As genealogy becomes the national pastime, our historical society has the pleasure of meeting and assisting more and more descendants of those individuals who played a role in the early history of Morrison County. Last month, for instance, we were contacted by descendants of Peter Roy, a well-known mixed-blooded Ojibway who lived in Little Falls and was a territorial and state legislator for this district. Last summer we were contacted by descendants of brothers William and Allan Morrison, both for whom the county was named. While much has been written about Allan (who was a long-time resident of Old Crow Wing), little has been compiled regarding his older and more famous brother, William.
William Morrison was born March 7, 1785, near Montreal, Canada, the son of Allan Morrison, Sr., and Jane Wadin (whose father, a Swiss fur trader, was murdered in the northwest by Peter Pond in 1781-82). At the young age of 16, William entered the fur trade – with his father’s permission – by signing a contract on January 27, 1802, as a clerk for five years with the XY Company (competitors of the Northwest Company of Grand Portage fame). By the fall of 1802, William had reached Leech Lake, in the “Fond du Lac department” (an area roughly comprising the northern half of Minnesota) where he spent the winter at a post on the headwaters of the Crow Wing River.
The following winter of 1803-04 saw William ascending the Mississippi River to Lake Itasca while enroute to a post at Rice Lake – thus making him the first white person to ever visit Lake Itasca, then known as Elk Lake or Lac La Biche. This visit to the source of the mighty Mississippi River would later lead to his belated claim as the discoverer of Lake Itasca. After years of brutal competition, the XY Company merged into the Northwest Company in 1805. William continued to work for the latter firm, being listed that year as a clerk and summer man in the Fond du Lac department at Leech Lake. In 1811-12, William again visited Lake Itasca while enroute to a post on the Rice River. The Northwest Company credited him with wages of 1,200 livres yearly from 1812 to 1816 as a clerk in the Fond du Lac department.
Due to the events surrounding the War of 1812, John Jacob Astor was able to acquire one-half interest in the Fond du Lac department, which was solely in U. S. territory. The Northwest Company, a Canadian firm, operated this department under the name of the “Southwest Company”. When Congress banned all foreigners from trading on U. S. soil in April, 1816, Astor was able to form his American Fur Company, and bought out the Northwest Company operations of Fond du Lac in 1817. Meanwhile, William Morrison was caught up in the on-going war between Lord Selkirk’s Red River Colony (backed by the Hudson’s Bay Company) and the Northwest Company. Selkirk’s agents arrested Morrison on September 9, 1816, at Sandy Lake, one of the main posts of the Fond du Lac department. Morrison was taken as a prisoner to Fort William, and later to Sault Ste. Marie, where Morrison escaped his captors and appealed to the U. S. Army for the injustice of his arrest on a British warrant served on American soil. Around this time, William took out his U. S. citizenship papers, and he was naturalized on July 19, 1820.
With Astor now in control of the Fond du Lac trade, William Morrison was put in charge of that department for the American Fur Company (AFC) in 1817. He was listed as “trader” on the AFC book for 1819 with a wage of $1,000 per year. On November 24, 1821, he signed a contract with the AFC as superintendent of the department for four years with $1,400 for yearly wages. Records in the National Archives show that Morrison operated the Fond du Lac department with the AFC from 1822 to 1826 on halves, meaning half of the department’s operation was at his expense and risk. During this time, Morrison developed a reputation as “ruthless” against any independent American traders because he managed to starve any competition out of existence. He reestablished a string of posts along the Canadian border, thereby entering into direct competition against the Hudson’s Bay Company. However, Governor Simpson of the Hudson’s Bay Company stated that Morrison was “one of the best and most experienced” traders in the region.
William Morrison retired from the American Fur Company in 1826 and returned to Berthier, Canada, where he died in August, 1866, as a Canadian citizen. He was married no less than four times (fathering 16 children). His first wife, Shaughunomonee, and second wife, Meshepeshequay, were both Ojibway Indians. His third wife was Anne Roussain, daughter of Eustache Roussain (Morrison’s associate and clerk), and one of their sons accompanied Fremont on his great expedition west. His fourth wife was Elizabeth Ann Kittson, a sister of Norman W. Kittson for whom Kittson County was named. Among the Ojibway Indians, William Morrison was known as the “Little Englishman”.
On January 16, 1856, William wrote a letter to his brother Allan (who remained in the Minnesota fur trade) detailing his 1804 and 1811-12 visits to Lake Itasca before Schoolcraft made his so-called discover in 1832. Allan sent this letter to Governor Ramsey, who gave it wide publicity, thus influencing the Legislature when Morrison County was named and organized on February 25, 1856, in honor of these brothers.
William Morrison probably never lived within our county – most of his trading posts were north of Crow Wing – but his mark upon the history of the fur trade in Minnesota is a deep one.
by Bruce Mellor
Copyright 1994, Morrison County Historical Society
I am doing research on White Oak Point on the Miss R near Deer River. In particular, I’m interested in any info you might have about Wm Morrison’ Indian wives and a son and daughter, Waymetigosheence and Waymetig -oshikwe. The daughter had sons Kaynosh, Tebishcogon, and Nebinudick among others. The son was a headman or chief of a Pokegama Lake Band, later White Oak Point. Any additional info or leads would be helpful.
Hi, Terry – We have a fat file on the Morrison family. There’s quite a lot on William’s brother, Allen; not quite so much on William and much of that is in the article above.
Way mit te gosh ens (“Little Frenchman”) and Way mit te gosh equay (“Little Frenchwoman”) were the children of William and his wife Shaughunomonee (a.k.a. Sah gwon dah gah oquay).
William’s first wife was Me zhe pe zhe quay; his second was Anne Roussain; his third Sah gwon dah gah oquay; and fourth Elizabeth Ann Kittson.
According to a letter written by historian Carl Zapffe on January 8, 1976, Way mit te gosh ens “had five children, one of them marrying into the Platt family.” Way mit te gosh equay “had seven children, one of whom married a McDonald. Subsequent generations then went into the Galbreath and Brown families.”
That seems to be the bulk of the information we have on William’s wives and the specific children you’ve asked about. If you are located near Little Falls, MN, you might want to stop by the museum and take a look at the Morrison Family File. You may be able to glean things from it that would be important to your research. If you are not located a convenient distance from the museum, please send an email to contactstaff (at) morrisoncountyhistory (dot) org and staff can conduct additional research for you.
Thanks for leaving a comment!
Mary Warner
I am trying to find out any information on Allen Morrison born in Crow Wing County in 1856 I believe. He was married to Gussie Evers born in St Paul, MN. They had a son born Sep.16 1919 William Allen Morrison in Becker County, White Earth Township. On Williams birth certificate it says father was 63 and mother 33 at the time of his birth but I am unable to find anything more on Allen Morrison. Any help is appreciated, thank you.
Awesome articles. I bookmarked and will come back.
Allan MORRISON – Jane WADIN are my line their son Allan is my ggggrandfather. Allan and Jane had William, Allan & I am trying to find any info on a 3rd child.. I am thinking his name was George A. MORRISON. Does any of your informaion on William or Allan mentioning them having any siblings?? Thanks ~
Hi Dawn. Allan Morrison, your great-great-great grandfather, apparently had twelve siblings, seven boys and five girls. Two were killed at the battle of Trafalgar in Egypt while serving in the English navy. We would be happy to try and locate the names. If you would like us to do research, please send a request to contactstaff@morrisoncountyhistory.org or give us a call (320/632-4007). Thanks! Ann Marie
I am trying to find information on Florence Morrison Wilszuck. Who or what is Wilszuck? She is my great grandmother. She put her daughter Anna Henrietta up for adoption in Boston, December of 1925. I am trying to fill the empty branch in my family tree. and maybe solve the Wilszuck mystery. On google the only other Wilszuck is mentioned in a 1906 census of SK Canada. Any Info would be greatly appreciated. Aloha Nui Loa
Crystal, Thank for your message. I did a quick check for a Wilszuck family name in our records but did not have any luck. It may be an alternate spelling of Wilczek or another similar name. We do have information on the Morrison family name but nothing so far on a Florence. We will send you information on Morrison Family researchers who are interested in sharing. Hopefully one of them can help! Ann Marie – Curator of Collections
Hi – I’m looking for information on the Morrison family rooted in Montreal. I think maybe descendants of one of the brothers? It shouldnt be to hard as one of them had like 11 children including Mary, Margaret, Helen and I cant remember the rest. My mother looks very indian so I always wondered if it was possible we were descendants of the Indian wives.
Hi, Heather – Could you please send us a research request via email (contactstaff (at) morrisoncountyhistory (dot) org) so we can conduct a proper search for you? Staff research is $25 an hour, plus copies and postage, with a $25 minimum. Any information you can provide to help us narrow the search would be helpful. Let us know if you are interested in William or Allen Morrison (or both) or a different Morrison altogether and we can start from there. You are also welcome to visit the Weyerhaeuser Museum to conduct your own research. Staff will pull files for you to look through. The only cost for this is for any copies you need made. Thanks for leaving a comment!
Mary Warner
Executive Director
I am a direct descendant if William and Alan Morrison’s sister Jeanne Morrison They are 3rd great uncles. I would like to use a copy of this amazing article for my families records. We emigrated to New Zealand and my children and grand kids who are NZ Maori are amazed with this discovery.. I must come visit some summer soon while I still can.. Can you send me a PDF. I will be happy to pay for this.
I know this post is almost 4 years old, I am also a descendant of Jane Morrison who married Charles Brouillet dit Bernard through their daughter Adelaide.
Hi, David – This is the beauty of history in the online world. We can have a four-year-old post that continues to be relevant to our readers. Thanks for sharing your connection to the Morrison family!
Mary Warner
Executive Director
I’d like to know more about William Morrison’s progeny. MY Morrison seems to have had no ancestors, so I look everywhere…
I am reading about the Missouri Fur Company 1809-1830 a William Morrison is listed as co owner, I know of a Morrison in St Louis, businessman. I think there must be different people. probably of the same family???
John-
Unfortunately we don’t have a definitive answer for you! As a fur trader, William would have traveled quite a lot so he may have helped establish the Missouri Fur Company in some way. It’s also not a horrible uncommon name, either, so it may be another person entirely, like you said!
So sorry we don’t have much more to help answer your question!
Grace Duxbury
Museum Assistant
I am looking for information on Rami Marotte (1844-1944) and Albina Gravel (1855-1939) who married in Little Falls in 1876. Both came from Montreal. Rami was in the hotel and saloon business for over 20 years in Little Falls. He sold the business and property in 1900 and moved to Crookston and built the Grand Central Hotel. The family moved to California prior to 1920. Any information you can share would be greatly appreciated. Nancy Marotte
Hi, Nancy – I will make sure our museum assistant Grace gets your research request. She will be in touch via email. Thanks for your question.
Mary Warner
Executive Director
My name is Christian “Tuffy” Morrison. I am a descendant of William and Meshepeshequay. I am enrolled Rosebud Sioux, and reside in South Dakota. I have searched for family in Minn and will continue to do so.
Hi, Christian! Thanks for introducing yourself. If you need some information on the Morrison family, let us know and we’ll check our archives. In the meantime, here are a couple more articles on our website that mention William Morrison:
“Pike to Cass” http://morrisoncountyhistory.org/?page_id=308
“Who Gets Credit? Naming the Source of the Mississippi River” http://morrisoncountyhistory.org/?page_id=338
If you have family information you’d like to share, we’d be interested in that too.
Thanks!
Mary Warner
Executive Director
Hi Christian, I am working on my family lineage and I believe I can tie my family back to William and Meshepeshequay. My family is of the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota, most of us currently reside in Wisconsin. Do you think you could help me with some of the pieces I’m missing? I am having a difficult time finding all the children of William and Meshepeshequay. According to your research do they have a son, Aygos or Aygan “Joseph” Morrison, born around 1809? Any information you could help me with would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, I hope to hear from you soon!