First Families - Morris

Welcome SMCGS' newest Founding Family, that of Reuben Morris (1833 IN - aft 1866 UNK) and Margaret Lynch (1828 IRE -1901 CA).

Julie Mooney's account of her great-grandfather states: "Reuben Eldon Morris was one of the transportation pioneers in the Bay Area.  He was the owner of the largest stage line leading from San Francisco to the interior towns, according to the obituary of his widow, Margaret Lynch Morris.

"His ‘outerlands ‘routes would have included one to the western portions of San Francisco which were sparsely populated at the time, and to the south to Brisbane and likely South San Francisco. 

"Later he expanded to the ‘Mile House” routes which would have proceeded from San Francisco via what is now San Bruno Avenue around the east side of San Bruno Mountain to Brisbane and then via what is now Hillside Road in So. San Francisco to Mission Street.  The road then connected with El Camino Real.  His routes would likely stop at Castor’s Store in Belmont and end in San Mateo at 2^nd Avenue and El Camino or Old County Road. .

"Reuben had a livery adjacent to the original blacksmith’s shop owned by Michael and Dennis Brown on 3^rd and what is now Railroad Ave in San Mateo.  His daughter Rachel married Dennis Brown and had two sons.  Their respective homes remain side by side on the west side of No. Delaware Street numbers # 2 and #5 and have been beautifully maintained and restored. (1)

"The family moved to San Mateo County in the late 1850’s as he initiated the first stage line from Belmont Township to Spanishtown ( now known as Half Moon Bay), Purissima and Pescadero.

"In August 1859  the road from Condon’s to Belmont was declared a public highway.  And in October “Stage line and express from Belmont to Spanishtown and Half Moon Bay: Leaves Belmont ( Castor’s Store) at 1 pm every Monday, Wed and Friday…Leaves Spanishtown every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 8 o’clock , arriving at Belmont at 12 Noon.  R.E. Morris, propr. (2)

"Per the Wells Fargo Archivist, these were not stage coaches as we know them but, mud wagons – similar to the one on display at the San Mateo County History Museum in Redwood City.

"When the Freeman express contract was bought/absorbed by Wells Fargo Stage Lines, it is likely that Reuben Eldon Morris sold his livery company and routes in the county within a few short years. (3) 

Reuben, the grandson of a wealthy Henry County, IN farmer, most likely arrived in San Francisco in the early 1850s.  According to family tradition he married Margaret about 1855 in the city, but no record has been found to date.  Reuben seems to have drifted between San Francisco and San Mateo counties in the 1850s and 1860s.  He is listed in the San Francisco directories in 1861-63 and again in 1866.

Reuben Morris is last found in records in San Francisco or San Mateo County (or elsewhere) in 1880 when the family is found living in Township 4.

  Margaret Lynch purchased a plot (or perhaps it was a gift from her friend Mrs. Parrott) in St. John's Cemetery in San Mateo in 1887. Although no burial has been found,  it seems likely it was for Reuben. Margaret was living with her son-in-law, Dennis Brown in 1900 and was in the house of her daughter in Livermore in 1901 when she died.

James Crowe Mortuary brought her back to San Mateo and she is buried in the Morris plot in St. John's Cemetery along with her son George. (4)

You will find more information on Reuben, Margaret and their descendants in the San Mateo County Genealogical Society Library's First Family Collection.  Read about other early San Mateo County families on the SMCGS First Families Blog.

(1)  Daily Journal article 10/10/2000 by Paul Buchanan.

(2) R.E Schellens Notes:  ‘in having a roadway or public highway established out of Belmont.  The Board of Supervisors agreed to have such a public highway built out of a meandering farm road leading to Lower Lake sometime in august 1859.  This was followed by the inauguration of a regular stage line and express from Belmont to Spanishtown on Monday October 17, 1859.  R.E. Morris, proprietor.  The express part was taken care of by Freeman & Co. Express, with A.T. Castor of Belmont acting as their agent.  RNT 8/1974

(3) Local Historian John Edmonds in the Journal of Local History  Vol 5. No 2 Addition To San Mateo Stagecoaches: Morris should rightly be credited with developing the original stage line from San Mateo to Half Moon Bay and Pescadero.

(4) SMCGS - San Mateo County Death Records - Pam Reynolds

MORRIS

Margaret

73

Ireland

10/25/1901

Livermore, Cal.

Married

F

White

Heart Disease

Dr. J. K. Warner

St. John's, San Mateo

11-2-1901

Fiedler & Graham

San Mateo County Cemeteries: Holy Cross Catholic - Menlo Park

The current Holy Cross Cemetery started as a town cemetery in the late 1860s.  It was purchased by the Church of the Nativity and converted to a Roman Catholic cemetery in 1883. 

When Stanford University moved those interred in St. Denis's Catholic Cemetery, many of the bodies were moved to Holy Cross.  There is a historical plaque near the entrance commemorating those burials.  

Holy Cross is still an active cemetery with up to 100 burials a year.  The interment register includes over 5400 names.

A quick walk through the grounds reveals names with a multitude of origins....Italian, Samoan, Irish,Tongan, Mexican and many more. Like many of the older cemeteries there are some unique plots and tombstones reflecting the mix of cultures.

Interment.net lists burials through 2005 provided by Fred Kemmerle and FindAGrave lists 4191 burials with 90% having photographs, and the burials 


Cemetery Records, which may include:  date of death, place of death, date of burial, date of birth or age, place of birth, parish from which the person was buried, and mortuary, can be obtained by submitting a Genealogy Request Form.The cost is $35. The website reminds us that cemetery information does not include maiden names, children, or death certificates.  The mortuary might, however, have that type of information if it is included in the cemetery records.

Cemetery Map                                         

Holy Cross Cemeteries 

Holy Cross Cemetery on Twitter

The Cemetery Office is located at  Saint Raymond Catholic Church, 1100 Santa Cruz Ave, Menlo Park  650-323-6375

Digging for Roots Online: Cemeteries and Tombstones

By Dennis L. Maness, MLS

  

At the July Society meeting we had an interesting program, "Care and reading of old tombstones" by Martha Wallace, and it reminded me of the many places on the Web where I’ve recently seen information about genealogy and cemeteries. To supplement Ms. Wallace’s talk, let me add a few places to “dig for roots” (but not literally, please!)

Usually the first place I start when I’m thinking about specific genealogy topics is the Family HistoryResearchWiki. I typed “cemeteries” in the “Search by place or topic” box and the first entry was “Cemeteries”.

I clicked on the link and got a wonderful page on cemeteries that listed various ways to find cemeteries and links to other websites.

Further searching on the Wiki led me to a page on UnitedStates, Tombstone and Sexton  records:

Next I searched the FamilySearch Learning Center for “Cemetery” and got 9 video or slides on topics such as: episodes of the TV show Ancestors; “Researching Funeral Homes, Gravesites and Cemetery Records”; “Cemetery Art”; and “Messages From the Grave: Listening to Your Ancestor’s Tombstone”!

Now I went to Ancestry.com and searched their Wiki for “cemetery records” and got this article from “The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy”:

Next I used my third favorite Web site, About.com to search for “CemeteryRecords”:

In addition there were links to: “Tiptoeing Through the Graveyard”, “How to Do a Tombstone Rubbing”, Tips for Taking Great Cemetery Pictures” (and yes, they recommend a mirror as mentioned by Ms. Wallace),  and other topics including a link to “The LimitedEncyclopedia of Grave Terminology ”.

The fourth place I go to is the “GeneaBloggers” site by Thomas MacEntee, where one can search almost 3,000 genealogy blogs.

Here I found something I hadn’t even thought about (and have probably broken the law doing!)--an article on the “Legal Genealogist” site by Judy Russell, called “Cemetery Photos-Permission Required?"

Another listing was “Cemeteries and Cemetery Symbols” by Joe Beine.

On another of Thomas MacEntee’s sites, “Blogtalkradio” there is a program called “Bring Out Your Dead! Cemeteries and Genealogy ”

And, of course, we can’t forget the fine articles on our very own Blog on San Mateo County Cemeteries by the very knowledgeable Cath Madden Trindle!

There is a site on the MyHeritage genealogy blog called Cemeteries: Gravestonesymbols.

On the Ancestry.com blog (yes, they have a free-to-read-blog too) there is an informative article for newbie cemetery genealogists called CemeteryEtiquette: What you Need to Know for that Cemetery Trip.

On a personal note, a few years ago I found, in a used book store, the book Storiesin Stone: A Field Guide to Cemetery Symbolism and Iconography that is both visually attractive and fun to read. (Note: the link is to the Amazon.com site but the book is available elsewhere. When you look at the prices don’t hate me for paying only $2.00 for my used copy!)

And finally there was recently a news article about a person who did awful damage to many tombstones so they could photograph them for Find-A-Grave (which had no responsibility for this person’s actions). I think it illustrates perfectly what Ms. Wallace told us.

http://goo.gl/Bmw9Zg

Cemeteries can give us more information about our ancestors and have broken many a genealogical brick wall.

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Remember, as Legacy Family Tree’s Geoff Rasmussen says,

“Life is short; do genealogy first!"