Origins, family traditions and the connections still being checked.
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]
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.
A stronger connection to the Morrisroe family
The evidence now strongly supports Michael Morrison’s membership in the Patrick Morrisroe and Bridget Byrne family of County Mayo. Michael’s marriage to Barbara Kunkel at Wien in 1920 names his parents as Patrick Morrison and Bridget, née Byrne.
A 1964 obituary for John Joseph Morrisroe of Palo Alto names a brother, Michael Morrisroe of Missouri, and a sister, Mrs. Katherine Jordan of New York. This is a direct published sibling statement. Identifying that Missouri brother as Barbara’s husband is a cumulative inference from the parental, sibling and place evidence—not something the obituary alone says. Together, those records make the family connection strongly probable.
A Kilmovee baptism records Michael on August 29, 1886, with parents Pat Morrisroe and Bridget Beirne. The corresponding civil candidate reports birth on September 3, after that baptism. This is a real source-date conflict: the exact birthday remains unresolved, although the family identification is strengthened. The baptism date must not be substituted for a birth date. His exact identification remains qualified: American records give different birthdays, the draft record says Roscommon, and the 1968 death certificate names Michael rather than Patrick as his father. We have not explained those differences or found a formal name-change record. The earlier Bockagh family described above remains a separate, unjoined lead.
Sources: St. Mary of the Angels, Wien, marriage register 1871–1920, page 154, entry 1, January 7, 1920 (family-held parish scan); The Peninsula Times Tribune, January 13, 1964, page 4; and Michael’s Missouri death certificate. Newspaper images may require a subscription.