ISAAC MORRIS

 The following bio was taken from page 314 of the book entitled “Rusk County History” compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

 Transcribed by Claudia Schuster

 Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Cemeteries of TX

 Isaac Morris, born in Alabama in 1818, moved to Texas prior to 1840 and married Elizabeth Reed.  She was the daughter of William B. and Sarah Wright Reed of South Carolina and granddaughter of Isaac Reed, a Baptist minister who established the Old North Church at Nacogodoches.  He was the first to preach a protestant sermon in Texas, which was then governed by Mexico.  Although these sermons were against the law, he held services anyway.

 Isaac Morris had come to Rusk County from Alabama traveling with the King family.  They pledged to travel together, settle together and at death be buried in the same place.  He and his wife Elizabeth are buried at King Cemetery where his tombstone tells the story of his life.

 Isaac and Elizabeth were married on November 6, 1840 in Harrison County.  Their five children, all born in Rusk County, were: Jessie, 1841; William 1843; David Lafayette, 1844; Mary, 1847; and Henry, 1849.  The story of David Lafayette is told elsewhere in this book.

 The eleventh child of David Lafayette and Sophronia Garner was James B. (Ben).  He and Minia M. Gresham met at Isabell Chapel one Sunday at church.  Ben asked Minia’s mother, Rebecca Gresham Channel, if he could take Minia for a ride in his surrey.  He spent the day with her family and attended evening services with them.  This courtship continued in this fashion until their marriage on February 14, 1917 on a hilltop at the Rusk-Nacogdoches County line.  One stood in each county as the marriage was performed by Elbert Crenshaw.

 Ben and Minia lived with his parents, and he farmed with his father while a house could be made ready for the young couple.  Their six children were all born at home, and all but the two youngest, Ruth and Polly, were reared in Rusk County.

 The family moved to Houston, and Ben worked in the shipyards there during World War II and died in Houston.  Minia worked at two jobs, night and day, to support the two girls.

 Ben and Minia’s first child was David Lafayette.  Born in 1918 and named for his uncle, he was known as D.L.  He joined the army as a youth and served three years in peacetime.  He returned to marry Lucille Bass, and they had one son, who died at birth.  D.L. was drafted early in World War II and served the duration.  He was one of hundreds of ground troops aboard a transport that was attacked at sea.  When a gunner was shot, D.L. manned the gun, (although he was untrained) and was credited with sinking a German battleship.  He served thereafter as a gunner and needed no further training.  He was one of two in his platoon to survive in the North African Campaign, and the two were honored in a meeting with General Dwight Eisenhower.  D.L. lived out his day s in Rusk County.

 Ennis born in 1921, was the second child of Ben and Minia.  He married Sybil Norton, and they had four children; S. Kathleen, born in 1942; Audrey L., 1944; Charles Ennie, 1949; and Dennis R., 1957.  After living around Rusk County most of his life, Ennis now lives in Leibert, Nacogdoches County.  He is a retired lumberman and is an active minister who has been pastor of a number of churches in the area.

 On the night of Ennis birth, his grandmother, Sophronia, prophesied that they now had a new preacher in the family.  She did not live to see her prophecy fulfilled, yet his mother did and with much pride.  Ennis has the only male descendants of the Morris name from Ben’s line.

 Ben’s third child was Elise Ray, born in 1923, who married L.L. (Buster) Shirley and had two children, Betty S. in 1942 and David L. in 1943.  They lived in Nacogdoches County, where they made one crop, then moved to Houston, where their children were born.  Buster was an engineer for Southern Pacific Railroad for thirty-six years, while Elise became a florist and raised african violets.  Their son works at Southern Pacific’s office, and Buster and Elise have retired to the Cushing area.

 The fourth child of Ben was Walter Wayne, who lived only three years.  Then G. Ruth was born in 1931 and later married Wesley D. Laney in Houston.  Their four children are Sharon A., Cheryl J., DeWayne, and Melissa K.  They live in Humble, Texas, where Wesley works for Hydril Tool and Ruth works part-time.  They plan to retire to Mt. Ida, Arkansas, where they have a home.

Ben and Minia’s sixth and last child is Beckie A. (Polly), born in 1936.  She has three children by her first marriage – T. Wayne, Rhonda M., and David L. Rogers.  She later married Joe L. Pate, and their son, James Michael, died at birth.  Polly was one of the young daughters who moved to Houston with her parents.  After her father died, she spent summers with her sister Elsie and lived two years with her brother Ennis at Atoy, where she went to school.  Her mother remarried, and Polly moved with the couple to Pensacola, Florida, where she married.  She returned to Texas after her divorce, bringing her children.   Both of her sons joined the Navy, and Wayne made this a career, while David was discharged and is studying for the ministry.  Daughter Rhonda is married to Kenneth Arthur Gibbs, and their two children are Rebecca Mae, born in 1978, and Arthur Justin, born in 1980.  Kenneth and Rhonda live in Barrhead, Alberta, Canada.  Rhonda enjoys genealogical research and plans to continue her work.

 Polly and Joe live in the Cushing area where they enjoy gardening and reading.

 Submitted by Rhonda M. Rogers Gibbs