reported that James Morison is dead." His son Samuel took out papers of administration on his estate, June 9, 1757. Here the curtain falls. Upon the history of the ancestor of this branch of the Morison family, no further light comes. No stone bearing his name can be discovered in the cemeteries of Windham, Derry, or Londonderry. The "great reaper" gathered the ripened shock of corn into his garner, and so passes from our view and knowledge the ancestor of our clan. Below are fac-similes of the autographs of Charter James Morison; and also of his father, John Morison, who died in 1736: : 11. 12. James merison John moryon He had a family of seven CHILDREN. Halbert [18], b. in Ireland; d. in Amherst, N. H., about 1779. Samuel [19], b. in Ireland, 1704; d. in Windham, N. H., Feb. 11, 1776. 13. Janet, m. Samuel Steele, of Londonderry. Half of James Morison's home lot was deeded to Steele Sept. 27, 1757. He died Dec. 8, 1761, aged 32 years. Left two children: 1st, Thomas; 2d, Hannah (?). 14. 16. Katreen. She probably m. a Mr. Tufts. She was in Cambridge, Mass., in 1774. 15. John, b. in Londonderry, Aug. 16, 1722; m. Elizabeth ; lived in Londonderry. At one time he owned part of James Morison's home lot. He was in Cambridge, Mass., in 1776. I have been unable to obtain any further record of him or his descendants. Thomas, b. in Londonderry, May 15, 1724. Owned land bounding on his father's home lot. Lived in Cambridge, Mass., for several years, and was there as late as 1776. No record of him after this date, though many records have been consulted. He m. Mary She d. Feb. 20, 1760, in her thirty-second year. 17. James, b. in Londonderry, Sept. 24, 1728. Lived in Londonderry, and also at Cambridge, with "other friends." He was there at the commencement of the Revolutionary war; but at this time, with his brothers and sisters, he passes utterly out of our knowledge. I have been unable to find any record or tradition of them, though the county records of Massachusetts and part of New Hampshire, and town records of part of Vermont, have been searched. THIRD GENERATION. 18. Halbert [11] (James2, John1), was known as Halbert, Jr. On Oct. 17, 1739, for the consideration of five pounds, he received of William Nickles, of Londonderry, a deed of land in Windham Range. * Here he lived for ten years. In those days the * Rockingham County Records, Book xxxv, p. 536. In Indians occasioned the settlers much annoyance, and parties were scouting for them continually. In 1746, among the forty-four names on the muster-roll of that somewhat celebrated Indian fighter, Capt. John Goffe, I find his name. He was out from April 24, 1746, to May 19, scouting for Indians. He then re-enlisted for eleven days.* This explains a vote passed at a townmeeting in Windham, May 14, 1748: "Voted, on the fifth article, that each man that is gone to the woods for us, this year, shall have 40 shillings Old Tenor above the province pay."† 1747, his name appears on the Windham records as highway surveyor. Under date of Feb. 20, 1750, Halbert Morison, and his wife Mary, deed their home in Windham to John Christy, for the consideration of six hundred pounds, old tenor. ‡ April 29, 1752, Halbert, David, and Samuel Morison deeded land to Joseph Blanchard in "New Plantation or Township Monadnock No. 5, within Mason's Patent."§ This Monadnock No. 5 was incorporated as Marlboro', Dec. 13, 1776.|| He next appears in Peterborough, N. H., July 5, 1753. He bought land there, which he deeded to his cousin by marriage, William Smith, and the father of the learned jurist, Judge Jeremiah Smith. In 1757, at the vendue of his father's personal property, Lieut. Samuel Morison speaks, in one of his papers, of "bro. Halbert" as being present. In 1761, he was in Amherst, N. H., and there he lived the remainder of his life. May 8, 1765, he bought one lot of land in Amherst of sixty acres. On the twelfth day of August, 1771, he deeded away a certain "Right or Tract Throughout the Township of Monadnock No. 5, being a whole Right or Proprietor's Share of land in said Monadnock of which I am the original Grantee." ** The exact date of his death is unknown; but it was previous to Jan. 27, 1779. On that date one Garfield took out letters of administration on his estate, but it was not fully settled in 1780, when license was granted to sell his real estate and pay debts.†† He married Mary (Nickles, probably). From the Londonderry records it appears. that Halbert and Mary had one child, Martha, born June 13, 1750. This is all that is known of him or his descendants. ‡‡ * New England Hist. and Gen. Register, vol. xv. Windham, N. H., Records, vol. i. Rockingham County Records. § Book lvii, p. 331, Rockingham County Records. Sanborn's History of New Hampshire. History of Peterborough, N. H., by Dr. Albert Smith, p. 269. ** Hillsborough County Records, Nashua, N. H. ++ Probate Records, Hillsborough County, N. H. ‡‡ And to show the difficulties which environ one who searches after genealogical facts, where there are no correct records kept, I will state that the only clew I had to the history of Halbert Morison, beyond the faint. tradition that such a person had existed, was found in a scrap of dateless paper, a copy of which is appended, directed to his brother John Morison. It was found among the papers of Lieut. Samuel Morison : "Sur this is to Let you know that one gefeel of merymack is administered on Holbarts Esteat and I did not know of it for he has no Rite to do 19. Lieut. Samuels [12] (James, John'). He was the progenitor of the Morisons of Windham. He came to Londonderry with his father in 1719, when a lad of fifteen years, and shared with others the hardships of the new settlement. Feb. 12, 1739, his father deeded him the farm (then in Londonderry) in Windham range. This deed was not acknowledged before a justice of the peace, consequently James Morison gave another deed of the same land March 5, 1756. This deed was proven and legalized before the court at Portsmouth, June 9, 1757, and from 1728, when this farm was laid out to James Morison, till the present date, it has been in the Morison name, and its bounds remain unchanged. It is not known at what time he first came upon the farm in Windham, but it is quite evident that it was not many years after its "laying out," and not far from 1730. In 1742, Windham was incorporated as a separate township, except that it must unite with Londonderry to send a representative to the general court of the Province. He was moderator of the first town-meeting ever held in Windham, in 1742. He presided in thirty-one town-meetings, the last time in 1775. He was a member of the first board of selectmen of the town, and acted in this capacity, at different times, for seven years. He was clerk of the town for four years.* In 1752, he appeared with a petition. before the governor and council of the Province protesting against the boundary line of Salem, which took off a slice from Windham.† His mission was ineffectual. In 1758, he was a lieutenant in a New Hampshire regiment, and was present at the capture of Louisburg from the French, July 26, 1758.‡ In the possession of a descendant is a diary kept by him during his term of service. A tradition exists in the family, that after the surrender of the fortress by the French, as the officers of the besieging and victorious forces were gathered around the refreshment tables, the chaplain was called upon to ask the divine blessing. He was in the habit of being lengthy on such it and you may cary your documents to him if you please All is from your friend and servant, JAMES LYONS." This was the basis from which his history was constructed, collecting information as I could, "here a little and there a little," till it was complete. *Windham Records, vol. i. † See Map of Londonderry, N. H. CAPTAIN MCNUTT'S COMPANY. A muster roll of Lieutenant Morison's party of men, designed for Fort Cumberland: Samuel Morison, Lieutenant. Samuel Moor, Sergeant. Matthew Taylor, Sergeant. 66 James Mills. Samuel Morison. John McKeen, Jr. John Morison, Jr. John McKnight. |
