Person:Peter Morrow (4)

Which Peter G. is which?

There were two Peter Gilliam Morrows who were roughly the same age in Morgan and Walton County between 1820 and 1840. They are both grandsons of Peter Gilliam through his daughters Elizabeth (m. Joseph Morrow) and Sarah (m. Ewing Morrow).

One Peter was the administrator of John E. Morrow's estate in 1829; John E. died when his son Ewing was only 6, so the estate stayed open until he was of age. But then Ewing died in 1845, so one estate was immediately distributed to the other. Ewing's estate was distributed to his first cousins, and the distribution record confirms that Peter G., father of James W. and Sarah, was the brother of John and the uncle of Ewing. The 1850 census in turn confirms that the Peter G. who married Julia Ann Smith is the father of James W. and Sarah.^S5

Tracing backward from 1850, the two Peter's both appear in tax lists from 1823 to 1831, and both appear in the 1830 census.

• One family has 3 daughters in the 1830 census, and no slaves. The matching entry on the 1831 Walton County tax list shows Peter G. on a 120 acre tract identified as 2 Walton 95, with no slaves. This is Peter m. Mary Wood.
• The other family has no children in 1830, but 11 slaves. The corresponding 1831 tax list entry has 650 acres, 11 slaves, and an additional entry as administrator of John E Morrow's estate. This is is obviously this Peter.

Further backward, this Peter is not the one with land in earlier lists, but rather a young man with no land and no slaves, living near Ewing. Put another way, he does not appear in the census lists with assets until about the time time his father died.

In sum, the early census records belonging to this Peter are as follows:

• 1830 Walton Co, GA: 1m 30-40, 1f 20-30 (p. 129)
• 1840 Walton Co, GA: 1m u5, 1 40-50, 1f 5-10, 1f 30-40 (Town District, p. 97)
• 1850 Walton Co, GA: Peter Gilliam 50 GA, Julia A. 43, James W. 10 (Div 88, p. 29, 9/27/1850)

The tax lists:

• 1820 Morgan County, Peter G. with no land or slaves but over 21. Near Charles Kinnon and Ann Gilliam.
• 1823 Morgan County, G. Peter with no land or slaves.
• 1824 Morgan County, Peter G. Jr. with no land or slaves, next door to Ewing.
• 1831 Walton County, Peter G. with two tracts (250 acres, 3 Walton 490 and 405 acres, 12 Henry 197), 11 slaves + administrator of John E's estate.
• 1853 Walton County, P G with 800 second quality acres and a lot in town, 26 slaves.

Based on the relative prominence of his activities, it's also likely that this Peter G. is the one who represented Walton County in the General Assembly in 1834 (in addition to his later representation in 1866 in Columbia County).[2]

There is a record that "Peter G, one of the heirs of Joseph Morrow dec’d of Morgan County, claimed lot 18-29 of Lee, now Marion County. App’t of Warren J. Hill of Walton Co. as atty. 29 May 1843." This Joseph Morrow drew this land in the 1827 Land Lottery. Because the older Joseph Morrow in Morgan County and his son, the other Peter G., left Morgan County before 1840 (and Joseph was still alive until 1866), this record likely applies to this Peter, and is consistent with him inheriting from his childless brother.

Peter's wife Julia died in 1857. A little over a year later, he married Lucy Welborn Lewis, a widow with substantial holdings of her own. They moved to Columbia County, Georgia shortly thereafter, where they controlled over 1000 acres with 25 or so farm hands. Her children accompanied them; his moved to Atlanta. Peter represented Columbia County in the General Assembly in 1866, and his signature on the expenses receipt matches the records of the man who administered the estates in Putnam County.

1.   Columbia, Georgia, United States. 1860 U.S. Census Population Schedule
   Eubanks, Districts 8 and 10, Columbia, Georgia .

   P G Morrow 59 Georgia
   Lucy H Morrow 47
   Mattie Lewis 18
   Georgia A Lewis 13
   G W Willingham 35

2.   Columbia, Georgia, United States. 1870 U.S. Census Population Schedule
   Thomson, District 127, Columbia, Georgia .

   Peter G Morrow 69
   Lucy H Morrow 58
   Martha Lewis 29

3.   Columbia, Georgia, United States. 1880 U.S. Census Population Schedule.

   Peter G. Morrow 80
   Lucy Morrow 68
   Martha Morrow 39
   Lucy Hill 8
   Jordan Hill 6

4.   United States. National Archives and Records Administration; United States. Post Office Department; and James A Paulauskas. Record of appointment of postmasters, 1832-September 30, 1971: records of the Post Office Department, record group 28 ; National Archives microfilm publications pamphlet describing M841. (Washington, District of Columbia: National Archives and Records Administration, 1997).

   Peter G. Morrow, appointed at Winfield, 22 Dec 1859, 14 Dec. 1874

5.   Walton, Georgia, United States. 1850 U.S. Census Population Schedule.

   Peter Gilliam (or G Morrow?) 50 GA, Julia A. 43, James W. 10 (Div 88, p. 29, 9/27/1850) (Indexed under Gilleram at Ancestry)
   Slave schedule shows Peter G. Morrow in Walton County with 25 slaves.

6.   Casey, H.R. "Judge P.W. Morrow", in Columbia [Georgia] Sentinel
   [1], 14 Feb 1883.

   "Died at his residence near Sharon church, Columbia county, on the 27th of April, 1881, Judge P.G. Morrow. I knew not the particulars of his death but hear his disease was dropsy. He was quite an old man, don't know his exact age, but take it that he had reached his four score of years...He moved from Monroe [Walton County] having married here [to] Mrs. Lucy Lewis, nee Melbourne."