52 Ancestors - Week 24 - Mary B "Polly" Morris 1798-1876

Mary B "Polly" Morris is my questionable link. Her parents are given as Charlotte "Lottie" Warner and William F "Billy" Morris. That seems to be correct as there is documentation. However, there is no documentation she married William B. Fussell. This is where those with private trees come in and accuse me of blindly copying incorrect trees right after they "borrow" a few photos from my very public trees. Nevertheless, I am am sticking with Mary B "Polly" Morris until proved wrong.

The only thing I can find is a census report from 1850. It lists her husband as William Fussell but the list of children does not completely match. Some of the names are the same but there are several that don't appear on my records. That makes it suspect. For example, their daughter, Martha Mary Fussell is my 2nd great grandmother. Although I have yet to find a death date, there is plenty of documentation confirming she is related. The documentation was discovered by my mom a long time ago. Still, on the census, the name and date don't match. 

There is a book called Trinity County Beginnings, published in 1986, that mentions William B Fussell and Mary B "Polly" Morris. It does state they had ten children but it doesn't share their names. Since family written books are suspect and I don't know if there are sources attached, I am going to say that it is true and continue to research the missing pieces. 

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. 

52 Ancestors - Week 7 - Charlotte "Lottie" Warner

Charlotte "Lottie" Warner is my 4th great grandmother. The further back I go, the more connections I find. On Ancestry.com, I have connected with 300 more people who also have her in their tree. That good but they don't seem to have much more information than I have. Still, it tells me that I am related to a whole lot more people.

Charlotte was born in Craven, South Carolina on July 10, 1775. I don't have a copy of the birth record but there is a transcribed note:

"The following bible record is found on the LAGenWeb Archives at: http://files.usgwarchives,net/la/state/bible/ This record is "bible1-4.txt" in the list of records Bible Records Published by Louisiana Genealogical and Historical Society."

The letter was written by J. T. Warner, son of Thomas Cargill Warner, brother of Charlotte.

It says: "Their daughter Charlotte born April 10, 1775 and married Billy Morris. They settled on Pearl River southeast Louisiana."

The note goes on to talk about their children, one of course, was Mary B. Morris. The records indicate that she died in 1826 in St. Tammany, Louisiana.

Now, on to Elizabeth Sarah Cargill, Charlotte's mother.

52 Ancestors - Week 6 - Mary B "Polly" Morris

Mary B "Polly" Morris, my 3rd great grandmother. This is uncharted territory and I don't know much about her.

She was born in 1798 in Craven, South Carolina. She married William B. Fussell in September of 1821 in Louisiana. She moved around a lot because in 1840, they were living in Rankin, Mississippi.

The first five children were born in Louisiana and the other eight were born in Mississippi. They lived in Mississippi until at least the 1850 census but in 1876, when she died at the age of 78, they were living in Woodville, Texas.

There is a write up in a book about the family that mentions that she was the wife of William B. Fussell. That's an encouraging tidbit because it verifies the marriage record.

Even more exciting, while I was writing this, I got my DNA results back from Ancestry.com. I find several 3rd and 4th cousins with a DNA match who are also related to Mary Morris and they have some sources I have not seen. Tells me I am on the right track.

With that, I am moving to Charlotte "Lottie" Warner, the next in line to the Mayflower.