MORRISON – Descendants of Nutfield Settler John Morrison

Morrison Family Tombstones at Forest Hill Cemetery,
East Derry, New Hampshire

MORRISON / MORISON / MORRESON / MORESON

Charter John Morrison married Margaret (maiden name unknown). He had witnessed the siege of the city of Londonderry when he was nine years old.  He removed from Nutfield around 1759 to Peterborough, New Hampshire where he died in 1776 at age 97. Margaret died in Londonderry in 1769, age 82.   His son Jonathan, was the first boy baby born in Nutfield, and he later settled in Peterborough, New Hampshire.

About six years after 1719 his father John Morrison arrived from Northern Ireland and settled in Londonderry, too.  He died in Londonderry on 16 February 1736 at the reputed age of 108 years. He was married to Jane Steele had eight children:

      1.       James, born in Ireland about 1675, died 5 March 1756 in Londonderry. He married Mary Wallace in Ireland and had two sons Halbert (died in Amherst, NH in 1779) and Samuel (died in Windham, NH 11 February 1776..  He came to America and married Janet Steele and had five more children:  Janet m. Samuel Steele; Katreen m. a Mr. Tufts of Cambridge, Massachusetts; John, born in Londonderrry 16 August 1722, married Elizabeth (maiden name unknown); Thomas, born in Londonderry 15 May 1724, married Mary (maiden name unknown);  and James, born in Londonderry 24 September 1728.  

      2.       Charter John, born 1678 in Ireland, died 14 June 1776 in Peterborough. He married Margaret Wallace, who died 18 April 1769, aged 82 years. They had ten children:  Robert; Thomas died 23 November 1797, married Mary Smith 2 October 1739 at Lunenburg, Massachusetts; Ezekiel, died 1740 in Windham; Jonathan, born in Londonderry 8 September 1719, died 1787, married Nancy Tufts; Jane, born 6 April 1722,died 11 November 1791, and married Deacon Samuel Mitchell of Peterborough; Elizabeth, born 13 June 1723, died 15 September 1808, married William Smith 31 December 1751; John born 20 September 1726, died 27 December 1816; Margaret born February 1728, and died 29 April 1811, married Deacon Samuel Moore; Hannah born 19 April 1730, died 30 November 1760 and married Samuel Todd of Londonderry; and Moses born 7 June 1732 and died in Hancock, New Hampshire, married Rachel Todd, daughter of Colonel Andrew Todd.

      3.       Deacon Halbert, born in Ireland about 1685, died 6 June 1755 in Londonderry.  He married Jean (maiden name might be Steele?) children probably all born in Sheepscott, Maine:  John, died in Londonderry between 27 Oct 1753 and 30 January 1754, married a Susannah (maiden name unknown); Jenny married a Hopkins; Catrine married a McNeal; Rebecca married William Archibald and died in Nova Scotia; Jean, unmarried; and David, born 1730 and died in Londonderry 23 February 1825, aged 95 years, he married Elizabeth Boyes, daughter of the Londonderry teacher Thomas Boyes.  

     4.       Martha, born in Ireland, married Thomas Steele in Ireland in 1715 and came to Nutfield in 1719, died in Londonderry 22 October 1759.  They had four sons and two daughters.  The author Leonard Morrison only has the sons in his genealogy: Thomas, born 25 December 1721; James, born 25 March 1724, died in Antrim, NH in 1818 or 1819; John, removed to Western New York state; and David, born 30 January 1727, married Janet Little in 1751 (David Steele was a member of the committee of safety in 1776 and 1778, and he died 19 July 1809, aged 82 years).

      5.       Samuel, born in 1710 in Ireland, married Janette Allison, died in Londonderry 21 June 1802 at age 92 years – had eight children:  Joseph, born 1742, never married, died 16 April 1814; Samuel, removed to Walpole, NH where he died 8 December 1838; Thomas, never married, died on the homestead in Londonderry on 2 April 1804; William, born 1745, removed to Walpole, NH and died in Reading, Vermont at age 88 years; John, never married, lived and died in Walpole, NH; Jane, never married, born 20 October 1755, died in Londonderry on the homestead on 9 December 1843, aged 88 years; and Mary, born 1757, died 13 November 1835, aged 78 years.   

      6.       Hannah,  born in Ireland about 1716, married Robert Clendenin, son of Archibald Clendennin and had John; William; Robert born 1743, died October 1818, married Elizabeth Humphrey; Andrew; Betsey; Mary (died young); and Nancy.

      7.       Mary, born in Ireland about 1718, married Andrew Jack of Chester and had nine children: William; James; John; Andrew died 1793; Samuel, died 1793 and married Molly McMurphy; Hannah married Dr. Matthew Thornton, signer of the Declaration of Independence (they had four children James; Matthew; Hannah and Mary); Jane; Ann; and Mary.

  

      8.       Joseph, was probably born on the passage to America about 1720, married Mary Holmes, and died in Londonderry  17 February 1806 – had Abraham born 17 October 1743, died 14 June 1833, married Mary Holmes; John born 28 February 1749, died 21 April 1840, married Anne Grey (was known as Sherriff John Morrison); Joseph died 13 March 1817, married Margaret Moulton of Lynnfield, Massachusetts; Jonathan born July 1759, died in Rockingham, Vermont on 7 March 1847, married 1^st Sally Hopkins of Windham, and married 2^nd Anna Davis of Rockingham (he was a noted violinist); Jane died in Londonderry on 8 January 1823; Hannah; Mary born 3 May 1751, died 31 March 1836, married John Anderson of Londonderry; and Ann married John Adams and removed to Otter Creek, Vermont.

Other Morrison families of early Londonderry:

Robert Morison, another early settler, was one of the first 119 people to whom the charter of the town of Londonderry named.  It is unknown if he was kin to the Charter John Morrison. He had three children:  Robert, born 1714, died 7 February 1794 aged 80 years (He was an elder in Rev. David MacGregor’s church, never married); William, born 30 November 1726, died 28 February 1788, aged 62 years, married Jane Rogers and had six children: Robert, Hannah, Jane, Lizzie, David and Mary (he signed the Association Test in 1776); and a daughter named Sallie who married a Colburn. 

The Reverend William Morrison of Londonderry was born about 1748 in Scotland and relative of the Morrison family of Nottingham, New Hampshire.  He was ordained 12 February 1783 and took charge of the West Parish in Londonderry, where he was pastor until his death on 9 March 1818, aged 70 years.  He married Jean Fullerton of Octoraro, Pennsylvania.  Children:  William Fullerton born 6 November 1785, graduated from Dartmouth College and practiced law, died 1831; Jean (twin) born 6 November 1785; Daniel, born 23 June 1787; Sally and James (twins) born 21 March 1789; Margaret, born 11 September 1791; John born 21 November 1793, died 1796; John and Eliza (twins) born 5 April 1797; Robert Malcolm, born 8 October 1799; and Mary-Ann born 3 April 1802.

Samuel Morison settled in Londonderry in 1730.  He wrote his will 10 April 1752 and died soon after.  His wife was Mary (maiden name unknown).  According to the Morrison genealogy by Leonard A. Morrison, these are his children:  Susanna, born 17 September 1731, married a Miller or a McFee;  John, resided in Bedford, NH and married Elizabeth Moore (was in the Battle of Bennington under General John Stark); Samuel, born 23 July 1734 and died in Henniker, NH, married Margaret MacFerson; Mary, born 6 October 1736 and married a Miller or a McFee. 

And another Samuel Morison!  He is called “Charter Samuel Morison” to distinguish him from the Samuel Morison above, because he was one of the grantees in the Charter of Londonderry.  He married Margaret Henry and they had eight children:  Grizel, born in Ireland in 1708 married Alexander Craige, died in Londonderry 8 June 1756; Janet, born in Ireland, married Mr. Chambers, died in Londonderry in 1790; David, died in Londonderry in 1760; John, died in Londonderry in 1776, married Elizabeth Alexander; Martha, born in Londonderry, NH on 28 October 1723, died after 1761; Matthew, died in Londonderry in 1777; Samuel, born at Londonderry on 13 March 1727, died there 15 March 1775, married his cousin Isabella Alexander; Abram, born at Londonderry 29 May 1731, married Elizabeth (maiden name unknown).

Hugh Morison, lived in the West Parish of Londonderry until about 1740 when he removed to Coleraine, Massachusetts. He appears to be unrelated to any other Morrison family.

For more Morrison information:

Clan Morrison Society of North America:  http://www.clanmorrison.net/

Morrison DNA Project   http://www.geneticousins.com/morrison 

The History of the Morrison Family, by Leonard Allison Morrison, 1880

Click here for links to the entire series of the first sixteen settlers:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/p/nutfields-first-16-settlers.html    


--------------------------------------

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "MORRISON – Descendants of Nutfield Settler John Morrison", Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 1, 2019, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/03/morrison-descendants-of-nutfield.html: accessed [access date]).