Rumored Indian Blood in the Clarke, Morgan and Morrill families

WONALANCET
SANDWICH, NEW HAMPSHIRE

18TH CENTURY ILLUSTRATION OF ALGONQUIAN PEOPLE

Does Emily Temm-Clarke have Indian Blood, stemming from family stories about this, and witnessing her high cheekbones and large body?

Short Answer:  No, not at all.  This family link does not have Indian roots, after running DNA tests.  My family story of being linked to Indians is nothing more than fiction, and a very common story among most White American families.

Long Answer below, with all research...

This blogpost is a place for my research on the rumored Indian ancestry in my family, coming through my maternal grandmother, Emily Temm-Clarke, and my theory at one time that it might lie with my grandma Emily's maternal great grandmother, Sally Elliot-Morrill, born to Benjamin Elliot and Susannah Drew of Sandwich, New Hampshire in 1805, wife of Jonathan Smythe Morrill of Tuftonboro, and later of Portland Maine.  Jonathan and Sally are the forefathers of a large number of Greater Portland Morrills.

As mentioned in an earlier post, if you ask any White American about his ancestry, they will most definitely tell you that they are "part Native American".  I've had fun with these people, trying to get proof for their claims, but the best that most can offer is that Grandma told them there was a "Cherokee Indian Princess" in there somewhere.  Occasionally someone offers up some DNA proof, and I've even helped some people find verifiable links to Indian census rolls .  It can happen, of course, but not nearly as much as we might wish.

The story I always heard in my family while growing up was that somewhere on Grandma Emily's side of the family, we are from the "Blackfoot Tribe".   As a child, it sounded interesting enough to me.  As a moody teenager searching for validation, I began to adopt the idea as fact, and believed myself to be special in some way, given that I already had been told that my dad's side of the family had Mayflower roots (a rumor I was able to prove true - many times over - with a lot of help from cousins, and digging through many old records).  As a teenager, though, I found it fascinating to imagine myself as descending both from native people and from those who colonized.

At some point after I began college in NYC, I was at the public library, where I was approached by a very obvious looking American Indian, who told me that I appeared to have some measure of Indian features, and that I should join the YMCA Thunderbirds, who could supposedly help me determine the truth of it all...with the ultimate goal of my being able to apply for government scholarships for college, since American Indians can apply for grants for that purpose, of course depending on how much native blood you can prove to posess.

I never took the kind man up on his offer, and my own independent research later led me to learn that Blackfoot Nation is located in Montana.  Was some ancestor of mine from Montana?  Did they later 'drift' to New England??  Was there even a connection?  Or, more likely, was this all an exotic story that had been passed down many generations?  I didn't know or care enough at the time to pursue it further.  However, while still in college, in one last ditch effort to try and secure government cash for my schooling, I went to my 86 year old Grandma Emily, and asked her, "Hey Gram, what tribe of Indian are we anyway?"

EMILY TEMM-CLARKE
HOLDING BABY ME (1970)

"INDIAN??  I ain't no GAWWWD damned Indian!!" was her reply...and that was that!

Now, this is quite contrary to what she had supposedly told my mother growing up.  So, blame it on a bit of senility, or exaggerated family folklore, but I was still left to sit on that for several years, until it became a pet project of mine as a family researcher.

Many have looked at the picture above and have said "How can she deny being part Indian?"  Those tough features, high cheekbones and all...but the woman above was born to parents who were deemed "WHITE" on all available records.  Her father, John Henry Temm, was half German, half Scottish, and I have records backing that up.

Her mother, Hattie Morgan Temm, was, as far as I could tell from my research, purely of English/Welsh stock.  However, she does appear quite dark in the below sepia-tone photo, but that could be easily blamed on photography:

HATTIE MORGAN-TEMM

Hattie's father, William Sanford Morgan, looks white (and is clearly the source of my gramma's high cheekbones).  He is proven to be of English and Welsh blood by many dozens of available records:

WILLIAM SANFORD MORGAN

Hattie's mother (and William's spouse), Emily Morrill, daughter to Sally Elliot, looks white too...but perhaps there's a small amount of something else there?

Hattie's sister, Adelaide Morgan-Simpson, also looks white, but carries that same 'big rough face and high cheekbones' as the other ladies:

Adelaide's only child, Emily Simpson-Pease, actually looks kind of dark (but perhaps it's also the tone of the photo?), when HER father was white and of direct British descent:

I had my mother do a maternal DNA (mtDNA) test.  This would serve to show a link to ancient racial migration patterns, but only to her direct maternal line...which would include all the ladies pictured above.

Her group came up as "Haplogroup X2b4".  Now, A, B, C, D, and some of X are all associated with migratory Siberian Asian people that settled in the Americas as the first, "Native Americans"...for lack of a better term.  But some women in Haplogroup X are also linked to European people, so much research had to be done to create the above group X2b4, to narrow this down (this occurred in 2015).

Now, the Ossipee Nation (one of the 12 tribes of Algonquian/Eastern Abenaki Indians) was located on Lake Winnepesaukee tributary known as the Melvin River.  My thought was that Sally may have been associated with this tribe, given the proximity.  A poem by John Greenleaf Whittier describes the famous Indian Grave by the Lake where they found the bones of a seven foot Indian and placed a memorial stone.

I've been satisfied, though, with the DNA research above, completed in 2015, that there is most definitely no Native American blood in my family.  Looks like my Grandma Emily was correct after all.  She wasn't no "GAWWWD Damned Indian".

Jonathan and Sally Morrill of Portland Maine

My third great grandfather was Jonathan Smythe Morrill (1802-1881), a carpenter, ship builder, stevedore, and laborer born in Tuftonboro, NH to Jotham Morrill and Catherine Brown, both of Moultonboro, NH.

MORRILL FAMILY PLOT

FOREST CITY CEMETERY

(who else is buried there?)

Jonathan married Sarah "Sally" D. Elliot (falsely rumored in my family to be of Native American descent, and from Sandwich, NH) on 14 Dec 1826, in Moultonborough, NH by Isaiah Greene Orne, Esq. (Source:  Early Marriages of Strafford County - thanks to Google Books free previews!).  However, the Mormon FHL has a record of their marrying in nearby Moultonboro, which record states that they were both from Moultonboro.  It's possible that some more research there would be beneficial, to find if perhaps this record is more accurate (there are no Eliots in either the 1810 or 1820 Moultonboro census).

After marriage, they immediately moved to Maine, first living in Westbrook (then part of Deering) (1830 Census).  Next door to them was Benjamin Elliot's family.  See census below (not a great copy, by the way), where I've yellow highlighted the Elliot and Morrill heads of household:

By the 1840 Census, the Morrills had taken up a rental residence in the rear apartment at 62 Washington Avenue in Portland, where Jonathan worked as a pile driver and a bridge builder.  His family was one of the first Morrill families to arrive in Portland.

Jonathan & Sally lived in the East Bayside district of Portland the remainder of their lives, which was quickly becoming a diverse neighborhood, filled with African Americans and Irish, and was then the locale for the Cumberland County Jail on Monroe Street.  In 1854, their son, John HB Morrill, had purchased 62 Washington from Peter Andrews, but in 1861 he deeded the property to his mother Sally (not sure why it didn't go to his father!).  In 1878, they moved around the corner to a rear apartment on 15 Winthrop Street for the remaining few years of Jonathan's life, a place they rented from Irish immigrant family, the Maddens.  The Morrills were not counted here on the 1880 Census, for some reason.  Maybe the census taker failed to look at the rear apartment.  In any case, 1881, just after Jonathan passed away, Sally sold the Washington Street building saw the sale of the building for only $125.00, which would be over $4K today!  I wonder why Sally was taken to the cleaners like that?

In 1859, Jonathan's name appeared in the paper as Defendant of a criminal State lawsuit dated the prior year, for the amount of $3.67 ($111 in 2020 dollars).

For the 1866 City Directory, it appears that 62 Washington (rear) had another interesting dweller, one Smith Morrill, a dock builder living right in the same apartment as Jonathan.  Not a clue who that could be - the only male Morrill in the family besides Jonathan was his own son the hairdresser, living up the hill at 13 Melbourne. 

In March of 1868, during the high turnout election for Mayor, Jonathan was accused of voter fraud ("fraudulently voting in the name of another"), but was later cleared of the charge when it was determined that his name had simply been incorrectly transcribed by an election official.  Given the rampant voting fraud that year, tensions were high among the pollsters, and Jonathan was given undue extra scrutiny, it seems.

Ironically, the name he was accidentally given on the voter roll (and was then accused of using this as a fake name) was Jotham G. Morrill (which was his father's name!):

Eastern Daily Argus
Mar. 7, 1868

Jonathan & Sally had nine children in Portland.  Jonathan died in Portland in 1881.

Portland Daily Press
July 18, 1881

I believe at least three of Jonathan & Sally's kids died young.  Here is a best copy image of the birth roster from Portland archives, courtesy of the Mormon Library:

Transcribed below, with a brief history:

1. Abigail Morrill (1827 – ) doesn't appear in any later records.  She had died prior to the 1840 Census.

2. Sarah Jane Morrill (1828 – ) was a dressmaker.  She married at age 17 to a 52 year old Portugese sailor named Peter Andros (who Anglicized his name to Andrews, and his descendants were born with that name).  They had four children, and then divorced around 1862.  Sarah Jane remarried to Woodbury Morse in 1864, then had another four children.  She and Woodbury died sometime between the 1900 and 1910 Censuses.

3. Benjamin Morrill (1831 – ) doesn't appear in any later records.  He was definitely dead by the 1840 Census.

4. Statira G. Morrill (1831 – 1862) was named after her aunt Statira Graves of NH.  She lived in Portland for her entire, very short, life.  She worked as a seamstress, and at 17 she married a Samuel Tucker.  A few years later she married a Canadian named Joshua Carey.  They had one child, Naomi Carey, in 1858.  Naomi was only 4 when her mother died, and was therefore raised by her grandparents.  Joshua soon remarried a woman named Amelia, and had six more children.  I'm not sure why Joshua couldn't raise Naomi.  Naomi married Edward Hall, a carriage painter, and son to the British Halls of that neighborhood.  Edward Hall's brother Joseph was later a 2nd husband to Naomi's aunt Emily Morrill. Naomi & Edward had three children.

5. John Henry Brown Morrill (1834 – 1894) fought in the Civil War, and worked as a hair dresser in Portland.  He married Maria Beal from Freeport in 1863, and they had three children of their own:  Frederick, John & Nettie Morrill.  Maria also had three kids from a prior marriage, Ira, Phebe, and Bertha Chase.  Bertha was adopted by John, so she became Bertha Morrill.  This particular family has many descendants.  John was a very popular barber, and he is well mentioned in his former boss, John Todd's 1906 Book, "A sketch of the life of John M. Todd : sixty-two years in a barber shop, and reminiscences of his customers".   One particularly amusing anecdote from that book follows: 

John H.B. Morrill worked for me sixteen years.  He was a character, a man of impulse, not always governed by the highest principles, and also a genius.  After the great fire he moved over to the Cape, now South Portland.  He bought a cow and calf.  He took the cow over the ferry at noon, but the calf he sold to a butcher, who was to take it home at evening.  After the great fire in 1866, I bought a photograph saloon and hauled it upon the sidewalk in front of the post office.  The custom house at that time was in the post office building in the room now occupied by the United States Court.  Mr. Morrill hitched the calf to the wheel of the saloon until the butcher called for it.  Of course, as soon as the mother was taken away, the calf commenced its music, and such bleating and blarting was never heard in front of the post office before nor since.  One of the inspectors of customs came in a great rage and said: “Todd, I want that calf moved at once.” “That is not my property, Mr. Blank,” I replied. “Whose calf is it?” “Mr. Morrill did own it, but has sold it to a butcher.”  “Mr. Morrill, you remove that nuisance at once.” “You don’t like that music, I reckon,” Mr. Morrill replied.  “Mr. Blank, you will blart worse than that when the Federal tit is taken from you.” 

He kept the cow all summer, sold her, I think, to Captain Mareen.  “I see she has but one horn, Mr. Morrill.  She is not breachy, and broke her horn by hooking fences, I hope.” “She never troubled me any that way.”  In a few weeks the captain called on Mr. Morrill.  “Happy to see you, Captain.”  “I don’t know whether you will be happy or not to see me, I have come on business.” Morrill told me afterwards he knew what the business was he came to adjust.” You told me, Mr. Morrill, that cow was not breachy.  I can’t keep her anywhere.  She will toss over her head every fence she comes to.  She would break up a camp meeting.  Now what did you mean by telling me that she was not breachy?” “I never told you so.” “You certainly did, for I asked in particular if she was not and spoke of her horn being broken off.  Don’t you remember that?”  “Yes, I remember your speaking about that, and I told you in plain words, Captain, that she had never troubled me any on that account.  She would come home every night full of herd grass and clover she had got by breaking into the neighbor’s field, but it never troubled me any.  But it did trouble Neighbor Dyer, I have no doubt, some; but it never did me.” The captain burst out laughing, bade him goodby and went home.

In 1858 there was a closely contested election for mayor.  At that time there were no secret ballots and the voting was not as closely watched as now.  Everybody was supposed to be honest then.  Morrill was a great hustler.  He boasted that he could get more floaters to the polls to vote than any man in the city.  He belonged to fire engine number eight, and the company had as lively a set of boys at that time as any company in the city.  One of the boys hailed Morrill and said “We must get every voter out today that is on the voting list, or we shall get left.  I just looked over the list.  There is Patrick Ward’s name there.  He died about two years ago.  You can get someone to vote in his name.  There is a dollar to pay the fellow that you get.” John plants himself upon the sidewalk to look over the longshoremen as they go to dinner.  Mr. Blank was warden at that time.  He was a great politician.  Morrill did not have long to wait before an Irishman, a coal heaver, on his way to dinner, appeared.  John stepped up to him in a most familiar manner, reached out his hand with a “How are you, Mr. Ward?” “And who are ye talking to, young man? My name is not Ward at all, but Mike Flannagan.”  “Never mind that.  I have a dollar for you.”  “What for?”  “I want you to vote for me.”  “Faith, I can’t.  I’m not naturalized.”  “That makes no difference today.”  “Is that so, and how is that?”  “Why, there is a name on the voting list; I want you to vote in that name, and the dollar is yours.  Will you do as I want you to, for obedience is better than sacrifice in this case? Now listen; I want you to walk up to the desk over there, hold up your head, as though you owned the whole shooting match, and say, ‘Pat Ward, sir.  Speak up loud,’ and he will say, ‘What ward?’  Tell him * Ward one.’ “He marched up as big as Billybeblessed.”Mr. Ward, sir.’ He forgot to put in Pat.  Mr. Blank said, “What Ward?” “Ward one, sir.  Vote Mr. Ward.”  One of the Republican checkers said, “He did not understand you, Mr. Blank, when you asked for his given name.” “Well, I did,” said the warden, amid a roar of laughter.

6. Isaac Morrill (1837 – ) doesn't appear in the 1840 or 1850 Census. He must have died as a child.

7. Catharine Morrill (1838 – ) doesn't appear in the 1840 or 1850 Census.  She must have died as a child.

8. Martha W. Morrill (1840 – 1917) married James Hiram Curtis, and had at least 6 children: Charles F., James E., Annie J., Ida E., Florence Louise, and William E.  Martha was widowed by 1910.

9. Emily N. Morrill (1844 – 1900) was my 2nd great grandmother.  She married William Sanford Morgan, a Civil War veteran, on 28 Oct 1865, and had three daughters:  (1) Abbie (who never married), (2) Adelaide (who married George Simpson and later Presbury Dennison, and had one daughter, Emily Simpson-Pease), and (3) my great grandmother, Hattie Temm.  In 1887, William & Emily divorced (due to his constant drinking) and Emily moved to 27 Everett Street.  She remarried to neighbor and childhood friend Joseph G. Hall, a carriage painter (and brother to her niece Naomi's husband Edward Hall from the East Bayside neighborhood).  They married in 1891, and moved on 123 Cumberland Avenue, right around the corner from where her mother (then widowed) was living on 21 Cleeve Street.  

Emily's husband Joseph died in 1895, and then Emily died in 1900 of hemiplegia.  Her first husband William lived until 1920.  Everyone is buried at Forest City Cemetery in South Portland.

EMILY N. MORRILL-MORGAN-HALL

(ca 1890)

Many of the descendants of Jonathan & Sally can be found living in the Portland area today.

The Elliots of Sandwich New Hampshire

I paid a visit to Sandwich New Hampshire this fall 2011 to see if I could learn anything more about my 3rd great grandmother, the mysterious Sally D. Elliot, born June 1805 in Sandwich, who most likely was daughter to Benjamin Elliot & Susannah Drew of Sandwich (the only married couple I could find in Sandwich at that time who were of child-rearing age).  Benjamin & Susannah were married in nearby Madbury, and at the time of their marriage (October of 1792), they both lived in neighboring Lee, NH.

Benjamin and Susannah had six children, per NH Birth Records:

1.  Jedediah (1793-___) - no further records.

2.  Francis (1794-___) married Jane Coffin.  No further records.

3.  John (1796-1872) married Rebecca Bean, of the Carroll County Beans of which I'm separately related to.  He had five children:  Albert, Julia, Elizabeth, Ursula, Clara.

In the summer of 1824, John and his (cousin?) Nathaniel Elliott of Lee were arrested, along with three other young men, for stealing what appears to be a horse.  They were each given five years in Concord State Prison.

4. Samuel (1801-1890) married Mercy Vail of Plymouth MA in 1835, and raised 5 daughters with her in Plymouth.  This was the furthest away any of this family moved to (a week-long ride by horse and buggy).

5. Susan C. (1803-1882) married farmer John Varney Caverley, and stayed in the Sandwich/Tuftonboro area.  They had three children:  Mehitable, Francis and John (the youngest two moved to Haverhill, MA where they raised their families).  For the 1880 Tuftonboro Census, this family lived right next door to John's son Albert, who by then was dying of cancer.  I wonder if Susan was close to her nephew and wanted to care for him.  She would pass two years later.

6. Sally (1805-1889), my 3rd great grandmother.  She married Jonathan Smythe Morrill of Tuftonboro New Hampshire in 1826, and immediately moved to Portland, Maine, where they started the very large Morrill family, of which several hundred people can claim ancestry to in southern Maine.  Jonathan's move to Portland may have been inspired by his many cousins who had moved there prior to him, who started the Morrill's Corner tanneries and the Burnham & Morrill baked bean empire.

Now for some research on the birth location of each of these two parents.

On Benjamin & Susannah's daughter Susan's death record, it states that Susannah was from Dover, while their marriage record says they were both from Lee.  The 1800 Census for Dover has four Drew-named heads of households, one of whom Susannah may have recently resided with:  Caleb, Francis, Joseph Sr., and Joseph Sr.

As for Benjamin's roots, if we're to assume he also came from Strafford County, then there were only three Elliot heads of household in Strafford for the 1790 Census (William of Barrington, Richard of Lee, and John of Barnstead).  Each of these families had a boy in the house Benjamin's approximate age.  I'm inclined to think it would be Richard of Lee, given Benjamin's residence at the time of his marriage.

For many years, I was conflating Benjamin with a similarly aged Benjamin Elliot in Rumford Maine and later Oxford Maine, about 100 miles away from Sandwich, for the 1800 and 1820 censuses, respectively.  Now, this Rumford Benjamin (born 1784 in Rumford) - his father was Cotton Elliot of Rumford, born in Concord, NH, and Cotton was the son of Benjamin Elliot and Abigail Webster.  But  1784 is too young to have fathered children starting in 1793.  I've therefore now established that Benjamin was son to Richard Elliott of Lee, NH, yet I find no other census records for Richard in Lee.  I do find some in Bow, Hooksett, and Concord NH, which aren't that close to Lee...

A bit more on Richard Elliot of Lee, NH:

• Born before 1752 in NH
• Married Sarah Seaward on Christmas Day, 1775
• He appears in the 1790 Census of Lee:  
• 1 Male - 16 and over (Richard)
• 3 Males - under 16 (Benjamin, his brother Richard Jr., and another boy unknown to me)
• 5 Females - any age (Unknown women.  Must be Richard's wife Sarah, and perhaps four daughters?)

• He and his signature appear on a couple of Petitions in the town of Lee in 1785 and 1789, electing a Justice of the Peace and a Town Magistrate.  Note the first signature above.
• In 1793, in the Will of a Sarah Seaward of Portsmouth, NH, she leaves her real property to her son-in-law Richard Elliot, with the stipulation he take care of Sarah's son John.  If this is the same Richard I'm studying, then this would explain why they left Lee, and came back to Rockingham County.  Richard signed the Probate papers here, and it truly resembles the signature above of the man living in Lee during the 1780s.  Note the second signature above.  But if Sarah is granting the property to her son-in-law, and not her daughter Sarah, then this other Sarah already died, or was incapacitated in some way.
• The 1800 Census shows a Richard Elliot in Portsmouth, which lines up nicely with the above logic, but at this point in time both of Richard's sons have moved out and got families of their own, so who are all these young people?  Grandkids?
• 3 Free White Persons - Males - Under 10 
• 1 Free White Persons - Males -10 thru 15 
• 1 Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over (Richard), what about John, his brother-in-law?
• 1 Free White Persons - Females - Under 10
• 1 Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 15
• 2 Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25
• 1 Free White Persons - Females - 26 thru 44 (Sarah Seaward-Elliot?)

• An "Ensign Richard Elliot" appears in 1807 to be paying $99.30 in taxes to Rockingham County, and living in the town of Bow.  Was he in the Navy?  Is this the same Richard, given the 40 miles distance from Lee?  Is this Richard's son, Richard Jr.?
• Given that a death record for a Syrenia Page, who was born Syrenia Elliot in Bow during 1844, as daughter to a Richard Elliot of Bow, I'm inclined to believe that this Richard Elliot isn't the father, but might be Richard Jr...
• Also, a death record for a Betsey Page, who was born in Dunbarton in 1798 to a Richard Elliot and his wife of Bow, I think this Betsey is likely the aunt of Syrenia, and both of these ladies married into the Page family. But is her father Richard the one I'm studying?
• Also, the 1800 Census shows a Richard Elliot, when we have learned he acquired property in Portsmouth, and was there for the 1800 Census.
• A Richard Elliot appears in Concord NH during the 1810 and 1820 Census.  In both records, he was listed as 45 and over.  This would mean he was born before 1765, which certainly lines up with the above facts.  But did Richard move to Concord from Lee, 30 miles away as the crow flies?  There was a Richard Elliot of Concord born in 1771, who is more likely the person featured in these censuses.  

Benjamin appears in the 1810 Census in Tamworth, NH, which neighbors Sandwich to the east.  His age here and family members' ages all match pretty well.  So, even though his kids were born in Sandwich from 1793 and 1805, it appears he moved at one point to Tamworth.

In January of 1813, Benjamin Elliot of Sandwich of paid $500 for 100 acres in Sandwich, land purchased from Stephen & Martha Hoag (75/108, Strafford County Registry of Deeds).  This to me is further proof that my Benjamin is not the same as the one who lived in Oxford, Maine.

In April of 1821, Benjamin sold these same 100 acres for $400 to Paul Wentworth.  Five years later he released all rights to the land, farm, and buildings to Wentworth for an additional $248.69.  Later that year, his youngest child Sally married Jonathan Morrill in Moultonboro in 1826, and it appears they may have all moved to Westbrook, Maine together immediately afterwards.  However, in April of 1827, Paul Wentworth signed a deed to James Roberts for the same 100 acres, and had Benjamin Elliot sign it again, just for good measure, with both men's spouses signing as well to release dower rights.  Interestingly, Susannah was unable to sign, so the witness had to use a "mark" instead, which usually indicates some kind of incapacity (more on this below).  (110/123, 129/138, 132/15, Strafford County Registry of Deeds).

For the 1830 Census, Jonathan S. Morrill appears first in Westbrook (a portion of Westbrook later part of Deering, later annexed into Portland - the Morrill's Corner area), living next household over to who is likely his father-in-law Benjamin Elliot, who is of the right age indicated on this census (although he is now without wife).  See yellow highlighted names below:

Now, for the 1840 Census, Jonathan moved to Washington Avenue in the East End of Portland, and was one of the very first Morrills to arrive in Portland.  Benjamin, however, appears to have left Westbrook, and didn't move to East End Portland with Jonathan.  I did find a Benjamin Elliot having moved north to Windham for the 1840 Census, and it appears that the ages match the ten year advance in age of the previous census.  See below:

In this 1840 Census, Benjamin would be the one person in the "Males 70-79" column.  There is one male in their 20's and one in their 30's living with him, and one female 60-69 (Susannah came back?).  Now, one person is listed here as "Insane and Idiots at Private Charge" as well.  It seems to line up with the 1827 deed where she signed with a mark. She must have been incapacitated, and perhaps was living in some facility during the 1830 census.  As for the two younger men living with him, his sons were much older at this point in time, so I'm not certain who this could be - possibly grandchildren.  He had a grandson Albert Elliott (1820-1880) who was 20 at this point, and was a few years away from marrying in NH.  This is a good possibility.

As for the 1850 Census, I did locate a Benjamin Elliot in Brunswick, Maine, but this man was born in Maine in 1793, much younger than the Benjamin I'm studying here.

So to calculate the approximate birth year for Benjamin Elliot of Lee, Sandwich, and Portland:

• 1810 Census of nearby Tamworth tells us he was aged 26 to 44 on August 6, 1810.  This means that he was born between August 6, 1756 and August 6, 1774.
• 1820 Census of Sandwich was lost unfortunately, but I'm certain the family was living here at the time.
• 1830 Census of Westbrook, ME tells us he was aged 60-70 on June 1, 1830.  This means he was born between June 1, 1760 and June 1, 1770.
• 1840 Census of Windham, ME tells us he was aged 70-79 on June 1, 1840.  Calculated with the above, this means he was born between June 1, 1761 and June 1, 1770.  But, his parents were married in 1775!  I think Benjamin was likely the first born, and during that year.

The kind folks at Sandwich Historical Society let me have a look at their library.  After a day of research, I found nothing that made me scream "Eureka!", but I did learn the following:

-There is a large presence of Elliots in Sandwich, most of whom descend from John Elliot (born about 1796 in Sandwich, as mentioned above), and his only son Albert.  I also discovered a Perkins Elliot and a Jeremiah Elliot in the real property records for land in Sandwich.  However, many subsequent generations moved to nearby Tuftonboro and Moultonboro.  It is understood that John's parents were actually Benjamin & Susannah.

-Benjamin & Susannah definitely had three other sons, Jedediah (12 Feb 1793) and Francis (18 Jun 1794), and Samuel (1801-1900).

-According to a NH surname publication, the surname Eliot and all its permutations originates from only FOUR different ancestors:  (1) Reverend John Eliot from Roxbury Mass, apostle to the Indians; (2) Ebenezer Eliot of Newton, Mass; (3) Edmund Eliot of Amesbury Mass; and (4) Andrew Eliot of Beverly Mass.  It appears from this publication that Edmund had several descendants who were pioneers of various New Hampshire towns, but the other folks don't appear to have any NH descendants (from available documentation).  Perhaps I'll one day establish a link between Richard (Sally's grandfather) to one of these four original Elliots...

I searched the Cumberland County Maine Registry of Deeds in June of 2026, and learned:

• There was a Benjamin Elliot of New Pennacook, Maine who received property in the same town in 1806.  I learned that this was the former name for the town of Rumford - so once again we have this similarly named/aged man that begs for conflation.  I also learned that Rumford was part of Cumberland County at that point - that's two things I didn't know, and I grew up in Maine!
• In 1827, Benjamin Elliot of Brunswick got his property in that town and deeded 1846 & 1863 - and 1827 is the exact year when I'm trying to locate when my Benjamin got to Westbrook/Morrill's Corner.  Another conflation attempt avoided!
• No other property deeded in Portland or Westbrook during Benjamin's lifetime, so when he moved to Westbrook before 1830, he must have been renting.
• Benjamin's son-in-law, Jonathan Smythe Morrill, appears to also not have been a property owner during his lifetime.  Another renter, living next door to his father-in-law in 1830, and living under his son's roof in 1860.  But in the 1870 Census, he does have a value ascribed to real estate, and living next door to his daughter Emily (and her husband William Sanford Morgan) at 62-67 Washington Avenue.  Perhaps the Census is in error, because I see no deeds to Jonathan's name.

In May of 2026, I paid a visit to the Concord State Archives, and started looking through the Strafford County Probate Files to try and search for Benjamin & Susannah Elliot.  I got only through one box (153532), and want to go through successive boxes:  153532 through 153538, to cover all of the 1850s.  I've asked the Archivists to go through the remainder boxes for me.  While I was there, I also looked through the Sandwich Town Files stored there (not many records there), and also the List of Able Bodied Men from 1863 (presumably for the Civil War effort), and no Elliott men found there, neither Benjamin nor his sons.

BEAUTIFUL VIEW FROM SANDWICH INTO WONALANCET

CARROLL COUNTY NEW HAMPSHIRE

American Indian Ancestors: Fact or Fiction?

Having researched hundreds of American family groups at this point, and having spoken to many family researchers over the years, one conundrum seems to persist in most every white American family:  the tale of the mysterious "Indian" ancestor.

Try asking any white American what their heritage is, and I will bet you that most all of them will mention being part Native American.  It's a strange phenomenon, all these ivory skinned people claiming to be a small part of a rich native heritage. 

I've heard a number of variations on the story, with most of the stories involving one of the more famous Indian chiefs:  Geronimo, Sitting Bull, Massasoit, and even the famed and laughable tale of the "Indian Princess".  It sounds quite exotic, but Native tribes did not have titles like those of English Royalty.  A daughter of an Indian Chief might be referred to as a "Princess" in hindsight by an English Colonial, however, and I'm sure that's where the term originated and was then romanticized into infinity.

One blog about the famed fake Indian Princess named "Nicketti Powhatan", the supposed niece of Pocahontas, expertly hones in on the phenomenon revolving around one of the more enduring Indian Princess stories.

But stories are all that can be offered.  When you think about it, how could one actually prove a link (with true documentation) to a famous indigenous American from the 17th century?  It's not like they have their own vital records database going back that far.  What we have here are an assortment of family legends, nothing more.

Slate wrote a very thoughtful write up on this phenomenon as well, and the main thesis there was "To claim Cherokee blood is to authenticate your Americanness".  A very salient point captured here is that there is some basis for believing in a high frequency of Cherokee-Euro Settler marriages, in an effort to establish diplomatic ties, and to secure trading business between native and settler.  Further, Cherokees also were known to take on African slaves, which led to a certain amount of mixed blood offspring.

I think the connection is there, but it's been exaggerated over the generations.  A great many Hollywood celebrities make the claim to Indian ancestry, and many of these claims are simply unverified.  Former NFL player Emmitt Smith, like many African Americans, grew up hearing the story of having a significant amount of Indian blood, and DNA testing proved him wrong.

It's understandable though.  Growing up here, it's quite exotic to believe that one's family is rooted in anything other than European or African stock.  Speaking for myself, as a run-of-the-mill white person from New England, it's exciting to imagine that even the slightest touch of Spanish, Asian, African or anything other than the standard Irish/English/French blood could be involved.  I would view it as welcome news (not everyone shares that excitement, of course).

My opinion is that the true number of Americans with Amerindian blood is much lower than what has been claimed, and, outside of the folks who can easily prove this by having grown up on a reservation, or had recent ancestors who have done so, those few who truly have that famed "1/16th" Indian blood will find it near impossible to prove. 

Not all family researchers share my pessimistic viewpoint, however.  Many appear to like hanging on to the family story of the Cherokee Indian Princess, or other such stories, despite lack of available documentation.  But of course some families have a strong link.  I'm very curious about this process of proof, and would welcome feedback from those who have succeeded in bridging the gap between family lore and substantive documentation.

Many members of indigenous tribes of North America have expressed anger, outrage, and disgust over the fact that many white Americans claim to possess American Indian traits, understandably so.  Many other natives decry the rising interest in Amerindian genealogy as well.

"Indians" began being counted as a specific race on the 1870 U.S. Census.  During the prior census, taken in 1860, "taxed Indians who have renounced tribal rule" were the only ones to be counted (even though they were often still checked off as 'white').  After 1870, there is still some evidence that census takers (whether racist, coerced, or careless) would still list most people as "White" anyhow.  By 1885, many tribal nations started being counted on the U.S. Indian Census Rolls for those living on reservations.

The story I had always heard in my family while growing up was that somewhere on my mom's mother's side of the family, we are from the "Blackfoot Tribe".   As a child, it sounded interesting enough to me.  I began to adopt the idea as fact as a teenager, and believed myself to be special in some way, given that I already had been told that my dad's side of the family had Mayflower roots (a rumor I was able to prove true with a lot of help from cousins, and digging through a lot of old records).  I found it fascinating to imagine myself as descending from native people and also from those who colonized.  But this Tribe is from Montana, and my own research proved that I had no roots in Montana at all, so I quickly dismissed the story as family folklore.

There have been some great strides in genealogical DNA testing, whereby one can determine percentages of ancestry from just a cheek swab.  FTDNA is one such company, and such percentages can be revealed, along with the news that you may actually be part of some reputed Amerindian "Haplogroups".

My mother had her cheek swab done in 2010, for instance, and her group came up as "Haplogroup X".  Now, A, B, C, D, and X are all associated with migratory Siberian Asian (and Central Asian) people that settled in the Americas as the first, "Native Americans"...for lack of a better term.  There was some evidence at the time, however, that Haplogroup X also is potentially linked to European people, so the jury wasn't out yet.  In 2015, the Haplogroup got revised to a subclade of X, namely X2b4, which was confirmed as rooted in Western European ancestry, and NOT Native American.

I feel relieved to close this chapter on my family history - this story of the mysterious (and false) Indian, at least in my family, can finally be put to rest, along with the one about that guy who invented the telephone.

The Morrills of Tuftonboro New Hampshire

The Morrill/Morrell name stems from England, but since it's such a common name in New England, I discovered that it's tricky business to try and connect all my own known 1800s Morrill ancestors back any further without error.  My proven Morrill line goes back to Jotham Morrill (born in Berwick around 1770), father to Jonathan Smythe Morrill (born in Tuftonboro New Hampshire in 1804). 

This blog post is, more than anything, an outreach to other Morrill descendants.  It would be great to fill in the blanks here.  In communications with known Morrill descendants, I've been pointed to the very impressive website entitled Morrill Online, which tracks over 14,000 Morrills, but still doesn't account for many.  While many of my ancestors do indeed appear on here, they can't seem to trace back any further than I, and they don't include yet my oldest known ancestor Jotham Morrill of Moultonboro (born around 1768).  The owner of the site admits that there could be duplicative names, as in, my ancestors could appear twice in different forms.

One important and large branch of the Morrill family comes from colonial Salisbury, Massachusetts who descends from Abraham Morrill of Essex, England.  I'm quite doubtful that my line connects to that branch at all.

The other major branch of the Morrill family comes from John Morrell from England/Ireland, of unknown parentage.  This Morrill family established in Kittery in the late 17th Century, and John Morrell was a founder of North Berwick.  Many of these Morrills were early settlers of other towns in York County, like Berwick and Eliot.  Given that Jotham's War of 1812 record shows his birthplace to be Berwick, I'm inclined to believe that John Morrell is his ancestor.

A William Morrill, Jr. of Moultonboro had originally come from Berwick, Maine, like Jotham and descends from John Morrell.  William settled in Moultonboro (next town over from Tuftonboro) around 1785, when his first child was born.  William's age is close to that of Jotham.  On a 1907 Sons of the American Revolution record for a descendant of William named Wilmot Marden, and also on a War of 1812 enlistment record for Jotham (more on this below), they both state these men were of dark complexion.  So I feel there is a possibility that Jotham and William were brothers. However, this SAR record states that William was a descendant of Abraham Morrill of Salisbury, not John Morrell of Kittery/Berwick (I think this is an error, because there are other records which show the connection of the Berwick Morrills to John, not Abraham).  Further, the 1800 Census shows William Morrill of Moultonboro living next door to Jotham Morrill.  There are too many coincidences here to think otherwise.

In page 367 of a publication entitled Morrill Kindred in America, Vol. 2, an Account of the Descendants of Abraham Morrill by Annie Morrill Smith (republished in 1931, with new material, The Grafton Press), a letter written in 1925 by  Mrs. Ethel Morrill McCollister of Mechanic Falls, Maine, there appears to be some evidence that Morrills descending from John Morrill of Kittery (not necessarily related to the historical Salisbury line) are connected to the Tuftonboro Morrills:

"The estate founded in Kittery (now Eliot Maine) by John Morrell was handed down intact until about one hundred years ago, when it was divided between two sons, John and William.  John's seven children were unmarried and the last two were cared for during their declining years by their grandnephew, Charles, who was the grandson of William aforementioned.

"This Charles tells me that the last to die, 'Aunt Harriet,' often told tales of her trips by wagon to Tuftonboro, New Hampshire, to visit her cousins of the Betsey Morrill Spencer line, and I believe the Tuftonboro folks came often to Kittery to see their kinsmen. So I think that removes all doubt of the kinship of the two families."

-Mrs. Ethel McCollister

Now, this group of Morrills of Tuftonboro would have lived there after the Civil War era, and my research involves Revolutionary War Morrills of Tuftonboro who left the area just after the War.  This may be a coincidence.

I find several reasons, however, to discredit some of the information given in the above letter excerpt:

-Ancestry.com research shows that Ethel also descends from Abraham, not John.

-John Morrell of Kittery did not have a son named William, according to Morrill Online. Rather, he had three sons, John, Nicholas, and Abraham.

Further, in a publication called Morrill Genealogy:  Hibbard Morrill and His Descendants, written by Betsey Morrill Spencer, published in 1910 by Press of Seymour Brothers, it appears that the above claim could be backed up by the assertion that Betsey's great uncle William Morrill (born 1778) settled in Moultonboro, NH (next town over from Tuftonboro), and that William's brother was Hibbard Morrill, Sr. (the subject of this book).  Now, according to various other sources, this is not true.  Hibbard did not have a brother named William.

But, according to Morrill Online, Betsey Morrill-Spencer descended from Abraham Morrill, not John Morrell of Kittery.  The Tuftonboro Morrills, from my research so far, have all descended from John.

I wonder if any of these families were connected to my 4th great grandfather Jotham?

Another blog post I wrote details all the Morrill families who lived in Portland Maine.

MORRILL FAMILY PLOT

FOREST CITY CEMETERY

(who else is buried there?)

Jotham's son, my 3rd Great Grandfather, Jonathan Smythe Morrill (1804-1881), was a carpenter and bridge builder born in Tuftonboro, NH.

In reviewing the 1810 Tuftonboro Census, it appears that Jotham & Catharine also had one girl at the time under 10 years of age.  I found a death record for a Statira Morrill-Graves who appears to be the right age, and was married to an Ephraim Graves, who died young.  They had two sons, Albert (1820-1884) and Joseph (1830- ).  Jonathan named one of his daughters Statira as well.

Statira died of La Grippe just a few days shy of her 90th birthday.  She and her family are buried at Bean Cemetery in Moultonboro, quite close to the graves of William Morrill (born 1778, who is mentioned above), and his wife Betsey (of the Betsey Morrill Spencer line).

There was another prominent Morrill family in Tuftonboro headed by Samuel Morrill (1779-1849), who I believe was a distant cousin to Jonathan Smythe Morrill's uncle.   

HOME OF SAMUEL MORRILL
TUFTONBORO, NH

More about Samuel's family, and a profile on their backyard cemetery can be found here.

More about Jonathan Smythe Morrill's family life in Portland can be found here.

An additional family I'm researching is the Thomas Morrill family of Sandwich.  So far, my only discovery is that when he was living in Tamworth, NH, he purchased 135 acres of land in Sandwich from John Bean and David Bean of Sandwich in 1798 (32/9 and 32/12, Strafford County Registry of Deeds).  He appears in the 1800 Census in Sandwich as well, as over 45 years of age.  I haven't dug much deeper than that, but perhaps I'll learn one day that he is related to my Jotham as well, since it's a town neighboring to Tuftonboro.

Sources:

Morrill Kindred in America by Annie Morrill Smith published 1931, The Grafton Press
Morrill Genealogy:  Hibbard Morrill and His Descendants, written by Betsey Morrill Spencer, published in 1910 by Press of Seymour Brothers