MORRISON, Peter (1821-1899)

MORRISON

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 12/18/2018 at 12:47:42

Peter Morrison
(November 15, 1821 - December 22, 1899)

Peter Morrison was reared and educated in New York where he learned the trade of a carpenter, and was engaged there in railroad contracting. In 1867 he came to Ida County, Iowa, in 1872 located in Garfield township, and in 1874 settled in Battle Creek when that place contained only a post office. He immediately began contracting and building. In 1861, in Dane County, Wisc., he enlisted in Company H, 8th Wisc. Infantry, known as Runnell's Guards. He took part in the battles of Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Antietam, Murfreesboro, Lookout Mountain, and in the Peninsular Campaign. He was twice wounded and carries the two bullets. He was discharged after serving 5 years, 2 months, and 23 days. He is a member of the Mathew Gray Post, No. 93, at Ida Grove. Peter and Emma Morrison had 6 children: James, Sarah, Martha, Matilda, Mary, and George.

Source: Biographical History of Crawford, Ida, and Sac Counties, Iowa, 1893, p.258
Peter Morrison
born Nov 15, 1821
Peter Morrison, a contractor and builder of Battle Creek, Iowa, was born
in Painted Post, New York, November 15, 1821, a son of Thomas and Hannah
(Sullivan) Morrison, the former a native of Glasgow, Scotland, and the latter of Georgia. When a young man the father left his native country for New York, where he was afterward married. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, a stone mason by occupation, and in 1855 removed to Belleville, Dane County, Wisconsin. In 1861 he went to Albert Lea, Minnesota, where he died in l875, lacking ten days of being 100 years of age. The mother departed this life the same year. They were the parents of seven children, viz.: Peter, our subject; James, who served three years in the First Minnesota Cavalry, is married and resides in Michigan; Daniel, a member of Company II, Eighth Minnesota Infantry, for four years and eight months, resides in Butte City, Montana; Elias, a member of the Eighth Wisconsin Infantry, served four years and eight months, is married and resides in Spokane Falls, Washington; Thomas, in Company H, Thirteenth Wisconsin Infantry, for three years, resides in Butte City, Montana; Alva, in the Fifteenth Wisconsin Infantry, three years, was taken prisoner at Holly Springs, eighteen months in Libby Prison, and now resides at Crow Agency, Montana; and Mary, wife of George Bull, of Osage, Mitchell County. Iowa.
Peter Morrison, the subject of this sketch, was reared and educated in New York, where he learned the trade of a carpenter, and was also engaged there in railroad contracting. In 1856 he came West to Dane County. Wisconsin, followed his trade in the summer and worked in the pine regions of northern Wisconsin during the winter. In 1861, in Dane County, he enlisted in Company H, Eighth Wisconsin Infantry, known as Runnell's Guards, went into service at Camp Rundall, Madison, for three months, then re-enlisted for three years, or during the war, and took part in the battles of Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Antietani, Murfreesboro, Lookout Mountain and in the Peninsular Campaign. He
participated in 144 battles in all, and was twice wounded. At Bull Run, July 21, 1861, he received a gun-shot wound in the right shoulder and side, and he still carries the two bullets. He was confined in the field hospital and at Alexandria. Mr. Morrison served as Corporal, Captain and Recruiting Officer, and was honorably discharged at Washington, District of Columbia, in 1866, after serving five years, two months and twenty-three days. He then returned to Albert Lea, Minnesota, where he began work at his trade, and later took the contract on the railroad from that place to Itasca, Minnesota. In 1867 he came to Ida County, Iowa, in 1872 located in Garfield Township, and in 1874 settled in Battle Creek, when that place contained only the post office. Mr. Morrison immediately began contracting and building, and has also taken an active interest in politics, voting with the Democratic Party. Socially, he is a member of Matthew Grey Post, No. 93, at Ida Grove, and of Echo Lodge, I. O. O. F., No. 119, at Battle Greek.
In 1854, in New York, our subject was united in marriage with Miss Emma
Hawkins, a native of Vermont and a daughter of Andrew and Emma (Leigh) Hawkins, natives also of that State. They removed to New York in an early day, where the father afterward died, and the mother now resides in Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Morrison have had six children, viz.: James, married, and is a
practicing physician of Spokane Falls, Oregon; Sarah, wife of Eugene Randall, of Burnett, Nebraska; Martha, wife of Willard Laflin, of Battle Creek; Matilda, now Mrs. George Vaughan, of Utah; Mary, wife of Stephen Clark, of Linn, Iowa; and George, a sailor on a merchant vessel from Oregon, and is now
in China. Mr. and Mrs. Morrison spent the year of 1888 in San Francisco, Olympia and Portland. They are members of the Christian Church, of which Mr. Morrison is a Ruling Elder.