Robert Morrison (d. 1764) and his family came to Massachusetts in 1740. We do not know what ship he came on, but some sources indicate that his family was from Londonderry.
The DNA project has produced matches with this family that point to an area east of Londonderry, Northern Ireland called Ballymoney. Historical biographies indicate a Scotch-Irish background.
We do not know the name of his wife, but it is assumed she made the voyage as a son John was born in Bridgewater.
We assume there were daughters as well, and we know of at least one named Katherine from Robert's will. The will indicates a second wife by the name of Mary McIntire in 1761. Robert died three years later probably around 55-60 years of age.
Robert had three sons. Alexander (1728-1814) stayed in Boston and married Mary Erskine. Their family remained in that area. John (1743-1801) married Elizabeth Giffen, and moved to Enfield, Connecticutt. Their family remained in that area for many generations.
William married Sarah Montgomery and had six sons. He died in prison in 1758 during the French and Indian wars at the Bay of Fundy. The Bay of Fundy is off of Nova Scotia, where a large battle at sea occurred on June 12 of that same year. Later, Sarah Montgomery married William Strowbridge, Jr.
The sons of William and Sarah did not stay in Massachusetts. They were William, Robert, Alexander, John and James.
Their first son William (1749-1826) married Hannah Benson and moved the family to Farmington, Maine in 1805. For the most part, this family stayed in this area and several old homesteads are still known to this day as "Morrison" homes. One of William's sons was Robert. He married Mary (Polly) Keith, which establishes the connection back to Francis Cooke of the Mayflower. It is this family that had a son named John Keith Morrison, of which many of his descendants make up the content of this site.
John Keith's sons were Anson Reed and John Henry. Anson Reed Morrison served in the Civil War at Gettysburg, and has left us numerous letters of that era. Anson married and moved to Chicago, experiencing fist hand the "Great Chicago Fire". John Henry moved to the St. Louis area, married Margaret Murphy of Ireland and raised his family there.
Robert Morison (1751-1808), the second son of Robert and Sarah, married Dorcas Staples and also moved to Maine. He continued to use the one "r" in the name Morison. Their family produced a group of boys huge in stature, who later built large and successful wood mills in Livermore, Maine. His grandson, Dorilus Morrison, moved to Minnesota and built a lumber business there, becoming the first mayor of Minneapolis.
Alexander Morrison (1752-1809) married Ann Thompson, and moved the family west to Ohio in the Worthington area. They were of the first settlers in that region in 1803. His brother James Morrison (1757-1854) married Hannah Gunn and also moved to Ohio in 1806 and settled in the Ashtabula-Galena area.
John Morrison was born in 1754. John is a mystery. No marriage is known. Possibly the John Morrison who served on the Essex and was taken prisoner "in ship" and sent to the Old Mill Prison (Plymouth, England) in 1781.