Morrow in South Carolina

Morrows in Chester and Spartanburg Counties

"Old Samuel" Morrow of Spartanburg

"Old Samuel" of Spartanburg, d. 1796, is alleged to have married Mary McClure and had enough children to have him named as ancestor by a large swath of Morrows. It appears likely, however, that none of those people are actually descended from him.

Samuel witnessed a deed for David and Mary Morrow in the Chester County area in 1786. He appears, along with David and "Capt Samuel" in the 1790 Spartanburg census. He died in 1796 in Spartanburg, leaving a will that named no children. Nevertheless, Capt. Sam is alleged to be one of his sons, along with Lt. John m. Mary Kelso, Thomas m. Janet McCarter, David m. Margaret Kelso, Robert m. Jane Peden, and George m. Mary Mecklin and Mary Calhoun.

Problems with this line:

- Mary McClure is listed as a widow with several children near Old Sam in the 1790 census. If they did marry, it was too late to be having the children ascribed to them.

- Capt. Samuel m. Janet Nelson. In a series of deeds from Greene Co, AL, this Samuel refers to the older Samuel as "Uncle". Uncle was used for many relationships, but it was unlikely to be used for father. In addition, a visitation record from 1774 shows Samuel, Robert and John as sons of David Morrow, a man living in Spartanburg who appears to be the same age as Samuel and is the right age to be his brother.

- John m. Mary Kelso. Samuel's widow called John her husband's brother. Samuel and John are both listed on the 1774 visitation journal. John is also the son of David.

- Robert m. Jane Peden. Robert is the third son listed in the visitation journal as the son of David. His listing there fits with the known timeline that he paid taxes at Charleston in Aug. 1775 for a grant of land east of Chester received Mar. 17, 1775.

- David m. Margaret Kelso. A 1949 copy of a family manuscript places David as the son of David (1731-1785 Waxhaw, NC), Old Sam's cousin. Also, the DNA of two descendants of David is different in one particular way than the DNA of the descendants of the three men above, indicating relationship, but consistant with the idea that the men are from two different branches of the tree.

- Thomas m. Janet McCarter. The DNA of the descendant of Thomas matches that of David m. Margaret Kelso above, indicating he is of a different branch than Samuel, John and Robert.

- George m. Mary Mecklin and Mary Calhoun. Three descendants of George have joined the DNA project. They are completely unrelated to the descendants of the men listed above.

CONCLUSIONS:
1. Capt. Sam m. Janet Nelson, Lt. John m. Mary Kelso, and Robert m. Jane Peden are the sons of David m. Mary of Spartanburg, probably Old Sam's brother.

2. David m. Margaret Kelso and Thomas m. Janet McCarter are brothers. Documentary evidence suggests, but does not prove, that they are the sons of David (b.1731 d. 1785 Waxhaw, NC), Old Sam's cousin.

3. George m. Mary Mecklin and Mary Calhoun is not even remotely related to any of the above.

David Morrow of Chester and Spartanburg

David Morrow was born c. 1715, probably in Maryland, near the city of Baltimore. He had a brother, Samuel, see above.

David married Mary -?- before 1750. They had children:
(1) John, born c 1750 m. Mary Kelso;
(2) Robert, born 31 July 1752 m. Jane Peden;
(3) Samuel, born 1760 "near the city of Baltimore" m. Janet Nelson;
(4) Sarah, born before 1775;
(5) Mary, born before 1775.

David and family moved to the Fishing Creek area of present day Chester Co, SC by 1766. David and his brother Samuel obtained several adjacent land grants in this area. By 1779, they moved to the Spartanburg area of SC to avoid Torries and the British. David, Samuel, and David's son Cap't Samuel appeared in the 1790 Spartanburg Co SC census (listed under "Murrow"). Neither David nor his wife Mary appear in the 1800 census of SC, so we assume they died between 1790-1800.