Below is William P. Thompson Will in 1870. In that Will African American John Berry Thompson (Mulatto) is mentioned living in one of William P. Thompson houses on Thompson family land. After William P. Thompson died in 1871 his son Joseph Thompson and other family members gave John Berry Thompson the house and the land from his father's Will. This is the same house and land that Uncle William Haywood Thompson lived on and gave to Alma Thompson Conley to preserve.

In the record below you will see John Berry Thompson and Emily Webb Thompson marraige record.

John Berry Thompson

Detail Source

Name	John Berry Thompson
Age	30
Birth Date	Abt 1850
Birthplace	North Carolina
Home in 1880	Thompson, Alamance, North Carolina, USA
Dwelling Number	113
Race	Black
Gender	Male
Relation to Head of House	Self (Head)
Marital Status	Married
Spouse's Name	Emily Webb Thompson
Father's Birthplace	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace	North Carolina
Occupation	Farmer
Cannot Read	Yes
Cannot Write	Yes
Neighbors	View others on page
Household Members (Name) Age Relationship John Thompson 30 Self (Head) Emily Thompson 29 Wife Adelaide Thompson 10 Daughter William H. Thompson 8 Son Susan Thompson 5 Daughter Lourena Thompson 2 Sister Bertha Thompson 9/12 Daughter

Below is the Marraige Record of David Morrow and Sarah Ellen Svory Thompson. The father and mother of John Alvis Wilson first wife Emelia Morrow. 

David Morrow 

In the1870 Census record below after Margaret Robinson information you will find David Morrow's daughter Emelia Morrow Wilson living with her husband John Alvis Wilson in David Morrow household. John Alvis Wilson is my grandmother's (Daisy Wilson) father my mother's (Dr. Vera Elizebeth Edmondson Perry) grandfather. A year after this census was taken John Alvis Wilson had his own farm with a gift of land from his father-in-law David Morrow.

It should be noted that the Thompson, Morrow, Wilson, and Webb family extended branches of the Oaks Community off of Mebane Oaks Road, Mebane, North Carolina created a very productive community. Family members still go to  Mary's Grove Congregational Christian Church. They are all related and have family tries that date back to the early 1800s in Alamance and Orange Counties, North Carolina.

I am adding the information below posted my Margaret Robinson on Ancestry.com to show how large families were in the 1800s and how some of these family connections came about in the Oaks Community Mebane, North Carolina.

Frank Morrow and Emmaline Thompson Morrow

Posted Jan 5, 2019 by Margaret Robinson

FRANK MORROW AND EMMALINE THOMPSON MORROW
(Information gathered and compiled in 1979 by the late Emma Ruth Morrow King)

I went as far back as I could - I found that Grandpa David Morrow and Granny Savory Morrow were the parents of 22 children - five of whom I have names. They are: Frank, John Sandy, Millie, Becky, and Gracie (who most of us knew her by aunt Dunnie). It has been noted that here were two sets of twins, and one set was named Mary and Eliza. It was also noted that Mary lived in Moncure, North Carolina area.

It bas been noted that Frank and John Sandy were saved from slavery and the Civil war by Granny Savory pitching them up into the attic, when she saw the men coming on horses. When she was asked by "these men" if she had any more sons?-with tears in her eyes, she replied, "no, they've taken them all away".

It is also noted that Grandpa David owned a lot of land in this community, which was inherited by his children. They both, Grandpa David and Granny Savory, attended church in the "Brush Arbor" in Oaks Community, which is now Mary's Grove Congregational Church. Grandpa David lived to be over 100 years old, and Granny Savor lived to be 113. They were both buried at Mary's Grove Church.

Frank was married to Emmaline Thompson, daughter of Tommy and Katie Ellen Thompson. She had one brother, Jahue Thompson and one sister, Mary Ann (possibly). It is noted that she worked as a cook on a boat that ran from Wilmington, NC to Fayetteville, NC. She died at a rather young age. Granny Katie and Grandpa Tommy lived to be an old age, and they too, were buried at Mary's Grove Church. .

Frank and Emmaline were 'married when she was 13 years old. They were farmers and lived in the Oaks Community Area, in OrangeCounty near Mebane, North Carolina. They had 15 Children- 11 boys and 4 girls. The children were: William Henry; Robert; Thomas, (who died at 2 months); John Goal; Louvenia; Mary Etta; Rollins; Roy; Jesse; Alex; Ralph; and David, (who died at age 23).

Both Grandpa Frank and Grandma Emmaline were members of Mary's Grove Church, where Grandpa Frank served as secretary and deacon of the church. Grandpa Frank died on January 15, 1931, at the age of 73. Grandpa Emmaline died on December 6, 1941, at the age of 81. They were both buried at Mary's Grove Church.

In the record below John Alvis Wilson was a widower his wife Emelia Morrow Wilson had died in 1883.

Detail Source

Name	John Alvis Wilson
Age	35
Birth Date	Abt 1845
Birthplace	North Carolina
Home in 1880	Thompson, Alamance, North Carolina, USA
Dwelling Number	101
Race	Black
Gender	Male
Relation to Head of House	Self (Head)
Marital Status	Widower
Father's Birthplace	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace	North Carolina
Occupation	Farmer
Cannot Read	Yes
Cannot Write	Yes
Neighbors	View others on page
Household Members (Name) Age Relationship Alvis Wilson 35 Self (Head) Lucy Wilson 11 Daughter John Wilson 9 Son Mary Wilson 7 Daughter Henry Wilson 5 Son Grace Wilson 3 Daughter William Wilson 1 S

The Record below is for John Franklin Wilson's son of John Alvis Wilson and Emelia Morrow Wilson. Many of the family members left Alamance County, NC and went to New York and Connecticut to work because of the difficult race conditions in Alamance County, NC after the Civil War and lack of jobs because of the collapse of the plantation system. In the record below they list his race as Black(White) because of the color of his skin.(Bright Mulatto)

Name	John F. Wilson
Age	29
Birth Date	Jul 1870
Birthplace	North Carolina, USA
Home in 1900	Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut
Street	Westreet Street
House Number	118 68
Sheet Number	23
Number of Dwelling in Order of Visitation	407
Family Number	517
Race	Black[White]
Gender	Male
Relation to Head of House	Head
Marital Status	Married
Spouse's Name	Hester Wilson
Marriage Year	1893
Years Married	7
Father's Birthplace	North Carolina, USA
Mother's Birthplace	North Carolina, USA
Occupation	Gardener
Months Not Employed	0
Can Read	Y
Can Write	Y
Can Speak English	Y
House Owned or Rented	Rent
Farm or House	H
Neighbors	View others on page
Household Members (Name) Age Relationship John Wilson 29 Head Hester Wilson 26 Wife Royal Wison 1 Son Emma Wison 11 Daughter Kate Wison 4 Daughter Kate Trelikah 32 Servant

The record below is Royal Wilson son of John Franklin Wilson and Hester Mingo Wilson and Grandson of John Alvis Wilson and Emelia Morrow Wilson.

Detail Source Discover

Name	Royal Wilson
Birth Year	abt 1900
Gender	Male
Race	Negro (Black)
Age in 1930	30
Birthplace	Connecticut
Marital Status	Married
Relation to Head of House	Son
Home in 1930	Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA
Map of Home	Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut
Street Address	Clay Street
Ward of City	Part of Ward 2
House Number	24
Dwelling Number	70
Family Number	106
Lives on Farm	No
Age at First Marriage	25
Attended School	No
Able to Read and Write	Yes
Father's Birthplace	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace	New York
Able to Speak English	Yes
Occupation	Sweeper
Industry	Post Office
Class of Worker	Wage or salary worker
Employment	Yes
Household Members (Name) Age Relationship John P Wilson 59 Head Esther A Wilson 62 Wife Daisy Wilson 24 Daughter Pansy Wilson 19 Daughter Royal Wilson 30 Son Ethel Wilson 25 Daughter-in-law Shirley Wilson 5 Granddaughter Geraldine Wilson 2 Granddaughter Lenara Wilson 0 Granddaughter
Neighbors	View others on page

In this record you have John Alvis Wilson and his second wife Emily Webb Thompton Wilson and their children. Bertie Wilson listed in this record is really Bertha Thompson. A child from her first mariage to John Berry Thompson. In the record below all of John Alvis Wilson first set of children had moved out of their household by the 1900s Census.

Mary's Grove Congregational Christian Church 

Mary's Grove Congregational Christian Church in Alamance County Mebane, North Carolina is the family church of the Thompson, Webb, Morrow, and Wilson families from 1883 and is still serving family members today. Below you will find pictures of Mary's Grove Congregational Christian Church, history of the Church and some of the individuals (Family Members) buried in the Church Cemetery.  John Alvis Wilson was one of the founders of the Church and donated land along with other farmers to build the Church.

John Alvis Wilson my great, great grandfather was a caring and generous man from the stories from my grandmother Daisy E. Wilson Edmondson. I hope family members will enjoy the information provided.  

MARY’S GROVE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH FAMILY CEMETERY, MEBANE, NC

Archie Alston 1888 – 1915 Blanch C. Thompson Alston 18 Nov 1879 – 1 Oct 1918 John Alston 1882 – 5 Jan 1932 Jordan Alston 1839 – 21 Jan 1921 Margie Vera Willis Alston 21 Sep 1907 – 3 Feb 1972 Nelson Alston Nov 1861 – 23 Sep 1929 Sarah Mason Alston 1850 – 13 Sep 1915 Elijah Atwater 14 Jan 1837 – 16 Feb 1918 Elizabeth “Addie” Webb Atwater 20 Dec 1876 – 1963 Flora Belle Atwater 10 Jan 1899 – 11 Nov 1972 Rufus Atwater Feb 1864 – 28 Dec 1959 Sims Atwater 12 Mar 1893 – 13 Aug 1916 Sydney Atwater 26 Feb 1915 – 11 Dec 1921 Isaac Henry Boyd 11 May 1928 – 20 Apr 2016 Josie D. Ward Boyd 10 Jan 1922 – 29 Aug 2005 Alonzo Bradshaw 29 Sep 1924 – 12 Oct 1929 Infant Sons Bradshaw Birth and death dates unknown. Marvin Bradshaw 21 Oct 1892 – 14 Mar 1937 Norman Spencer Bradshaw 8 May 1922 – 7 Jan 1997 Anna Lee Cates Carpenter 13 Feb 1907 – 26 Sep 1974 Page 2 No grave photo Wiley Cates 2 Apr 1883 – 8 May 1970 Alma Beulah Thompson Conley 29 Oct 1916 – 23 Jun 1998 Eugene Artis Conley 1896 – 1967 Margaret Julia “Nana” Conley 21 Mar 1940 – 27 Jan 2005 Ervin Walker “Earl” Core 26 Sep 1936 – 22 Dec 2004 Rosa Elaine Thompson Core 27 Mar 1939 – 11 Dec 2004 Mary Atwater DeGraffenreidt 31 May 1903 – 15 Mar 1989 Victor DeGraffenreidt 5 Nov 1895 – 28 Mar 1985 Gladys Virginia Edmondson 6 Jun 1922 – 1 Feb 1923   Robena V. Cass Farrar 6 Jan 1909 – 15 Aug 1980 Calvin Gaines 28 Dec 1920 – 1 Feb 1990 Sherry M Gamble 29 Jul 1951 – 10 Mar 1979 Carl Lee Herbin 23 Dec 1954 – 1 Mar 2018 Cora Jones Herndon 6 May 1887 – 19 Feb 1953 Jewell Mae Hunter 11 May 1888 – 2 Dec 1888 Pearl W Hunter 1892 – unknown Queen E Hunter 17 May 1902 – 23 Oct 1919 Walter James Hunter 21 Jun 1890 – 1957 Daisy R Jones 29 Jun 1883 – 28 Aug 1968 Emily J Haywood Jones 30 Nov 1854 – 11 Oct 1922 Page 3 Martha D Jones 15 Mar 1886 – 3 Jul 1919 Mary M Jones 15 Mar 1885 – 18 Apr 1918 Rebecca Susan Jones 15 Jun 1881 – 26 Jul 1946 Ruth Cathrine Jones 14 May 1889 – 14 Jul 1939 William Howard Jones 6 Dec 1849 – 29 Nov 1929 Emma Ruth Morrow King 23 Aug 1936 – 7 Nov 1999 Gaza Charlotte Kirkpatrick 1885 – 1892 Mary Frances Stroud Kirkpatrick 22 Apr 1867 – 8 Aug 1900 Ardelia “Delia” Alston Minor 1871 – 26 Mar 1923 Alex Morrow 11 Jan 1902 – 15 May 1938 Anthony Roy Morrow 4 May 1899 – 28 May 1948 Clarence W Morrow 11 May 1942 – 11 Feb 1951 No grave photo David Morrow Mar 1799 – Oct 1900 David Lemuel Morrow 23 Mar 1907 – 25 Dec 1929 Dora Atwater Morrow 18 Feb 1892 – 21 Jun 1974 Elsie Lavonne Morrow 23 Jun 1949 – 5 Dec 2016 George Washington Morrow 3 Aug 1938 – 24 Feb 1996 Harriet Lee Morrow 8 Mar 1948 – 25 Dec 2007 Herbert Green Morrow Sr. 30 May 1899 – 14 Jan 1993 Herbert Lee Morrow Jr. 22 Aug 1936 – 25 Nov 1999 James Sandy Hill Morrow 13 Jul 1888 – 21 Aug 1955 Mary Eliza Bowden Morrow 9 Oct 1912 – 23 Mar 2005 Ralph Curtis Morrow 8 Mar 1904 – 2 Mar 1981 No grave photo Sarah Ellen “Savory” Thompson Morrow Jun 1812 – 1925 Viola Bowden Morrow 9 Jul 1909 – 8 Dec 1982 Hilbert P Parrish Jr. 11 May 1966 – 17 Sep 1991 Sadie Ward Daye Pinnix May 1901 – 23 Jun 1957 Cora Lee Walker Stanford 11 Jul 1901 – 26 Apr 1998 Walter Coy Stanford 14 Nov 1927 – 6 Dec 2006 Bertha Alice Thompson 7 Jun 1896 – 4 May 1987 Rev Charles L Thompson Sr. 28 Jan 1898 – 1 Dec 1957 Ellen Thompson 27 Mar 1876 – 1896 Mollie Thompson unknown – 7 Jun 1896 William Haywood Thompson 1872 – 1959 Ella Ray Unknown Birth and death dates unknown. Logan John Walker 9 Mar 1904 – 26 Apr 1999 Orin Churchill Ward 1860 – unknown Thomas Churchill Ward 1 Aug 1915 – 7 Oct 1950 William Ward Birth and death dates unknown. Sallie Turrentine Morrow Watkins 1897 – 1989 M C Webb 20 Nov 1874 – 2 Jul 1902 Grace C Morrow Williams 1886 – Feb 1951 Emily Webb Thompson Wilson 7 Apr 1851 – 11 Apr 1927 John Alvis Wilson 15 Oct 1839 – 15 May 1918 Katherine “Katy” Hatwood Thompson Woods 1846 – 14 Dec 1920 Sarah Conley Woods 20 Jun 1938 – 16 Dec 2013

The record below is the listing of the persons who were in the Will of John Alvis Wilson. In this record they have the name of  Emma T. Wilson that name a nick name of Emily Webb Thompson Wilson. It should have been Emily Webb Thompson Wilson. Emily is the second wife of John Alvis Wilson after John Berry Thompson died. 

John Alvis Wilson Will

Additional Information is provided below that is associated to my great, great grandfather John Alvis Wilson first wife Emelia Morrows family. Julia Armstrong is David Morrow's mother and Emelia Morrow grandmother.

 Print

David Morrow's great grandparents: Thomas Bowden (1879-1955) and Ruth Burnett (1879-1952). Tom descends from 2 Patriots and Ruth descends from 3 Patriots.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Posted Wednesday, February 9, 2022 9:20 am

 Updated: Friday, February 11, 2022 10:09 am

David Morrow

SUBMITTED PHOTO

IF YOU'RE GOING

When: Saturday, Feb. 19 from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Where: Zoom

Cost of attendance: free

By HANNAH McCLELLAN

News + Record Staff

The Chatham Community Library and Chatham’s Community Remembrance Coalition will commemorate Black History Month by co-sponsoring a virtual lecture about the contributions of Chatham’s free people of color during the Revolutionary War.

Given by David Morrow, a lawyer and writer based in California, the lecture — “Patriots of Color in Chatham County: Untold Stories” — will highlight his genealogical research that began with his own family tree, and expanded to over 6,000 names across multiple states and countries.

The program is free and will be held via Zoom from 2 to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 19. To attend, register here.

Morrow was the first in his family to prove lineage to a Black patriot, as well as the first Black member of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), where he now serves as secretary for the executive board. He is also the co-founder of the Facebook group “Native & Free People of Color of Alamance, Chatham, Caswell, Granville, and Orange Counties in North Carolina,” which has over 600 members.

Originally from Washington, D.C., Morrow now lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Erica and their son David III. In addition to SAR, he is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the Bachelor-Benedict Club of Washington, D.C., and the Diversity Working Group for the National Genealogical Society.

Morrow has been a speaker at multiple national conferences on issues of diversity in the legal profession, and was the inaugural director of the Men of Color Project for the American Bar Association. He has appeared on numerous 40 Under 40 lists with the National Bar Association and the Business Journal and was honored by the National Bar Association in 2013 as the Young Lawyer of the Year.

This week, the News + Record spoke with him about his research on patriots of color and his hopes for his upcoming Chatham presentation. The following interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

How did this event come about, in terms of the idea itself and the process of setting it up?

David Morrow: The library is setting it up and asked me to speak. My family’s from North Carolina — my parents were born there. I actually wasn’t, I was born on a military base in Michigan, but most of my family’s still in North Carolina.

Chatham County [Community] Library had reached out, I told them about my research — I had attended one of their programs and I posed some questions and then they Googled me. Then I was like, “I’d love to do a presentation on patriots of color during Black History Month.” So that’s kind of how it all came about.

Where did your interest in researching patriots of color come from?

Growing up, my family always talked about their deep roots in North Carolina, and so I was really aware of family history — probably more so than the average African American out there — but I didn’t know the deep history that I ended up uncovering. My background is I’m a lawyer, I’m based out here in Los Angeles, but I am also a genealogist on the side. That’s one of my passion projects. I started that work back in 2007 — I knew that I had a unique family history, and so I wanted to just learn more about that and I uncovered even more than I was expecting.

That unique part was just about being descended from African Americans who were never enslaved, but living in North Carolina. Of the slave-holding states, North Carolina had, I think, the second- or third-largest free population of people of color before 1860. On my dad’s side of the family, multiple family lines of mine were from these different communities that were racially mixed — African Americans, Native American origin — and so I wanted to learn more about that. In that process, I learned about the number of people that were in my family tree, and from that particular community in Chatham County who fought in the Revolutionary War.

Being a military kid, I’ve always been fascinated with military conflicts, one being the Civil War, which is always interesting, but then the Revolutionary War, which is interesting, too. For me, I didn’t realize the extent that African Americans had played in that war. I think most people make false assumptions that all Black people were enslaved or that no one fought in that war conflict, when in fact, there were thousands of black soldiers commissioned then. What’s unique about North Carolina, and particularly Chatham County, is that there were at least 30-something black patriots in that community.

So as I was uncovering the four in my tree, because there’s about 30-plus families that all kind of married each other over a 200-plus year period, there were other folks in the community that also fought for independence. I’ve been trying to document and research those individuals and their families and share that with a lot of their descendants, who still live in Chatham, Siler City, and then Alamance County and Orange County — between those three right there, that’s pretty much where I would say 75% of my dad’s family still lives to this day, and they’ve been there since the mid-1700s.

I view this as untold history that’s pertinent to those still living in Chatham, and is just interesting about a certain community’s contribution to the founding of this nation. And then I like to share a little bit about the lives in which they lived during that time period because they walked a line, right? If you were a free person of color at the time, you had to walk around with papers all the time that said you were free or you could be thrown into bondage. So they had their white neighbors, they had the enslaved and then there was them, in the middle trying to figure it out.

Can you say more about this being untold history?

African American history and race in general, especially in the South, is very complex and it’s not just one story.

But back then, I think it was unique for North Carolina, and particularly Chatham — the largest counties that had free people of color were down in Robeson and Granville and then number three was the Chatham, Alamance, Orange area. There’s no historical marker about this community. There’s churches that still exist right now that were built by this community, one being Burnett’s Chapel — there’s a lot of people buried out there, pretty much huge chunks of my family tree buried out there somewhere. Many of these families were landowners, and so there’s still parts of it being lived on by their descendants. So you have a continuous land ownership story for African Americans that reaches back almost 200 years in North Carolina, which also is very unique.

What will the event itself look like?

It will be me doing a virtual presentation from the West Coast. I’ll dive into my history and my connections to the community, and highlight these 32 men who fought in the Revolutionary War. I’ll go into some detail on certain ones — which regiments they fought in, which battles and where their descendants are right now, which is they’re all over that area in North Carolina.

Part of this is also important for me because, through my research, I’ve joined the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), which is a Genealogical Society similar to the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). My hope is that this research could help other descendants of this community apply for membership into these organizations, because I think again, there’s a false assumption about African Americans in history in general. These organizations can have Black members; we fit the criteria.

Why is it important that people know this kind of information? In other words, why is it important to you to rectify cases where people aren’t aware of the contributions of this community?

Because it goes to the very heart of who’s American. There’s this whole thing when it comes to race, as if somehow we’re not part of this country’s origin, or current state, and the contributions that we’ve done to create the current version of America.

So I see these types of stories, and I see them in my own family tree, it’s like, “Oh, I’m clearly American. I mean, I’m definitely of African origin, but my family’s been here before America was America and during and after it became America, so what else could I be?” In the civil rights era, during the protest movement, signs would say, “Go back to Africa,” as if we weren’t already here. It’s such a funny thing to think, well, what does it mean to be American? Does it mean to only be white? Well actually, the fabric has been diverse from its inception.

I see these stories, especially in history from years ago. We learn about George Washington or Thomas Jefferson, but maybe we should learn more about Crispus Attucks, who was the first person to actually die in the war conflict, and he was a Black man. And then understanding that everyone has a piece of this history. It’s not just for certain people that can lay claim to our founding fathers or to what occurred 200-plus years ago.

What I’ll add on to that about the organization is that SAR has been super welcoming to me. I actually spoke at the California officers meeting out here in Anaheim about a week ago. I actually sit on the board for Los Angeles; I’m the secretary on the executive board.

I haven’t felt as if somehow I wasn’t wanted — I just think that for these organizations, the level of proof you have to show is sometimes hard to demonstrate if you’re a Black person, and the documentation may not be all that sound, or may not be there. You know, old family stories don’t count, you have to have an actual written record to demonstrate your connection to that period of time to join these types of organizations — that’s very easy for the white population. For African Americans, one, I think it’s only about 25% of Black people descend from those that weren’t slaves, so the vast majority of most African Americans’ trees are going to be that of enslaved people, which means you cannot go back before 1865 and the Civil War — that’s where your tree will end. For that other percentage, I think if you can demonstrate your connection to that period of history, then you should join these organizations and change the narrative.

What do you hope participants get out of attending?

They learn something about the area that they did not know. History is history because people write about it, but if you don’t write about it and you don’t remember it, how can it be actual history? So for me, it’s important to share this history, the documentation to say, “Hey, this is what Chatham County did during that time period. This is what the African American community contributed to the nation’s inception, and let’s not forget that.” Let’s not forget about the people in our own community. Let’s not forget about the people who are literally the families that are still living down the street from each other.

One goal is just education and making sure people remember this; the second one is, I would like to do a historical marker. I think this comes to that level where I think this county should lay claim to 30 individuals who fought in the war effort that were people of color. So those are my goals: one is education, a historical marker in Chatham somewhere near Siler City, and then to increase the roles of members of this community within SAR and DAR.

Reporter Hannah McClellan can be reached at hannah@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @HannerMcClellan.