Michael and Barbara Morrison, their family and the records that identify them.
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.
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.
Bridget Morrison and Robert Roling
A contemporary notice in the Salisbury Press-Spectator explicitly identifies Mrs. Robert Roling as the former Miss Bridget Morrison of Salisbury. It supplies a clear adult-name connection between the Morrison and Roling families.
Source: Salisbury Press-Spectator, November 22, 1968, page 1, “Births—Roling,” family-held original clipping. Details about the children are not reproduced here.
New evidence also strengthens Michael’s connection to the Morrisroe family in Ireland and America. Read the strongly probable family identification and the remaining conflicts.