 As I attempt to write a brief biography of my
Great-grandfather, Benjamin Abbott Morrison, it is with difficulty and sadness...difficulty, because I know so little of his life; and sadness, because his thoughts, feelings, dreams and aspirations are forever lost, having never been put to paper...
Benjamin was born on January 31st, 1857, in Cordova, LeSueur County, Minnesota to John Wesley and Mary Ellen (Forqueran) Morrison. It took me quite a while to find him, because I was told he was born in 'Red Barn, Kentucky'. After several years trying without success to locate the family, I felt that I should look in Minnesota, where my grandmother, Laura Edna Morrison, was born. To my surprise, I found that Benjamin was also born in Minnesota. [Family stories related the tale of the family being driven from Virginia during the final days of the Civil War, leaving their beloved home behind, and carrying what belongings they could, along with their wounded men, and fleeing along the Dodd Trail.] Finding the family in Minnesota ten years prior to the Civil War was confusing to say the least. The picture I have in my mind, which is unsubstantiated by fact, is of a family who sent their men back to fight for their homeland during the Rebellion, and having the men return, defeated, at the end of the war. This portion is somewhat substantiated by the list of Confederate soldiers who fought for what would become West Virginia, and having John Morrison listed as one of those Confederate Soldiers.
In actuality, the family gradually left the Kanawha Valley of Virginia after the death of Ben's grandfather, Andrew Morrison, in 1850. Nancy (Carruthers) Morrison and her sons sold their portion of the home to the oldest daughter, Elizabeth Ann, and Elizabeth's husband, William Cash. For a few years the family lived in Cass County, Indiana, then made their way to the Minnesota territory, where they remained until the late 1890's.
According to the autobiography written by my Great-grandmother, Violetta Clara Martin, the initial years with Ben were wonderful. It wasn't until after Ben began working for John Deere as a traveling salesman, demonstrating the equipment on-site, that a problem with drinking began. My Uncle, David William Harley, said that Violetta was a staunch "Prohibitionist" who abhorred drink and many other forms of recreation. The picture that emerges in my mind is of two cultural backgrounds which clashed: one from the hardships of the coast of Maine, and the other from a life of ease and indulgence from the genteel South. Whether this is true or not is purely conjecture; however, this is the story which Aunt Dette also puts forth in her autobiographical story Tell Me the Tales. As with most family histories passed down through the generations, there is probably a blend of fact and fiction, with the fiction resulting more from an inaccurate memory than from a desire to mislead.
Ben met Violetta Clara Martin while she was living with her sister's family in Minnesota. They were married on December 25th, 1881, and Violetta moved into the family home where Ben was raised. Ben's three younger sisters, his brother, John Edward, and his mother, Mary were also living there. The new family lived with Ben's family for a number of years, before setting out on their own.
Ben and Violetta had seven daughters born to them, six of whom were born in Minnesota, and the youngest born after Violetta left Ben and moved to Washington State, in 1904. The girls included:
Mabel Francis, born August 2nd, 1882
Mary DeEtte, born June 1st, 1886
Sibyl Josephine, born March 27th, 1889
Laura Edna, born November 9th, 1893
Twins: Gladys Marguerite and Goldya Ann, born May 14th, 1897, and
Maxine Fleetwood, born January 25th, 1904
|
The only information we have of life with Ben is found in the story written by Aunt Dette. She paints a mental image of a kind, gentle man. The portion of her story that relates to the adventure in California in the early 1890's shows a man who was concerned for his family, and who indulged his wife and daughters. It is sad that the good times seemed to end with their return to Minnesota, and his subsequent job with John Deere.
 Ben did not see his youngest daughter, and, indeed, never knew of her existence until some time after her birth. In 1922 Ben traveled to Port Angeles, Washington, where Violetta had settled with her second husband, Elijah Bradley, and where her daughters, Laura, Dette and Goldya lived. He brought with him his Clan Tartan, giving one to my grandmother, Laura, and one to my father, Joseph Morrison Harley, which he wore as a two-year-old.
In the early 1940's Aunt Dette re-established communication with Ben, after having tracked him down through a minister in Minnesota. Ben and Dette corresponded for a time, before he became ill. He died on Monday, December 19th, 1943, in Brainerd, Crow Wing, Minnesota. The obituary notice from the Crosby Courier states:
Uncle of Range Matrons Succombs. Funeral services were conducted yesterday from the Koop Funeral Home for Benjamin Morrison, age 70, who died Monday evening at the Wunderlich Rest Home in Brainerd. The Reverend Arnold Thoren officiated and internment was in Lakewood Cemetery.
Surviving the deceased on the Range are two nieces, Mrs. R.R. Graham, and Mrs. Valiquet, (of) Crosby.
The sad thing is the fact that no mention is made of his family...no mention of the seven daughters and many grandchildren which were his descendants. My mind's eye will always remember him as he is pictured, per Violetta's words in her autobiography: Ben at the train platform, begging her to stay, with tears streaming down his face, while she felt a coldness in her heart for the man she had once loved and married.
For additional reading about this beloved ancestor read:
Benjamin Abbott Morrison: Crow Wing County Old-timers' File, recorded in 1936 by A. Peterson.
|
