There is a gravestone at Jetersville Methodist Church in Amelia for Willie Holland Morris who was the youngest son of my 2x great-grandparents John Rives & Ann Octavia (Vaughan) Morris. Willie was born at Creekland farm near Jetersville where he lived the entirety of his short 20 year life. According to my grandmother Rebecca Blanton (Morris) Eisenbeis (1913-1994), her uncle Willie died from lockjaw due to an accidental gunshot wound to his foot he sustained while hunting. He never married nor had any children. Virginia did not require that counties keep death certificates from 1896-1912 so Willie doesn’t have one of those either. Just a story and a gravestone are all that remain.
Oh yeah, and his middle name. Willie’s middle name – Holland – provided a clue that helped prove the connection between our Amelia County Morris family and the Nathaniel Morris family of Buckingham County, Virginia. Our family story was that my 2x great grandfather John Rives Morris’ father was James Morris of Buckingham County. With nearly all of Buckingham County’s records destroyed in an 1869 courthouse fire and multiple Morris families in Buckingham County it was a challenge I wasn’t sure could be overcome. And this was all back in the pre-Internet days, which means it took a lot of hours over a lot of years to find and review records.
Undaunted, I began looking for Morris and Holland connections in and around Amelia and Buckingham. At last, I found a marriage bond dated 5 January 1808 in Prince Edward County (created in 1754 out of Amelia County) and adjoining Buckingham County) for John Morris and Nancy Holland, daughter of Dick Holland, deceased.[1]
Naturally there were multiple John Morris’ around, so it took me a while to figure out he was the John Morris (1779-c.1862) who was a Justice of the Peace in Buckingham County and eldest son of Nathaniel Morris (c.1745-1813) and Nancy Jeffries (c.1755-1833). One of John’s brothers was Samuel Morris of Buckingham Springs fame.
Next, I found an 1840-1841 Report of the Privileges and Elections Committee in the Journal of the Virginia House of Delegates, which was about a contested election in Buckingham County. It revealed that John Morris had given his son John J. Morris a plantation called Cutbanks, which lay in both Prince Edward County and Buckingham County separated by the Appomattox River. Cutbanks residence was on the 550 acres in Prince Edward County, while about improved 200 were in Buckingham. John J. Morris had voted in Buckingham and his vote was contested, but ultimately found to be legal.
And that led me to a series of Prince Edward County Chancery suits during the 1830s and 1840s, which proved that John and Nancy (Holland) Morris’ eldest son John J. Morris (c.1812-c.1858) was in fact, our James Morris. While styled John J. Morris in most records, he is also listed as J. James Morris and John James Morris a few times. Chancery suits are among the very best records available for genealogists and family historians, and many are now available at no charge through the Library of Virginia’s, Virginia Memory and searchable by surname(s). You can access the index here: https://www.virginiamemory.com/collections/chancery/
My 3x great-grandparents John James & Elizabeth S. (Gills) Morris and their children were featured in two earlier blog posts about my 2x great grandfather John Rives Morris you can check out here:
Fatally gored by an infuriated bull – Pt. 1: https://wordpress.com/post/asonofvirginia.blog/117
John Rives Morris (1840-1904) – Pt. 2: https://wordpress.com/post/asonofvirginia.blog/266
The Rest of Willie’s Story
As it turns out there is a little more to the story of Willie Holland Morris (1876-1897). He was named for his paternal uncle William Holland Morris (1844-1863), who was the youngest brother of my 2x great grandfather John Rives Morris. Like Willie, his was a short life ending in Richmond, Virginia on 2 March 1863 “after an illness of several weeks” at just 19 years old. These Morris and Holland families were further connected when John Morris’s sister Sarah married Nancy’s brother, Henry Walker Holland. Another of Nancy’s brother was named William Holland – perhaps the original namesake.
Next Time: My 7x great grandfather Michael Holland of Hanover County, Virginia
Not only did Willie’s middle name help prove Morris family connections, but it also led me to my Holland ancestors. The Virginia progenitor is Michael Holland and he is a real mystery. He shows up in 1711 in Hanover County and over the next 35 years became a very wealthy man. When he made his will on 10 October 1746, he made bequests to his wife and children of some 6,600 acres and more than 40 enslaved men, women and children. He directed his executors (his sons-in-law) to sell the rest of his land and enslaved people. The number of enslaved is unknown, but patent and deed records indicate that when Michael Holland died, he owned more than 43,000 acres in several Virginia counties. He also held a joint interest in another 24,000 acres.
Many researchers have falsely connected him to the Hollands of Nansemond County, Virginia as well as a wife named Judith Merrymen. We will delve into what the records say about Michael Holland. Then we will examine his son Richard Holland (my 6x great grandfather) who managed to lose his 1,450 acre inheritance and die virtually broke in a “riches to rags” story you won’t believe. Stay tuned!
[1] Prince Edward County marriage bonds 1808-1815, unindexed; https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C91C-BQHV-H?i=36&cc=2134304&cat=1117403 ; accessed 31 May 2023
A Son of Virginia 