As far back as I can remember, we were told that we were related to Daniel Boone. As a kid, I had a hard time putting this into perspective because Daniel Boone was the "bigger than life" great frontiersman that laid out lands, killed bears, traded with Indians and took no grief from anyone. Heck, they even had a TV show about him that I watched almost every week. So, I always took this anecdotal story to be just that: A family folklore tale.
A few years ago, when I started my family research, I decided to see if I could find any truth behind the old family tale and it turns out that Daniel Boone is my 1st cousin, seven times removed.[1] It is the Morgan family line that we share. As has been proven, Daniel Boone's mother was Sarah Morgan who married Squire Boone. Sarah Morgan's brother was John Morgan and his daughter Sarah married Colbert Blair who are the parents of Mary Blair who married Captain Moses Guest. Moses and Mary are my proven 4th great-grandparents. Also worthy of note is that Mary Blair's brother was Col. James Blair who is a locally (SC and GA) famous Rev War soldier in his own right. For more on my Blair ancestors, >>CLICK HERE<<.
The Morgans and the Blairs likely knew each other while living in Pennsylvania and may have even followed the Great Wagon Road together from Pennsylvania to North Carolina. The Morgans were known to be Quakers and the Blairs likely were as well. Upon the rumblings of a possibly war (Rev War), these deeply religious families left the Philadelphia area and moved south. It is known that Squire Boone wound up in the Yadkin Valley of North Carolina and his son Daniel went with him. This is where the exploits of Daniel Boone became famous. His parents, Squire and Sarah Morgan, are buried in Mocksville, NC. The Blairs also lived in the Yadkin Valley and Captain Moses Guest was from Wilkes County, NC. The Great Wagon Road went directly through western North Carolina and the area is rich with not only Quaker history but Presbyterian history as well. I covered much of the Presbyterian history in my book.
The Morgan family has been deeply researched by many others so I will not reproduce it here - a simple internet search will provide hours upon hours of reading material. I will provide some highlights here but please note that none of the early history has been proven by me so I am summarizing the research of others. If you find inconsistencies, please let me know.
As far as I can tell, our Morgan ancestors have been traced to Wales, U.K. in the 1500s. Several of these Morgans were Barons. The first Morgan of our line to settle in America was Edward Morgan (1670-1736). He was the son of the baron Sir James Morgan and Anne Hopton. Edward married Elizabeth Jarmann and they lived in Gwyedd PA. The house where Edward and Elizabeth lived, and where most of their children were born, is still standing. It was a working farm for many years but was purchased and restored in recent years by a private organization that now operates the home and property as a historic site. It is now on the National Historic Register. For more information >>CLICK HERE<<.
Note that Gwynedd, PA is an area rich in history. Largely Quaker back in the 1700s, William Penn was one of the key figures in the early leadership of the town.. The word Gwynedd is even said to be Welsh. [2] Also, nearby Plymouth Meeting House is a famous Quaker location.
Interestingly, while no one has been able to prove the full ancestry of General Daniel Morgan, it is quite possible that he is related in some fashion to these Morgans. If one reads the published history and exploits of the great General Morgan, there are a lot of common histories with his travels and life when compared to this Morgan family. One common history is of course him being from Philadelphia and later living in western Virginia. Like Daniel Boone, he was a frontiersman of great notoriety. But General Morgan's family history is "murky": Some claim that he was the son of James Morgan and Eleanor Lloyd of Bucks County, PA . These researchers claim that James Morgan was the son of Edward Morgan and Elizabeth Jarmann also of Bucks County, PA. If this is true, this would make General Daniel Morgan and Daniel Boone 1st cousins since this would make James Morgan the brother of Daniel Boone's mother (Sarah Morgan who married Squire Boone). There is some credence to this theory because John Morgan, another brother of Sarah Morgan, married Susan Lloyd so it is possible that John Morgan and James Morgan married Lloyd sisters or cousins. Note: Another one of Sarah Morgan's brothers was said to be Reverend Daniel Morgan but it does not appear that this Daniel Morgan was the father of General Daniel Morgan.
The famous Georgian frontierswoman Nancy Hart is also possibly from this same Morgan family. She is a Georgia legend having fought for the Patriots and fended off several British soldiers who invaded her home in what is now Hart County, Georgia. There is a park named for her on the exact same spot where her exploits took place. Hart County and the city of Hartwell in Georgia are named for her.
As with General Daniel Morgan, Nancy's ancestry is also "murky" because some researchers claim her ancestry to be from another brother of Sarah Morgan (Thomas). It has been written in more than one book that Nancy herself claimed to be cousins of both Daniel Boone and General Daniel Morgan.[3] Those familiar with Northeast Georgia will realize that Nancy Hart's log cabin in Hart County (Broad River) was only about 50 miles from Captain Moses Guest's homesite in Franklin County (Leatherwood Creek).
Another interesting family that is also descended from this same MORGAN tree is the family of the Revolutionary War Patriot soldier Daniel Clower who settled in Jackson and Gwinnett Counties in Northeast Georgia near my paternal CLEMENTS and HORTON ancestors. Daniel Clower's mother was Elizabeth Catherine Morgan who married George Clower. Elizabeth was the sister of General Daniel Morgan. See the numerous historical documents published by George W. Clower in the 1960s while he was affiliated with the Atlanta Historical Society (now the Atlanta History Center).
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[1] Seven times removed is basically how many generations separate the two of us.
[2] Although I have not traced his lineage, Button Gwinnett, the Rev War soldier for whom the Georgia County of Gwinnet is name, is likely a Welsh descendant - the name Gwinnett is likely a variation of the name Gwnyedd.
[3] The Morgan family relationship with General Morgan and Nancy Morgan Hart would exist in both my BLAIR and GUEST ancestries via Sarah Morgan's brother John whose daughter (Sarah) married Colbert Blair (also from Bucks County, PA). This Sarah Morgan and Colbert Blair are my maternal 5th great-grandparents. Two of Colbert and Sarah's children were Colonel James Blair and Mary Blair (Married Captain Moses Guest). Col. Blair and Captain Guest are noted previously on this page.
(This page was created on 5/17/2024)