The Slovak Yankee

The Royal Line of Anne (Skipwith) (Goforth) Oxley ca. 1642-1723, Part I

About five years or so ago, I broke through on Michael's Morrow family.  William Isaac Irvine Morrow's parents were David and Priscilla (Doherty) Morrow and his maternal grandparents were George and Priscilla (Goforth) Doherty.  I hastily copied the important parts of the 3rd edition of the Goforth Genealogy by George Tuttle Goforth and published in 1981.

I noted that the English origins of the first Goforth, William, was given as was his marriage to Anne Skipwith, the putative daughter of Willoughby Skipwith and Honora Saunders.  I'm well acquainted with medieval families so seeing the name Skipwith, I immediately thought royal line.  I did some quick research and saw one.  However, the Goforth Genealogy is presented in narrative form without any footnotes.  Although well-researched, there is no way to know that without redoing all the research yourself to see if what this book contains is accurate or not.  The combination of Quaker and royal seemed spurious.  There have been many recent scholarly articles disproving such claims.  The thought that a member of the Skipwith family became a Quaker martyr and her daughter would come to the states, seemed very far-fetched.  So, it got filed.

Two weeks ago, a cousin of Michael's contacted me and I gave her my research for the lines she shared with Michael.  That included this Morrow/Goforth line.  So I looked at this again.  In the intervening five years or so, technology made proving this much easier.  A quick search of google books found this article from Lincolnshire Notes & Queries 8 (1904/5):188-89: The Skipwiths and the Quakers.  This seemed promising.  Then I went to the British National Archives to their Non-Conformist Parish Registers Database.  There I obtained (for five pounds) the actual marriage record of George Goforth and Anne Skipwith from 1662.  In fact, as I did the research, I proved exactly what George T. Goforth had written in 1981.  His only error was with the Quaker dating system.  The marriage was 11th day 7th mo. 1662 which is September 11th not July 11th.  

Interestingly, no one has bothered to do any research on this couple, and specifically Anne Skipwith who has amazing ancestry.  She was the daughter of Willoughby Skipwith and Honora Saunders.  This last couple is clearly given in Maddison's Lincolnshire Pedigrees, III: 896.  Honora is further given in the Visitation of London, 1633.  Through Willougby Skipwith, there is a double descent from Edward III.  In a further posting, I will give the generation by generation break down of that line.  It is what people tend to call "the best royal line," which is merely short hand for the closest descent to the most recent monarch.  However, in addition to the two Edward III lines, there are a dozen or so additional lines to other kings such as Edward I, Henry III, and John. I've submitted this new information to my colleagues Gary Boyd Roberts and Douglas Richardson for inclusion in their future editions of royal lines.

Part II is here.

Dr. William Isaac Irvine Morrow 1802-1875

In family papers and photos, I came across this photo.  On the back it said "Grandfather Morrow" in handwriting, printed, the photographer's name: James F. Whaley, Photographer, Neosho, Mo.  I can say with 99% certainty, that this picture is of William Morrow and the handwriting is his granddaughter Alice May (Morrow) Clark 1857-1941.  The photo then came into the possession of either William Lynn Clark 1891-1958 (Alice's son) or his sister, Grace Clark 1893-1975.  Either way it eventually found its way to William's widow Ruth in whose papers I found it (in 1993).

 

Dr. William Isaac Irvine Morrow 1802-1875

I was intrigued by the current postings at Progenealogists on who is and who is not Native American.  Michael's family had no such tradition about being part Indian, but they do come from Oklahoma.  Both his parents were born there, and he even has a real "Sooner" in his background.  Michael and his parents did not know much about their family histories until I started nosing around in it.  They are not part Cherokee, but their ancestors did walk The Trail of Tears.

William Morrow, whose full name is in the title, was born on 25 November 1802 in Jefferson County, Tennessee, the son of  David and Priscilla (Doherty) Morrow.  He married there on 27 June 1826 to Lavinia Lea Jarnagin, the daughter of Chesley and Martha (Barton) Jarnagin.  All these four families; Morrow, Doherty, Jarnagin, and Barton, were influential in their day, either founding early Tennessee or fighting in the American Revolution.   In any case, William became a physician and was the doctor for the Cherokees on the Trail of Tears and kept a diary of the event. There is a decent write-up on the Internet for this couple (#11).  Their third son, William Lindsay Morrow, was Michael's great-great-grandfather.  We may have a photo of him [i.e., William I.I. Morrow], but it is only identified as "grandfather Morrow."