Morgan 8 & 9: Garrard Morgan III and Eliza Ann Hamilton Morgan, Part 4

John visited his parents and family from time to time but they were not interested in joining the church, although his brother James moved out to Manassa, Colorado. John recorded these visits in his diary and the accounts are found in posts on Ancestral Ties. He saw his parents in November 1883.

Garrard Morgan III

Garrard died April 10, 1889. The family genealogical files do not include data on his burial location, and I can't find the information in online cemetery records in either Mattoon or Greensburg.

Eliza Ann Hamilton Morgan

 

 Leonidas Morgan

Garrard Morgan IV

Luella Morgan

Eliza spent her last years living in Middletown, Henry County, Indiana, with her son William. She died April 18, 1901 and was buriedthe next day in South Park Cemetery in Greensburg, Decatur, Indiana. A note in the family history states that she was buried in a plot belonging to her brother David W. Hamilton.

The 1900 census notes that David N. Hamilton, born Dec 1817 in Kentucky, was living in Greensburg, Decatur, Indiana, with his wife Julia. They were married in 1864 and had no children. His father was born in Ireland and his mother was born in Kentucky. If this is Eliza's brother, and if the census information is correct, then the father's birthplace of Ireland contradicts Mary Linton Morgan's research into the family origins of the Hamiltons which claimed that they tied into an old Kentucky family. Once again, more work needs to be done on these lines.

The 1900 Greensburg, Decatur, Indiana census showing David and Julia Hamilton.

Looking into the family has left me with a lot of questions. Many birth, marriage and death dates, particularly of John's brothers and sister, need to be tracked down. Additionally, here are a few questions I had as I looked at records:

• Did Garrard Morgan I fight in the Revolutionary War?
• What were the family's religious experiences in the Second Great Awakening?
  
• Were the Kentucky Morgans slave holders? (Some Morgans show up as slave owners in the 1850 Nicholas County Slave Census, but I have no idea if they were relatives.)
  
• Why did the Morgans move to Indiana?
• During their Civil War service, did John and Will Morgan have to fight any of their Kentucky cousins?
• Who's going to do all the nitty-gritty research and track down all the records?

The pictures are from Bessie. Thanks!

This being the last day of 2009, I am going to start posting stories and information from my Wessman family. I will continue to post from the Morgan and Tanner families as I have time to research and information to share. Happy New Year!