Morris Family
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Morris Family


The Morris family came to Kanawha in 1774, and are now found in every portion of the Valley. They have married and intermarried, until the original Morris blood runs in the veins of thousands of persons who reside in this portion of West Virginia. William Morris Sr.*, was the first permanent settler of the Kanawha Valley. Walter Kelly was the first to locate on the Kanawha river, but he was murdered by the Indians a few months after his arrival in the valley. Mr. Morris came here soon after Mr. Kelly's death, and purchased the Kelly's creek tract of land from the widow of Mr. Kelly. There were nine brothers of the original Morris family, viz: William, or "Billy" as he was always called, Henry, Joshua, Leonard, Levi, Edmund, John, Kellis, and Benjamin. There were but two sisters, viz: Betty and Franky. William, as stated, located at the mouth of Kelly's creek, where Mrs. R E Tompkins now resides. John settled on the Kanawha, opposite the mouth of Campbell's creek, five miles above Charleston. Edmund and Joshua secured beautiful homesteads in Teay's Valley, and the other brothers settled at different points along the Kanawha river. There were four "Billy Morrises," and in referring to them it was often difficult to distinguish them from each other. "Old Billy" had a son called "Major Billy." Carroll, a son of "Major Billy," had a son whom he called "Little Billy," who was a noted salt-well borer; and Edmund had a son who went by the name of "Falls Billy," because he resided at the Falls of Kanawha." "History of Kanawha county, West Virginia from its organization in 1789 until present time" by George W Atkinson-written in 1876.
Submitted by Beckie Rawdon ([email protected]) on Thu Apr 2 08:38:24 1998
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