DNA

The search for the origins of our ancestor Charles Morgan who died in Warrick County, Indiana in 1832 has been ongoing for many years. The internet is full of theories of supposed family lineages none of which are verifiable. After participating in an autosomal DNA project several years ago, one of my primary goals has been to identify the location of our Morgan DNA by chromosome and segment. Until recently I had found no matches that appeared to descend from our Charles Morgan but several weeks ago, I found two descendants of his son Anthony who match my DNA and that of my two first cousins from this lineage on Chromosome 4. Once these Morgan descendants were identified, an entire block of matches that had previously been complete mysteries became probable candidates as descendants from either the Morgan family or an allied maternal lineage. This listing shows matches to myself and my cousins with the segments and size of the match as well as a notation of any known ancestral lines.

In a statement given when applying for a Revolutionary War pension, Charles Morgan stated that he was born 1757 in Fauquier County, Virginia and was living in York County, South Carolina by 1775 when first called into service. One of the most common theories is that Charles Morgan who died in Warrick County, Indiana was the son of Benjamin Morgan and Phoebe Settle of Fauquier County, Virginia who migrated to Wilkes County, North Carolina around 1770 and eventually to Tennessee where they died. A thorough search of the records of Wilkes County has produced proof that Benjamin's son Charles was still living in Wilkes County, North Carolina in 1780 when he married Ann Hall on the 21st of January 1780. This Charles Morgan has been identified in countless websites and family pedigrees as the son of Benjamin's brother John Morgan and Martha Settle, however, the deed records of Wilkes prove that to be incorrect. A 1784 deed from Benjamin Morgan to William Johnson for 300 acres includes as part of the legal description of the land that Benjamin Morgan was selling the phrase "along a line between Benjamin Morgan and his son Charles" (Deed Book A-1, p. 504). Various sources had identified all of the younger Morgan individuals in Wilkes County as children of John Morgan and Martha Settle, but there is no record that John Morgan ever lived in that county. The Capt. John Morgan who served in the Revolution from Surry County, North Carolina was a completely different person and never migrated to Tennessee, dying in Stokes County, North Carolina (formed from Surry). See a previous post regarding documented information for Benjamin and John Morgan along with errors in the online family pedigrees for the Morgan family in Sumner County, Tennessee.

Another of the primary theories of Charles' lineage identifies him as a son of Anthony Morgan of Brunswick County, Virginia who was a grandson of the earliest known ancestor of this family, Anthony Morgan of Glamorgan, Wales, who died in Old Rappahannock County, Virginia in 1688. The elder Anthony Morgan's son Charles was the father of Benjamin Morgan and his son Anthony the father of Anthony Morgan of Brunswick County. Numerous sites list Anthony Morgan's son Charles' date of birth as 1764 in Brunswick County which definitely disagrees with our Charles Morgan's stated date and place of birth. I have been unable to find any primary source to document a connection to Anthony Morgan. The theory appears to have been based upon proximity in York, South Carolina and the fact that Charles named a son Anthony.

In reviewing any lineages that could be found for the individuals who are matches on this segment of Chromosome 4, besides the two who descend from Charles Morgan's son Anthony, one appears to descend from Anthony Morgan of Brunswick County, Virginia and four are from Duncan families which may be related to the family of Ann Dunkin or Duncan, wife of Anthony Morgan (II) and mother of Anthony Morgan of Brunswick, Virginia. It has been suggested that Charles Morgan, born 1680, married an Ann Duncan but no reliable sources have been located for that assumption.

I am in hopes that more matches on this segment of Chromosome 4 will be forthcoming and can eventually definitely identify Charles' family. If you're reading this post, are a descendant of this Morgan family and have participated in an autosomal DNA project, drop me a note in the comments. And if you've uploaded your raw DNA data from Ancestry, 23andMe or FtDNA to GEDMatch where we can compare matches that would be excellent.

Wyatt Wilkerson

Wyatt Wilkerson was the maternal grandfather of Sidney Preston Reeves and his brother William Harrison Reeves who settled in the Jackson Purchase around 1840 in the area that became Ballard County. Wyatt was born about 1740 in Virginia and his marriage to Mary Britt on 26 Dec 1765 is recorded in the Douglas Register of St. James Northam Parish, Goochland County. Mary was the daughter of William Britt and Hannah Connelly of Goochland County and is named as Mary Wilkerson in his 1787 will.

Based upon information from the 1807 will of Wyatt's brother, Joel Wilkerson, recorded in Logan County, Kentucky, Wyatt was originally from the southside of Virginia since he was described as being "of Prince George County, Virginia". Wyatt was named as the executor and primary heir in Joel's will which also mentioned possible legacies left by their father Frederick Wilkerson of Prince George County. 

Frederick Wilkerson was probably born around 1720 in Prince George County and died sometime before the 19th of November in 1803 based upon a notation on page 98 of Prince George County Surveyor's Book 1794-1824 in regard to a survey of "Frederick Wilkinson, decd., 486 A. in 2 tracts".

A Prince George County deed of 9 Jun 1789 identifies Frederick's wife as Sarah:

Frederick Wilkerson and Sarah his wife of Prince George County to William Edwards, Sr. of same, land where John Chambless's buildings formerly stood, 1 acres, bounded by the old line of John Chambless, Sr. No witnesses. Recorded June 9, 1789.

The birth of Wyatt and Mary's first child, Sally, on the 25th of October 1766 is recorded in the Douglas Register as well as the births of Hannah in 1769 and Lucy in 1771. Sometime after 1771, Wyatt and his family left Goochland County and returned to the southside of the James River where he is listed on the rent rolls of Brunswick County in 1779. It appears that in 1779, Wyatt moved just south of the state boundary line between Virginia and North Carolina. There is a deed recorded in Granville County, North Carolina from Isaac Williams and Jesse Williams administrators of James Moore of Southhampton County, Virginia to Wiatt Wilkerson of Granville County on 3 Aug 1779 (Deed Book M, Page 174-175).

Wyatt and his family moved into the Granville County area and during the next 20 years, several other Wilkerson families settled there as well. There are numerous Wilkerson deeds recorded there in those years but no known family connection between them. In 1786, Wyatt purchased a tract of land on the north side of the Neuse River at the mouth of Knap of Reeds Creek. Knap of Reeds Creek would have flowed from the north into the Neuse almost directly across the river from William Reeves' land where Ellerbe Creek joins the Neuse River on the south side. Living in such close proximity it's possible that Betsy Wilkerson became acquainted with George Reeves prior to their arrivals in Madison County, Kentucky.


Wyatt left Granville in the late 1790's and is recorded in the 1800 census of Madison County, Kentucky and is also recorded as having been a resident at Fort Boonesborough. In Madison county sometime after the 1st of January in 1802 when the marriage bond was issued, Elizabeth Wilkerson and George Reeves were married.

In the course of the next ten years, Wyatt is also recorded on the tax lists of Wilson County, Tennessee circa 1804-1809. Additionally there is an 1809 suit "Harmon Hays, Plaintiff vs Wyatt Wilkerson, Defendant" in Tennessee that is over a land transaction. Harmon Hays was a land speculator in the Sumner/Robertson County area. It appears that Wyatt may have become involved in a land deal that went wrong. The names of numerous other Madison County settlers are also listed in those Tennessee tax lists. By 1810, Wyatt is once again listed in the census of Madison County, Kentucky which may indicate that he never actually lived in Tennessee, just purchased land there.

Before 1820 Wyatt and Mary Britt Wilkerson joined their daughters and their families - George and Elizabeth Wilkerson Reeves and John and Polly Wilkerson Thompson in migrating further west to Warren County, Kentucky where they are all listed in the 1820 census. Wyatt died in Warren County in 1821 and his will recorded there names his children as Elizabeth Reeves, Polly Thompson, William Wilkerson, John Wilkerson (deceased), Sally Searcy and Jesse Wilkerson (deceased) in addition to grandson Jonathan Parker, son of deceased daughter Lucy Wilkerson Parker.