Donegal County in Northern Ireland and Morrison
I have been working a bit on the Morrison family lines that we find in Cabell and Wayne Counties in WV. I have recently found a participant to do DNA testing who is a part of these family lines. He has matched with the H2 Morrison family members that I have been chatting with for the past few years. When I got the news that he was an H2 match, you probably heard my WOO HOO from WV while you sat at your computer. I am very excited. My 4-gr-grandmother on Mom's side was Elizabeth Hensley. All of the old time researchers in our area assume that Elizabeth was a Morrison .....including Ruth Sammons Nassar. I have found very few wrong assumptions among Ruth's research writings. My gut feeling is that this is a correct assumption....but I just can't prove it. I will add my ideas on proving Elizabeth's connection as I have time. But today I want to jot down some ideas that I was thinking about while I drove to knitting today.
The first is that the folklore in the WV Morrison family group is that James and Rachel Morrison came from County Donegal in Northern Ireland. All of this statement is iffy. First, since I wrote this blog post back in Feb 2017, I have proved to my satisfaction that Rachel's husband was named William NOT James. My theory is that an early researcher called this man James and that the researchers who came after her/him continued the mistake. When Rachel's father died he left the land on which William Morrison now lives to the couple in his will
Second we now know that William Morrison who married Rachel Witcher was not the original immigrant. He is found in his father's home in Pittsylvania County in the tax list of 1773. I am quite certain that Patrick Morrison of Pittsylvania County is the father of William. It is not totally clear that Patrick did not come with parents or at least brothers.
And third the TN Morrison group who are DNA matches have folklore saying that four Morrison brothers arrived on these shores from Scotland not from Ireland. All of these groups of people are almost certainly from the same original immigrants!
But nonetheless, Here are my thoughts on Donegal. First of all. The original Morrisons of Scotland are said to have lived on the island that is marked below with the big red marker.
The first is that the folklore in the WV Morrison family group is that James and Rachel Morrison came from County Donegal in Northern Ireland. All of this statement is iffy. First, since I wrote this blog post back in Feb 2017, I have proved to my satisfaction that Rachel's husband was named William NOT James. My theory is that an early researcher called this man James and that the researchers who came after her/him continued the mistake. When Rachel's father died he left the land on which William Morrison now lives to the couple in his will
Second we now know that William Morrison who married Rachel Witcher was not the original immigrant. He is found in his father's home in Pittsylvania County in the tax list of 1773. I am quite certain that Patrick Morrison of Pittsylvania County is the father of William. It is not totally clear that Patrick did not come with parents or at least brothers.
And third the TN Morrison group who are DNA matches have folklore saying that four Morrison brothers arrived on these shores from Scotland not from Ireland. All of these groups of people are almost certainly from the same original immigrants!
But nonetheless, Here are my thoughts on Donegal. First of all. The original Morrisons of Scotland are said to have lived on the island that is marked below with the big red marker.
There is little in the way of historical information on the origins of Clan Morrison. It is generally accepted that the hereditary judges, or brieves, of the Isle of Lewis were chiefs of the clan until that office disappeared in the early 1600's. The seat of the brieves was at Habost in Ness, near the Butt of Lewis. One tradition is that this line of brieves were descended from a Morrison heiress of the original line and a Macdonald of Ardnamurchan who married her in the 1300's. The Morrisons of Harris claim to be of the original line.
The Isle of Lewis is marked with the big red marker below.
The Isle of Lewis is marked with the big red marker below.
Donegal is the pink area on the map of Ireland in the below map:
I think it is quite obvious how easy it might have been for some Morrisons to have moved from that far northern island to Donegal if they were fishermen or had access to boats.
I have to point out that while Donegal County is in the northern part of the Island of Ireland, it is NOT a part of Northern Ireland. Does that mean that it was not settled by the British during the period of the Scotch-Irish?
I asked on the Scotch-Irish list for input on understanding County Donegal in the context of the Scotch-Irish. John Polk was kind enough to send me the below with permission to add it to my post:
Donegal may not be part of what is now Northern Ireland but it is one of the nine counties of Ulster and was very much part of the Ulster Plantation beginning in 1609. I just checked the Donegal Hearth Rolls for 1665 and found 8 Morisons (sic) listed at that time.
Ulster Scots came to America and became what we call Scotch-Irish from Donegal just as from the other counties of Ulster. In fact the first recognizable Scotch-Irish community in America came mainly from the Area of Lifford in Donegal, following the lead of Rev. Francis Makemie (of Ramelton), to Somerset County Maryland in 1683. To see my article on this topic from The Journal of Scotch-Irish studies please go to http://www.mdgenweb.org/somerset/history/scotch-irish.htm
The main wave of Scotch-Irish to America began about 1715 and continued unabated up to the Revolutionary War, particularly into Pennsylvania and on down the Appalachians into Virginia and the Carolinas. If you want to see a list of names, the mother lode of Scotch-Irish settlers in Pennsylvania in the mid-18th century is here - http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/rg/di/r17-88WarrantRegisters/r17-88AllCountiesInterface.htm Just pick a county, particularly Chester, Lancaster, Cumberland, York, and start looking at the names on all the warrants that were issued at that time. I am sure you will find some Morrisons.
Ulster Scots came to America and became what we call Scotch-Irish from Donegal just as from the other counties of Ulster. In fact the first recognizable Scotch-Irish community in America came mainly from the Area of Lifford in Donegal, following the lead of Rev. Francis Makemie (of Ramelton), to Somerset County Maryland in 1683. To see my article on this topic from The Journal of Scotch-Irish studies please go to http://www.mdgenweb.org/somerset/history/scotch-irish.htm
The main wave of Scotch-Irish to America began about 1715 and continued unabated up to the Revolutionary War, particularly into Pennsylvania and on down the Appalachians into Virginia and the Carolinas. If you want to see a list of names, the mother lode of Scotch-Irish settlers in Pennsylvania in the mid-18th century is here - http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/rg/di/r17-88WarrantRegisters/r17-88AllCountiesInterface.htm Just pick a county, particularly Chester, Lancaster, Cumberland, York, and start looking at the names on all the warrants that were issued at that time. I am sure you will find some Morrisons.
The situation in Scotland in the 1700s was wholly different and more comfortable than it was in Ulster in both religious and economic terms. They had far less reason to emigrate although there were still many supporters of the Stewarts and Bonnie Prince Charlie who wanted to rebel against British rule. That met a sorry end at Culloden in 1746 after which a lot them were exiled to very parts of the empire. A large contingent of them settled in the coastal areas of North and South Carolina, but they had nothing to do with their Scotch-Irish cousins in the piedmont and Appalachian areas.
There is a really good book about them which I highly recommend as a general background - "The Scotch-Irish, A Social History" by James G. Leyburn. Perhaps you already have it.
The next crazy thoughts that I have are about my mother's Family Finder matches. I wrote a blog post several years ago about a man who contacted me about one of my mother's matches. This man asked me if we had McDonald connections. You can read it here:
It looks as if the Morrison Clan and the McDonald Clan shared home lands.
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