Monday, March 3, 2014

52 Ancestors - Week 10 - William F. "Billy" Morris 1764-1840

Changing direction!

While I wait for Mayflower confirmation, I am going to start looking at my Ancestry DNA results. My 1st and 2nd cousins are a no brainer. We speak frequently and share the same passion for genealogy but the list shows five 3rd cousins and the relationship to them. 

Abitapumpkin comes up as a 3rd cousin match and Tdsimmons1950 comes up as a 4th cousin with William F. "Billy" Morris as our shared ancestor. However, it seems I have more information then they do. 

Billy Morris was my 4th great grandfather. He was the husband of Charlotte "Lottie" Warner. 

We actually have some documentation on Billy Morris. This is an excerpt from the book Kinsmen All: Descendants of Wettenhall Warner and Related Families. Pg 409. 

"Billy Morris, of Methodist faith, served as a Deputy Sheriff in St. Tammany Parish in 1811 & 1812. He lived in and ran a water mill on the Bogue Chitto on the Louisiana/Mississippi State Line.  He and his sons were cattlemen. Billy fought in the Battle of New Orleans along with his son, Whit, in the 12th-13th Consolidate LA militia, under the command of the brother-in-law, Thomas C. Warner. Served from Dec 1814 - March 1815, under the command of Capt. Thomas Bickham and Major John Wright. Also fighting in this Regiment were Willis Brumfield, Edwin Fussell (brother of two of his sons-in-law) and Stephen Richardson (his son-in-law). His son, Chess, served in the Civil War. 

Billy's daughter, Betsy and her 2nd husband, Tom Brassfield, lived and operated a mill on Lee's Creek (sometimes called Brassfield Creek).  Betsy Creek in Washington Parish is named after Betsy and is on the old homestead of her father-in-law, Hardy Richardson."

We also know he was a confederate soldier in the 12th Regiment, Louisiana Infantry in the Civil War. He enlisted as a Private and mustered our as a Corporal. 

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