Finding Aaron Morgan

Photo of the Path near the Cemetery by Mary Kelley

FINDING AARON MORGAN

Family re-discovers their 165-year-old burial ground

by Nick Smith

July 28, 2022

Aaron Morgan, one of the Early Settlers in Big Creek Township, came to Henry (Rives) County before the start of the Civil War. During his short period here, we can see from the record that Aaron owned a few parcels of land that he had purchased from the U.S government. However, in 1885 his Wife Nancy died, leaving him with his four children: John, Elizabeth, Louise, and Margret. This family would, unfortunately, continue to dwindle, and by Aaron Morgan’s death in April of 1873, only 2 of his children were alive, even that would not last long: his daughter Margaret would pass away in October of the same year. His last living child, Louise, lived another 22 years and died at the age of 54. Louise is buried in Norris Cemetery.

The Aaron Morgan cemetery remained untouched until the early 1990s. It was at this time the original graved site was moved for unknown reasons. It was moved about 50 yards from the original site and the stones were collected after being spread over a large area to make a confined area with a fence around it. From what we can gather, the family of Aaron Morgan had not seen this sacred place since the early 1900s. That is until 2022, over 120 years later, a descendent of Aaron Morgans returned “home”.

Mary Kelley, a Gillette Historic Preservation Commission member, was on a long journey traveling from state to state searching for information concerning her family origins. On July 27th, Mary walked into the Henry County Museum and introduced herself. Mary was searching for probates, wills, and records looking for anyone and everyone on her list who had the last name Morgan: she was looking for traces of relation. After many hours of searching our archives, we started searching the Aaron Morgan Cemetery.

Mary, Suzanne Bush (the Director of the Henry County Museum), and I went to search for this family burial ground - located somewhere around the coal dumps on O Hwy, which is in Big Creek Township. We entered through the Old Trail Ridge Lodge entrance road and walked one and a half miles to the location. The terrain of the trail was very overgrown and at some points rather difficult to manage because of the tall grass, thistles, and briars. It was well worth it. Once we topped the hill, we were not sure exactly of the location of the burial ground. Mary and Suzanne began looking around the area near the coal dumps and I continued to follow the coordinates I had found online just to check their accuracy. Sure enough, I followed a cleared path roughly 500 feet north of where I left the ladies. Ironically, I stumbled upon the fallen wood fence, which i thought was really cool, and discovered that it contained the six stones belonging to relatives of the Morgan Family. Although the ground was in rough condition, it was honestly surprising the see how well-preserved the stones were. Only two of the six had fallen; with only one being broken in half. It was safe to say that the three of us were excited to see this piece of property.

Some questions still remained, that had us all puzzled. Why were the monuments moved and did they retrieve the bodies? Where is Aaron Morgan's stone, it was moved with the other stones, and was recorded that it was there in 1985, but had disappeared by 1996. It also raises another question of if the family will want to search for the original site or remember their loved ones as they are in their current state.

Only Time will tell….

Find more information on the Aaron Morgan Cemetery:

If you happen to be in the area stop into the Henry County Museum to take a tour or research, local history.