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Surnames: Morrison, Mitchell, Brawley, Wright, Garretson, Jones, Elliott, Mason, Good,
Ernest, Elkhart, Mason, Ranson, Spake, First
Classification: Biography
Message Board URL:
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Ui.2ADI/3307
Message Board Post:
Memorial Record of Northeastern Indiana. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, 1896, pp.
230-235.
JOHN ANDREW MORRISON, M. D., has spent his entire life in Indiana, and is to-day numbered
among the leading citizens of Montpelier. He has attained an enviable position in the
medical profession, gaining a high reputation which comes only through skill and ability,
and which is the reward of faithful and persistent effort. He is progressive, keeping
abreast with the times in every particular, and his advanced methods and thorough
understanding of the business have brought to him excellent success.
The Doctor was born in Salamonie township, Huntington county, April 26, 1850, and comes of
a family that was probably founded in America during early Colonial days. His grandfather,
Andrew Morrison, was born July 18, 1780, probably in Virginia, and married Martha
Mitchell, who was born September 25, 1786. Their wedding was celebrated April 5, 1804, and
they became the parents of fourteen children. The oldest, a son, born December 7, 1805,
died January 23, 1806. Leander is the father of our subject. James P. was born October 10,
1808. Osborn was born June 17, 1810. An infant daughter, born September 2, 1811, died on
the 5th of the same month. Elijah, born September 29, 1812, married Sarah Mitchell, June
17, 1834, and died September 29th of the same year. Sarah Mordah, born July 18, 1814, was
married on the 20th of August, 1835, to John Brawley, who died November 21, 1840. Andrew,
born September 21, 1816, was married January 15, 1839, to Elizabeth Wright. Joanna was
born April!
23, 1819. An infant daughter, born July 24, 1820, died on the 27th of the same month.
Franklin Alexander, born July 24, 1822, died June 12, 1825. Lewis M. was born February 21,
1825. Eli was born October 15, 1826. An infant son died May 9, 1828. Matilda Ann, born
March 4, 1829, married Joel P. Garretson, September 9, 1845, and is living in Andrews,
Huntington county, Indiana.
The Doctor's father, Leander Morrison, was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, November
7, 1806, and is of Scottish descent, for his father was a native of Scotland, and,
crossing the Atlantic to America when a young man, located in Pennsylvania, whence he
afterward went to Kentucky. Leander attended the common schools of the neighborhood and
afterward removed with his family to Preble county, Ohio, where he followed agricultural
pursuits until 1834. That year witnessed his arrival in Huntington county, Indiana.
Casting his lot with its pioneer settlers he entered from the Government a tract of land
lying in both Huntington and Wells counties and began to clear and improve his property.
As a companion and helpmeet on life's journey he chose Miss Matilda Jones, and their
marriage, which took place February 26, 1835, was the first celebrated in Salamonie
township. The lady was born March 7, 1816, in Kentucky, and is a daughter of Samuel Jones,
who made the first settlement in th!
at township on the 27th of September, 1833. He served as a soldier in the war of 1812,
and during his earlier years resided in Highland county, Ohio, whence with his family,
consisting of wife and eight children, he went to Huntington county, locating on the
present town-site of Warren. He laid out the town and was prominently identified with the
upbuilding of the community for many years, doing all in his power for its promotion and
development.
After his marriage Leander Morrison located on a frontier farm in Huntington county, where
he spent his remaining days. The tract originally comprised 185 acres, and was in its
primitive condition at the time of his settlement thereon, but with characteristic energy
he began its development, and soon it was transformed into rich and cultivable fields. He
also found time to devote to public affairs and in the early days of the county's
history served as land agent, as magistrate and as county commissioner. The duties of
public and private life were ever faithfully performed by him and his genuine worth won
him the esteem of all with whom he came in contact. His political support was given the
Republican party after its organization, previous to which time he voted with the Whig
party. Personally he was five feet, eight inches in height and weighed about 135 pounds;
was of a sympathetic temperament and pleasant disposition, and throughout the community
had many friends. His de!
ath occurred February 14, 1881. His widow, however, is still living on the old homestead
in Huntington county, and is an earnest and consistent member of the United Brethren
Church.
Mr. and Mrs. Morrison became the parents of seven children: Calvin, born January 1, 1837,
enlisted on his country's call for troops, and died in the army in 1861. Nancy was
born November 14, 1838. Martha Ann, born May 30, 1842, became the wife of David Elliott,
and they now reside in Huntington county. Sarah Lucinda, born December 15, 1843, is the
wife of Charles R. Mason, of Hartford City, Indiana. Samuel Lindsay, born January 8, 1847,
married Burzetta Good, and is living in Huntington county. The Doctor is the next younger.
Lewis Mitchell, born May 2, 1853, married Rosie Anna Ernest, and after her death wedded
Lavinia Elkhart, with whom he is now living in Huntington county.
Doctor Morrison of this review spent his childhood days on the Indiana frontier, and with
the family went through the usual experiences of pioneer life. He early became inured to
the arduous labors of developing a farm, and through the summer months worked in the
fields, but after the crops were harvested in the autumn he entered the district schools
to pursue his studies in the winter. He also attended school in Bluffton, Indiana, and for
two terms was a student in the Roanoke Classical Seminary, under Professor Core.
Tiring of the monotony of farm life and desiring to enter the broader field of
professional labor, in 1872 he took up the study of medicine under Drs. Mason and Ranson,
of Hartford City, Blackford county. In the winter of 1873-4, he attended a course of
lectures in the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery, and was graduated at that
institution in the class of 1875. He now laid aside his text-books to learn the more
important lessons which experience would bring, and to enter upon the sterner duties of
life which follow the period of our school days. He first located at Mt. Zion, Wells
county, but after remaining there for one year removed to Liberty Center, Indiana, where
he successfully continued practice until June, 1884. Corning to Montpelier he has since
been identified with its interests, and is known as one of its most successful and capable
physicians. Montpelier at the time of his arrival contained only 750 inhabitants, but its
growth has been rapid, and it is !
now a city of more than 5,000.
The Doctor has ever been an earnest student, keeping abreast with the progress made in the
science of medicine, and in 1885, in order to further perfect himself in his chosen
calling, he attended a course of lectures in the Long Island College Hospital of New York.
His fellow townsmen have attested their confidence in his ability by the liberal support
they have given him, and he now enjoys a lucrative practice. In 1893 he purchased a farm
of 226 acres, on section 16, Jackson township, Wells county. To the farm he removed in the
month of June, and there made his home until September, 1895. He has upon the place
fourteen oil-producing wells, which are now leased and operated by Forest & Greenley,
of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and which yield to the Doctor a good income. He has recently
purchased property at the corner of High and Washington streets, where he now has a
comfortable and commodious home.
The Doctor married Miss Sarah Catherine Spake, who was born in Wells county, December 19,
1857, and is the eldest of a family of five children, whose parents are John and Polly
(First) Spake. The Doctor and his wife are the parents of three children: Rufus Alvah,
born July 13, 1877; Leander, born August 1, 1879; and Merle Minten, born March 15, 1882.