Morison who was born in 1628 (?), and died in Londonderry, N. H., in 1736. The Hon. Charles R. Morrison, of Manchester, N. H, became interested in the work, and was induced to prepare a history of his branch of the Londonderry family, and to incorporate it with mine. There were still two branches of the Londonderry Morisons, which I traced out with much labor; and the result is before the reader. Had I known the difficulties to be encountered and overcome, the expense to be incurred, the years of toil to be spent, I should have shrunk back, appalled at the magnitude of the undertaking. Not then knowing the motto of the Morison family, "Pretio Prudentia Praestat," prudence was overcome by my love for the work.

The records are not complete. There are vanished lines, which it would take years to trace out, and lost threads which can never be recovered.

Hearing of a pamphlet published by Capt. F. W. L. Thomas, of the Royal Navy, and vice-president of the Society of Antiquaries, a resident of Edinburgh, Scotland, entitled "Traditions of the Morrisons (Clan Mac Ghillemhuire), Hereditary Judges of Lewis," I entered into correspondence with the author, and after months of waiting obtained from him a copy of the work. After other months of correspondence, in trying to obtain additional light in relation to the Morrison family now in Scotland, it was my good fortune to open a correspondence with Norman Morison, Esq., postmaster of Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Scotland, a direct descendant of Judge Morrison, the last Brieve of Lewis, who was slain about A. D. 1600. I was thus enabled to take up the work where Captain Thomas laid it down, and bring the history of the descendants of Judge Morrison down to 1880, and include it in my work. The other branches of Morrisons included in it are those of whom information was obtained during the progress of the work, and which I thought best not to omit.

In the orthography of proper names, I have generally adopted the spelling sent me in the records. Where there are errors in dates (and there are many in all genealogical works), some of

the blame must rest on those sending them; for records are often written illegibly, and sometimes vary when given by dif ferent members of the same family, and occasionally when given at different times by the same person. The dates of births, marriages, and deaths are as full as an extensive research could make them.

Genealogical works are never perfect. The sources from which

they are derived county, town, and family records are all

more or less defective. Many families have kept no records, and many records are lost by accident, so that it is utterly impossible always to ascertain the correct dates. I have given as full a record as could be made from the information at my command. As mere names and dates are not interesting reading, I have endeavored to bring before my readers the living individuals, and have introduced a large amount of biographical and historical matter, giving the prominent facts of their lives, the positions they have occupied in civil life, in the military service, or in the liberal professions.

The uninitiated have no conception of the labor and time involved in a work of this nature. This work is the result of nearly three years of labor. In its preparation I have written more than twenty-five hundred letters, and travelled more than two thousand miles. No probable channel of information has remained unexplored. I have had correspondence with all parts of America, and with England, Scotland, and Ireland. With more time and expense, the work might have been improved; or had I started with the distinct purpose of preparing it, it would have been different. I give it as it is to the family of Morison or Morrison, and to the allied families found within its pages.

Old artists, it is said, never completed their work. Many statues were in their brain when they died, which were never wrought into granite or marble. So in regard to this history: it may not be complete; but the shaft is reared, and other hands. may polish and finish it. The "finger-posts" are established, to show the way our fathers trod.

This is a family history; and it has been my endeavor to make it acceptable to those for whom alone it was prepared. In tracing the Morisons, I have in most cases traced both the male and female lines, and have (different from most genealogists) arranged them together.

ARRANGEMENT.

In the arrangement, the Slafter system has been followed in the main. The system is simple and easy to be understood. Consecutive numbers are used on the left margins of the pages all through the book, no two persons appearing with the same number, and many being entered twice, first as a child, and enclosed in brackets [] at the right is the number the person bears as head of a family. Turning to the number the child bears as the head of a family, at the right of the name, enclosed in brackets [], is the number the person bore as a child. This reference will be plain as soon as the eye falls upon the page.

Where families are put in close type, and two or three generations are given at once, the parent's name is numbered in the usual way, his children are designated by the numerals 1, 2, 3, etc. (See No. 1276.)

If it be desired to trace the line of descent, find the name in the Index, and against it will be found a personal number, denoting the person either as a child or as the head of a family. If the number be that of a child, above it will be the parent's name, with a figure above it at the right, which denotes the generation to which he belongs; the first succeeding name in parentheses being the parent, the next the grandparent, and so on to the first ancestor, or the first generation.

The pedigree of every head of a family will be seen at a glance.

Every woman's married name is enclosed in parentheses (). (See No. 839: Hannah (Barker) [718], Elizabeth (Smith), John Morison, John1.) Her married name was Barker, her maiden name was Hannah Smith, of the fourth generation, daughter of Elizabeth (Morison) Smith, third generation, daughter of John

Morison, second generation, son of John Morison, first generation. The number 718 gives her as a child, and number 839 as the head of a family.

A mark of interrogation (?) after a name or date implies uncertainty or doubt. The letters unm. (unmarried, or single) are sometimes employed; but where marriage is not mentioned, the person was usually not married, or, if married, the fact was unknown to me. Other abbreviations are used; such as, b., for born; m., for married; d., for died; res., for reside, resided, or residence, according to the manner in which it is used.

Should the records of any family be found imperfect, the responsibility will not rest on me, as I have made all proper efforts to have them complete. Where little is given, much must not be required.

The arrangement of Charter Samuel Morison's branch is explained on page 295; and a separate Index is prepared for that branch, and for Charter David Morison, by the author, Judge Charles R. Morrison, of Manchester, N. H.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

I would express my deep obligation to all who have so kindly seconded my efforts by correspondence, words of encouragement, and personal assistance.

To Robert C. Mack, Esq., the veteran antiquary, of Londonderry, N. H., for kindly aid. His large amount of valuable materials concerning Londonderry have always been at my disposal. To George W. Weston, Esq., the genial register of deeds of Rockingham County, I am indebted for gratuitous services in examining records. To Rev. John Hopkins Morison, D. D., of Boston, and to Dr. James Morison, of Quincy, Mass., I would make special acknowledgment for the deep interest manifested and kindly aid given me in many ways, from the very commencement of the undertaking to its consummation. I am indebted to N. H. Morison, LL. D., provost of the Peabody Institute, Baltimore, Md., for the system of index and of running titles adopted in this book. For the valuable fruits of his

researches, which appear in the body of this work, and for kindly looking over a part of my manuscript before publishing, I am grateful.

To the Hon. Thomas F. Morrison, member of the Legislative Council, of Londonderry, N. S., and to Samuel Steele Morrison, Esq., of Economy, N. S., I am under especial obligations for prompt and earnest efforts in collecting facts relating to the Nova Scotia Morrisons.

To George W. Morrison, Esq., of Rockingham, Vt.; to Stephen A. Morrison, Esq., of Saugatuck, Mich.; to Hon. Thomas H. Morison, of Norwalk, Ct.; and to Robert S. Morrison, of La Porte, Ind., I am indebted for donations, and for other assistance in my difficult and unremunerative task.

To William B. Merrill, Esq., and Joshua Merrill, Esq., of Boston, Mass., I must express my grateful acknowledgments for their interest in this work, and their large subscription for copies, which has aided me materially in its publication.

I owe especial thanks to Norman Morison, Esq., postmaster, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Scotland, for valuable materials; and to Capt. F. W. L. Thomas, of the Royal Navy, Edinburgh, Scotland, for "The Traditions of the Morrisons," etc., and for other interesting facts. To John Murdoch, Esq., of Inverness, Scotland, editor of "The Highlander," I am indebted for copies of that paper during several months, and for the rare articles thus placed within my reach. The Hon. Alexander H. Morrison, of St. Joseph, Mich. (the nearest living relative of the last Hereditary Judge), has, by his generosity, placed myself, and all who bear the name of Morrison, under great obligations.

From George W. Moore, Esq., of Medina, Mich.; Capt. Samuel Morrison, of Alstead, N. H.; Hon. Matthew H. Taylor, of N. Salem, N. H.; Marquis F. Morrison, Esq., of Hartland, Vt.; and Solon Morrison, Esq., of Montreal, P. Q., and many others, I have received important aid and valuable information.

To those "mothers in Israel," Mrs. Mary Steele (granddaughter of Hannah (Morison) Clendennin), and "Aunt Naomi" Morrison (great-granddaughter of Charter James Morison), of Wind