Morrison Family Archive – Roling Family

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Bridget Morrison Roling with her father, Mike Morrison.

Source: Family photograph with an accompanying handwritten note. The owner confirmed the note-photo association and identified Bridget with her father, Mike. Date and location remain unverified.

When Michael James Morrison and Barbara Kunkel married in Wien in January 1920, a newspaper reported plans for a home in San Francisco. Later records place them in Chariton County, Missouri, where their children’s stories unfold. Follow those family lives here, alongside the still-open search for Michael’s Irish birthplace.

Meet Michael and Barbara → · Explore the Kunkel branch →

Morrison albums and stories

Family albums

Shared marriages and later family life connect branches. Original album captions, sources and uncertain identifications remain unchanged.

Stories to explore

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The family · People and places · Newspaper stories · Open questions · Sources · Browse stories by theme

Morrison family maps

Only this branch’s mapped places are shown. Shared places retain their shared family context. Hover or focus a pin for details; tap a pin or use the readable list to open the existing evidence card.

Filled circles: documented or reported places. Open circles: qualified leads. Open diamonds: ports in identity-qualified passenger records. Country colors distinguish modern countries, not proof or ancestry.

World overview

Ireland is known only at country level. The shaded country is not a hometown pin; Michael Morrison’s Irish hometown remains unproved. San Francisco is a newspaper-reported residence, not an established entry port.

Missouri, Illinois and Indiana

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Zoom for labels; swipe or scroll sideways when enlarged. Numbered circles are family places; small gray squares are nearby reference towns, not new family connections. Modern boundaries and generalized rivers: Natural Earth; reference towns: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). This is an orientation map, not a historical boundary or property map.

Places and evidence

Modern boundaries are for orientation, not historical borders. Approximate town or township points are not homes, churches or docks. Static basemap: Natural Earth, public domain. Compare the combined family maps on the front page.

The family line

Michael James Morrison (1886–1968), also remembered in the family as Mikel, was born in Ireland. His Missouri death certificate records his birth as August 26, 1886, names his wife as Barbara Morrison, and identifies his father as Michael Morrison. His mother’s maiden name was reported as unknown. Barbara supplied the information for the certificate.

Michael and Barbara married at St. Mary of the Angels Church in Wien on January 7, 1920. The parish marriage entry names Michael’s parents as Patrick Morrison and Bridget, née Byrne, and Barbara’s parents as John Kunkel and Rosa, née Algyer (the best literal reading of the surname). The father’s name conflicts with Michael’s 1968 death certificate, which names Michael Morrison. The reason for this difference remains unresolved.

The county marriage record confirms the January 7 wedding at Wien. The license was issued at Keytesville on January 1, 1920, and filed on January 9 in Chariton County Marriage Record Book 8, page 526. Both spouses were recorded as residents of New Cambria. The license gives only age thresholds, over 21 for Michael and over 18 for Barbara, and names no parents or witnesses. It does not resolve the parent-name conflict.

A wedding notice in the Salisbury Press-Spectator on January 9, 1920, adds a glimpse of their plans. It described Michael as a San Francisco resident employed as a roller in a steel plant. After several weeks visiting relatives around Wien, the newlyweds intended to make their home in San Francisco. The notice also reported their Wednesday-morning wedding at St. Mary’s Church in Wien, agreeing with the January 7 date in the parish and county records. The Chariton Courier listed their marriage license the same day. [M8–M9]

By 1950, Michael and Barbara were living in Chariton County, Missouri. The original census records Michael as a 63-year-old farmer born in Ireland and marks him as naturalized. His death certificate describes his later home as Wayland Township, where he had lived for 21 years. He died on March 12, 1968, and the certificate records his burial at St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Salisbury on March 14.

Eileen Bridget Morrison Roling

We know her as Bridget, but her birth-registration acknowledgment gives her full name as Eileen Bridget Morrison. She was born on March 3, 1931. The family book uses that same name order in its marriage entry, and her ages in the 1940 and 1950 censuses fit the 1931 birth year.

Sources: Family-held Missouri State Board of Health birth-registration acknowledgment; My Family Record, printed page 10; and the 1940 and 1950 census household records. The later typed binder gives Bridget Eileen and March 3, 1932. The birth-registration acknowledgment is the better source for her name and date. It does not list her parents or birthplace.

Michael and Barbara’s younger son

Michael and Barbara Morrison also had a son named Michael. The 1950 census lists him in their household. His Missouri death certificate, under the name Michael Morrison Jr., records his birth on December 18, 1933, at Bynumville and describes him as a plumber. He died on March 13, 1956, at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Kirkwood.

The certificate records removal to Wien on March 14, but it does not name a cemetery or establish his final burial place.

James Robert Morrison: work and everyday life

James Robert Morrison (1949–2022), son of John Michael and Katherine Pleyer Morrison, graduated from Salisbury High School in 1967. His obituary recalls Army service during the Vietnam era and a working life in sales for the Eskew plant in Cairo and Slater Wood Preserving. Away from work, he enjoyed gardening, fishing, hunting and cars. Read the obituary supplied by Summerville Funeral Home and Patton Funeral Home.

The family connection is supported by Bridget’s memoir, which names her brother John’s wife Katherine Pleyer and their daughter Helen, and by James’s obituary, which names the same parents and his sister Helen Beirne. This is an online funeral-home obituary; no newspaper issue or page has been established.

People, places, and stories

The family story that Michael James Morrison traveled as a stowaway is still unproved. The recollections that he worked for a railroad and Barbara was a Harvey Girl also remain family history awaiting contemporary records. The wedding notice documents reported steel-plant work in January 1920; it does not settle whether Michael worked for a railroad at another time. [M3, M8]

In October 2026, the New Mexico History Museum reported that its search had found no direct link between Barbara and Fred Harvey, the Alvarado Hotel or New Mexico. It also found no name match in the Belen Harvey House employee list it consulted. The museum emphasized the uncertain survival and dispersal of Alvarado records. That limited search leaves the family’s Harvey Girl story open; it does not disprove it. [M10]

Morrison newspaper stories

Contemporary notices and later obituaries add details to the family story. The summaries below distinguish what each newspaper reported from facts established by other records.

Three brothers in the Navy, 1945

A 1945 feature names Walter P., Anthony and Delmar J. Morrison as sons of Mr. and Mrs. Mike Morrison of Hamden. It reports Navy entry or enlistment dates of September 29, 1942; August 9, 1943; and December 11, 1944, respectively. Walter’s account includes work in Pensacola’s Central Tower; Anthony’s includes New Hebrides boat repair and later Atlantic-coast tugboat duty; Delmar’s includes Great Lakes training and awaiting orders at Shoemaker, California. These remain newspaper-reported service histories pending comparison with official personnel records. George is not mentioned; that omission does not settle his separately reported later service.

Source: “The Morrison Brothers,” Chariton Courier, April 27, 1945, page 1. The supplied complete page and overlapping screenshots document one feature. Its three portraits are not individually labeled.

Walter’s visit and Navy transfer, 1945

A March 1945 notice describes Walter Morrison as a machinist’s mate second class and reports his transfer from Lambert Field, St. Louis, to Hueneme, California, with a new assignment still ahead. It identifies his parents as Mr. and Mrs. M. J. Morrison of Hamden and his wife’s parents as Mr. and Mrs. Frits Pleyer. The wording does not establish a completed new assignment or an exact arrival date.

Source: “Walter Morrison Here on Visit to Relatives,” Salisbury Press-Spectator, March 30, 1945, page 1. Source screenshot retained in the family research collection; an exact repository link has not been recorded.

A farm purchase and a planned move, 1946

In February 1946, the newspaper reported that Walter Morrison and his wife had recently bought Floyd Waller’s farm south of Salisbury. They were living with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frits Pleyer, and expected to move to the farm at the beginning of March. The purchase was reported as completed, while the move was still a plan. No deed date or legal land description is supplied, and this notice does not identify the property as a later Highway 24 farm.

Source: “Mr. and Mrs. Walter Morrison Buy Farm,” Salisbury Press-Spectator, February 15, 1946, page 8. Source screenshot retained in the family research collection; an exact repository link has not been recorded.

Walter and Bridget’s birthday celebration, 1948

A March 1948 notice reports a Thursday-night birthday gathering for Walter and Bridget Morrison at Walter and his wife’s home, attended by a named group of guests. It describes two candlelit angel-food cakes. The notice gives neither person’s birth date and does not establish that they shared a birthday; the exact party date and the identity of the house remain unverified.

Source: “Birthdays Celebrated at Morrison Home,” Salisbury Press-Spectator, March 12, 1948, page 1. Source screenshot retained in the family research collection; an exact repository link has not been recorded.

A visit from Pensacola, issue date unknown

An undated Hamden column reports a family dinner hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Mike Morrison and a visit by Walter Morrison, his wife and their young child. A following notice says Walter’s household returned to their home in Pensacola, Florida. This is explicit residential wording, but the issue date, duration of residence and calendar dates of the visit are not established.

Source: Hamden column, Salisbury Press-Spectator, page 4, issue date outside the supplied screenshot. The source image is retained in the family research collection; an exact repository link has not been recorded.

Michael Morrison Jr.’s crash notice, 1956

A contemporary newspaper notice identifies Michael Morrison Jr. as 22 and reports that he died at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Kirkwood after an automobile crash on State Highway 30, a mile and a half west of House Springs. Its relative death date agrees with March 13, 1956, on his death certificate. The newspaper attributes the crash account to the State Patrol; it is not the original patrol report and supplies no funeral or burial information.

Source: “Kirkwood Driver Dies Of Auto Crash Injury,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, March 14, 1956, provider page 12, printed page 12A. The supplied complete-page export was inspected.

Barbara Morrison’s obituary, 1969

Barbara’s obituary reports her death in Moberly on February 25, 1969, and recalls her earlier Prairie Hill residence. It gives an Indiana birth on September 21, 1888, names her parents as John and Rose Kunkel, and places her marriage to Mike Morrison in 1920. These are retrospective biographical statements. The notice announces intended funeral services at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church and burial in St. Joseph’s Cemetery; its future-tense wording does not itself confirm that they occurred.

Source: “Mrs. Morrison Died Tuesday,” Salisbury Press-Spectator, February 28, 1969, page 1. The obituary gives Mike’s death as March 11, 1968, whereas his death certificate and family memorial card give March 12. The discrepancy remains unresolved. “Rose” is the mother’s printed given name here, and no maternal maiden name is supplied.

George Morrison: railroad work and family

Michael and Barbara’s son George Lawrence Morrison made his home in Kansas City from 1961. His obituary recalls 30 years as a Norfolk Southern Railroad switchman and retirement in 1987. His first wife, Wanda Marilyn Gibson Morrison, died in 1979; he married Betty in 1986. The notice names his sons, Jack and Paul, and remembers his enjoyment of the outdoors and work on the family farm in Jefferson County, Kansas.

A 2006 newspaper profile connects this family story with Paul Morrison’s law career. Paul named George and Wanda as his parents, Jack as his brother and Joyce as his wife. He credited his parents’ care and example, calling his father “the biggest influence in my life.” The article traces his work in the Johnson County prosecutor’s office from 1980; he became district attorney in 1989. Paul later served as Kansas attorney general from January 2007 to January 2008.

Sources: George Lawrence Morrison obituary, Kansas City Star, October 9, 2007 (via Legacy); Tim Carpenter, “Morrison points to long law career,” The Topeka Capital-Journal, October 22, 2006 (archived article); Washburn University School of Law, Kansas Attorneys General List.

Delmar Morrison: work and family

Delmar James Morrison’s 2014 obituary records his work with Iron Workers Union Local 10 out of Kansas City. It also recalls his Navy service during World War II and his marriage to Ruth M. Bartholomew at St. Mary’s in Wien on January 18, 1946.

Source: Delmar James Morrison obituary, Summerville Funeral Home and Patton Funeral Home. This is a funeral-home obituary; no newspaper issue or page has been established.

John and Katherine’s family

According to Carl Edward Morrison’s 2026 obituary, John and Katherine (Pleyer) Morrison had ten children. It also recalls Carl’s work serving local farmers: he worked for John Deere implementers before opening Morrison Repair in Boonville. This adds to the family account preserved in James Robert Morrison’s obituary above.

Source: Carl Edward Morrison obituary, published by Summerville Funeral Home–Salisbury through Legacy on March 17, 2026. The family size and career details are the obituary’s account.

Sources and confidence

Read the sources and evidence notes

Sources and how to read them explains how records, recollections and unresolved questions are presented.

M1. Michael James Morrison’s 1968 Missouri death certificate, state file 68-00007081. The certificate records his birth, wife, father, occupation, death, and burial. It is marked “AMENDED”; the amended field has not yet been identified.

M2. 1950 U.S. census, Chariton County, Missouri, ED 21-29, sheet 3, with the household continuation on sheet 4. The census records Ireland as Michael’s birthplace and marks him naturalized; a naturalization court record has not been established here.

M3. Family recollections about stowaway passage, railroad work, and Barbara’s Harvey Girl employment. These remain unverified stories, not independently documented events.

M4. Michael Morrison Jr.’s 1956 Missouri death certificate. The archive filename ends in 1956_00011779.PDF; an earlier reading transcribed the state file number as 11781. This discrepancy remains unresolved. The certificate records removal to Wien but does not identify a cemetery.

M5. 1930 U.S. census, Bee Branch Township, Chariton County, Missouri, ED 21-1, sheet 5A, dwelling 94, family 94, lines 40–46, Michael J. Morrison household, enumerated April 14, 1930. NARA microfilm publication T626; FHL microfilm 2340917; Ancestry image 4660334_00275. Michael’s immigration year is entered as “Un,” and his naturalization status as “Na.” The 1930 enumerator instructions, paragraph 50, define “Un” as unknown. The 1930 census therefore reports him as naturalized by the April 14 enumeration; the 1950 census records the same status. These census entries do not establish his naturalization date or court.

M6. St. Mary of the Angels Church, Wien, Missouri, Marriages 1871–1920, page 154, 1920 entry 1, Michael James Morrison and Barbara Kunkel, January 7, 1920. Parish-supplied scan. The entry names Patrick Morrison and Bridget, née Byrne, as the groom’s parents. It supplies no birth date or Irish birthplace. Its parent information conflicts with M1 and does not by itself identify an Irish birth record.

M7. Chariton County, Missouri, Marriage Record Book 8, page 526, Michael J. Morrison and Barbara Kunkel, license and marriage return, January 1920. Recorder-supplied two-page copy. The license, ceremony and filing dates are January 1, 7 and 9 respectively. The record provides no parent names.

M8. “Morrison-Kunkel,” Salisbury Press-Spectator, January 9, 1920, page 1. Original clipping supplied by the New Mexico History Museum and visually inspected. The notice reports Michael’s San Francisco steel-plant employment and the couple’s intended home there; it does not establish that the planned move took place. It describes Michael as of San Francisco and Barbara as of Wien, whereas the county license records both as residents of New Cambria. These differing descriptions are retained rather than silently reconciled. No employer is named.

M9. “Marriage Licenses,” Chariton Courier, January 9, 1920, page 3. Original clipping supplied by the New Mexico History Museum and visually inspected. It lists M. J. Morrison and Barbara Kunkel. It corroborates the already documented marriage-license record and supplies no additional biographical details.

M10. New Mexico History Museum, Fray Angélico Chávez History Library, research reply dated October 16, 2026; correspondence retained in the family research collection. The library described its Harvey holdings as chiefly relating to La Fonda and cautioned that the fate of Alvarado records is uncertain. Its no-match report concerns the material and employee list consulted, not all surviving Fred Harvey records.

Research questions

Where in Ireland was Michael James Morrison born? When did he arrive in the United States, through which port, and on which ship? Can a naturalization record identify his Irish town or parish? What contemporary records could test the employment and stowaway stories? What further records can explain why the 1920 parish entry names Michael’s father as Patrick Morrison while the 1968 death certificate names him as Michael Morrison?

An Irish lead: the Morrisroes of Bockagh

The parish registers give us a clearer picture of one family we are checking. Peter Morrisroe and Bridget Towey appear as parents in Bockagh baptism entries from Sarah in 1860 through Edward in 1880. A marriage entry dated February 12, 1857 names Petrus Morrisroe and Brigida Towey, the Latin forms of Peter and Bridget, although it gives no townland to prove they are the same couple. These records identify a family worth following, but they do not yet establish how, or whether, it connects to Michael James Morrison. We still need a record linking the generations, rather than treating similarly named people as the same person.

Sources: National Library of Ireland, Castlemore and Kilcolman parish registers: Sarah’s baptism, October 26, 1860, register 04226/03, image 17; Edward’s baptism, August 6, 1880, register 04226/06, image 87; and Petrus Morrisroe and Brigida Towey’s marriage, February 12, 1857, register 04226/01, image 69.

Privacy

Personal details about living relatives are left out of this public account.

Browse additional Bridget Morrison Roling photographs, with family identifications and original inscriptions distinguished in the captions.

More Bridget photographs include pictures beside homes and cars, at a bridge, and with companions. Dates and tentative readings remain qualified in each caption.

Photographs, newspapers and future contributions

Photographs and documents

People’s stories can be linked to photographs and documents, with names, dates when known, captions, and the source of each item. Uncertain identifications will be labeled clearly.

Newspaper stories

The newspaper stories above bring together short, source-cited accounts connected to the Morrison family. Further contributions can add to this collection after review.

Contributors will be asked to identify the person or family, newspaper name, publication date, page number when known, and the source or link.

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