| State | Maryland |
|---|---|
| County (Primary) | Somerset |
| Other Counties | Worcester, Sussex |
| Family Name | Morris |
| Family History Notes | Mixed-race members of the Morris family in Maryland and Delaware may have been related to William Morris "Mallatto" of Accomack County, Virginia [Orders 1703-9, 38, 42a]. They were 1 i. Nathaniel, born say 1722. 2 ii. Elizabeth1, born about 1726. iii. Thomas, born say 1728, a "mulato" taxable in Nanticoke Hundred of Somerset County in 1748 [List of Tithables, 1748]. 1. Nathaniel1 Morris, born in October 1720, orphan son of George Morris, was bound by the Somerset County court as an apprentice to James Longo to make linen and woolen wheels and chairs and to read and write on 17 June 1735 [Judicial Record 1735-7, 14]. He was taxable in the household of James Longo in Wicomoco Hundred, Somerset County, from 1736 to 1740. He was also listed in his own household with wife Eliza in 1740 [List of Tithables]. He registered the birth of his son, Levi, in St. George's Protestant Episcopal Church, Sussex County, Delaware, on 17 January 1747/8 [Wright, Vital Records of Kent and Sussex Counties, 93]. He may have been the Nathaniel Morres who owed the Worcester County estate of Peter Beckett 12 shillings on 23 January 1754 [Prerogative Inventories 60:89]. He was taxable in Broadkill Hundred, Sussex County, from 1770 to 1774. He was the father of 3 i. Levi1, born 17 January 1747/8. ii. Elizabeth3, born say 1752, married Thomas Clerk (Clark) ("Mustees, free"), 1 July 1773 in Lewes and Coolspring Presbyterian Church [Records of the United Presbyterian Churches of Lewes, Indian River and Cool Spring, Delaware 1756-1855, 286]. 2. Elizabeth1 Morris, born about 1726, was a "Molatto Girle" aged twelve years old, bound until the age of twenty-one, and valued at 18 pounds in the 25 July 1738 Talbot County estate of John Vickers [Prerogative Court Inventories 1737-9, 23:488]. She may have been the mother of i. John, head of a Queen Anne's County household of 8 "other free" in 1790. ii. Elizabeth2, born say 1750, presented by the Queen Anne's County court in March 1770 for having an illegitimate child by a "negro." She was sold for seven years and her daughter Jane, born 7 January 1770, was sold for thirty-one years to William Robinson for a total of 2,600 pounds of tobacco [Surles, And they Appeared at Court 1770-1772, 5]. 3. Levi1 Morris, born 17 January 1747/8, married Sarah Hanzer, in September 1768 in Sussex County, Delaware [Records of the United Presbyterian Churches of Lewes, Indian River and Cool Spring, Delaware 1756-1855, 279]. He was a delinquent taxable in Sussex County in 1767, a delinquent taxable in Lewes and Rehoboth Hundreds, Sussex County, in 1787, head of an Indian River, Sussex County household of 4 "other free" in 1800 [DE:438] and 5 in 1810 [DE:456]. The Sussex County court fined him six pence for assault in February 1773 [RG 4805, General Sessions, 1767-1794, frame 132]. He may have been the father of i. Nathaniel2, born say 1775, married Alice Handsor, "Two free Mulatoes," on 24 December 1799 in Sussex County, Delaware, and second, Sarah Cornish, "free Mulattoes," on 5 December 1802 [Records of the United Presbyterian Churches of Lewes, Indian River and Cool Spring, Delaware 1756-1855, 315, 318]. He was head of an Indian River, Sussex County household of 2 "other free" in 1800 [DE:438] and 8 "free colored" in 1820 [DE:220]. ii. Nancy, married Abel Jacobs, "free Mulattoes," on 18 April 1802 in Sussex County, Delaware [Records of the United Presbyterian Churches of Lewes, Indian River and Cool Spring, Delaware 1756-1855, 310, 318]. iii. Levy2, born 1776-1794, married ___ Oakey in May 1805 and second, Eunice Johnson, "Mulattoes," on 19 December 1810 in Sussex County, Delaware [Records of the United Presbyterian Churches of Lewes, Indian River and Cool Spring, Delaware 1756-1855, 322]. He was head of an Indian River, Sussex County household of 3 "other free" in 1810 [DE:416] and 5 "free colored" in 1820 [DE:208]. iv. Simon, head of an Indian River, Sussex County household of 3 "other free" in 1800 [DE:308]. v. Isaac, head of an Indian River, Sussex County household of 4 "free colored" in 1820 [DE:214]. vi. Minty, born before 1776, head of a Worcester County household of 9 "free colored" in 1830. vii. Gabriel, born before 1776, head of a Worcester County household of 7 "free colored" in 1830 |
| Additional Notes | – |
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[Author (if known)], Free Black Families of Colonial Delmarva (abstracted by Paul Heinegg), [Date (if known)], Enduring Connections: Exploring Delmarva’s Black History, Nabb Research Center, Salisbury University.
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