Lavina (Morgan) Blunt (1805 - bef. 1870)

Born 24 Jan 1805 in Monongalia, Virginia, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Henry Blunt — married 12 Apr 1833 in Vermillion County, Illinois

Descendants

Died before 1870 before age 64 in Oregon, United States [uncertain]

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Biography

1805 Birth
Lavina Morgan was born 24 January 1805 in Monongalia County, Virginia (now West Virginia).^[1][2]She was the daughter of James Morgan ^[2][3][1] and Dorothy Prickett.^[4]

Monongalia County was formed in 1776 when Virginia's remote District of West Augusta was divided into three counties: Ohio, Yohogania and Monongalia, all named for their most prominent rivers. It became part of West Virginia when it became a state in 1863.^[5]

Siblings as per personal list of her father James Morgan:^[3]

1. Susanna Morgan Price (1793-_)
2. Drusilla Morgan Price (1795-1870)
3. Sarah Morgan Price (1800-1884)
4. Catherine Morgan Morgan (1803-1863)
5. Lavina Morgan Blount (1805-1870)
6. Alexander Morgan (1807-_)
7. Lucinda Morgan Dawson (1809-1889)
8. John M "Long John" Morgan (1810-_)
9. Sylvester Prickett Morgan (1812-_)
10. Juliet Morgan Dawson (1814-1901)
11. Nathan Morgan (1816-1868)
12. James T Morgan (1817-_)
13. Uriah Morgan (1819-_)

Many of James' children traveled to Illinois and some to Oregon, traveling on the Oregon trail. They arrived in the Willamette Valley Sept 9, 1851 settling near the town of Albany in Linn County. James served as an Army Captain in the War of 1812 and spent his entire life in Monongalia County.^[1]

1833 Marriage
Lavina Morgan and Henry Blunt married 12 April 1833 in Vermillion County, Illinois.^[6][1]

In 1834, they had a daughter, Sarah Blunt, who was named as Sarah Montgomery in her grandmother Roxenna Blunt's 1863 will. ^[7]

1850 US Census
Monongalia, Virginia^[2]
Henry's wife Lavina Blunt, 44, and daughter Sarah, 16, were on the census with her father, James Morgan, 81, in Virginia.

No 1850 census record found for Henry. Although no death or burial record has been found for Henry, it is assumed that he died before this census.

The following abbreviated excerpts are from a story by Mary Kate Price, Mrs. Horace A. Powell. She was interviewed by French Morgan in 1928 when she recounted the story. Then, in 1950, he published the story in the "Descendents of Morgan Morgan." ^[8]

1851 The Oregon Trail

"..Early in March in the year 1851, a train of covered wagons drawn by ox teams, left Danville, Vermillion County, Illinois, for the long trip across the plains to Oregon. In that company of eighty people, were descendants of Colonel Morgan Morgan, who, nearly 150 years before, had crossed the ocean to found a home in the new settlement in America...All the members of this party reached the Willamette Valley near the west coast of Oregon, on September 9th, 1851,and settled there in Linn County, around the town of Albany." ^[8]

In the meantime, widow Lavina (Morgan) Blunt was in Virginia with her widowed daughter, Sarah (Blunt) Hess, and granddaughter, Hariett Hess, until 1858 when her brother Nathan returned from Oregon to take them to Indiana to join her sisters, Juliette Dawson and Lucinda McDermit, and their families.^[8]

1860 US Census
Pike Township, Marion, Indiana^[9]

John R Dawson, 43, farmer; his wife, Julieth Morgan, 46, and 6 children

Nathan S Morgan 44, b Virginia, carpenter

Jenna Blunt, 50, b Illinois, seamstress [Lavina?]

Ann Hess, 28, b Illinois, seamstress [Sarah]

Harriet Hess, 7, b Virginia

1861 The Oregon Trail

"...Ten years later, another and similar train left Indiana for the same [Oregon] destination. In this train were other Morgans... Nathan Morgan, who had returned to Virginia about 1858. Now, with his widowed sister, Lavinia (Morgan) Blount [Blunt], her daughter Ann Hess (also a widow) and her children whom he brought from Virginia, he joined his sisters in Indiana and they came together to Oregon. These sisters, whose homes had been in Indiana, were Lucinda (Morgan) Dawson McDermit, her husband, Edward McDermit, and their children; Julia [Juliette] (Morgan) Dawson with her husband, John R. Dawson, ^[10]and her sons and daughters..."^[8]

All these Morgans settled in Linn County, Oregon...Nathan Morgan and Levine Blount [Lavina Blunt] [died a little before 1870] ...Juliet Dawson in 1901,^[11]Drusilla,^[12]Nathan, Levina and Juliet are buried in the Albany Cemetery, Lucinda at Forest Grove and their cousin John H at Salem..." ^[8]

Death and Burial
Lavina Blunt died before 1870 and is buried in the Riverside Cemetery, Albany, Linn County, Oregon.^[13]

Research Notes

Re: Blunt/Blount
The majority of sources for husband Henry's entire family spells their surname "Blunt." The publication "Descendents of Col Morgan Morgan" spells Lavina Morgan's married name as "Blount"^[1] and that misspelling continued after their move to Oregon. It's unknown how Lavina herself spelled her own name.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Morgan, French, "History of Family of Col Morgan Morgan," January 1, 1950. pgs 293-310. (not available online from Family Search library)
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8D6-N59 : 23 December 2020), Lavina Blunt in household of James Morgan, Monongalia, Virginia, United States; citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/133016121/james-morgan: accessed 27 August 2022), memorial page for James Morgan (25 Oct 1769-25 May 1855), Find A Grave: Memorial #133016121, citing Laurel Flat Cemetery, Everettville, Monongalia County, West Virginia, USA; Maintained by rgbarb (contributor 47778797).
4. ↑ Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. [James Morgan, born 1771, married 1792 to Dorothy Prickett born 1777]
5. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Monongalia County, West Virginia," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.(accessed August 27, 2022).
6. ↑ "Illinois Marriages, 1815-1935", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HSZD-69ZM : 14 February 2020), Henry Blunt, 1833.
7. ↑ 1863; Ancestry.com. Wisconsin, Wills and Probate Records, 1800-1987 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2015. Original data: Wisconsin County, District and Probate Courts. [1]
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4} Morgan, French, "Descendants of Col Morgan Morgan", 1950, Washington, D.C. pages 301-309; This "Covered Wagon" story posted on ancestry.com. 4 Feb 2012 by Tom Wilcox [2]
9. ↑ "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4FB-HF4 : 19 March 2020), Jenna Blunt in entry for John R Dawson, 1860.
10. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/27446271/john-r-dawson: accessed 27 August 2022), memorial page for John R Dawson (22 Jul 1818–24 Sep 1873), Find A Grave: Memorial #27446271, citing Riverside Cemetery, Albany, Linn County, Oregon, USA; Maintained by Tracy Tallman (contributor 48896431).
11. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/27446308/juliette-dawson: accessed 27 August 2022), memorial page for Juliette Morgan Dawson (13 Jul 1814–23 Jan 1901), Find A Grave: Memorial #27446308, citing Riverside Cemetery, Albany, Linn County, Oregon, USA; Maintained by Tracy Tallman (contributor 48896431).
12. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/27446219/druesilla-price: accessed 27 August 2022), memorial page for Druesilla Morgan Price (23 May 1795–10 Jul 1870), Find A Grave: Memorial #27446219,citing Riverside Cemetery, Albany, Linn County, Oregon, USA; Maintained by JCM (contributor 50645028).
13. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/263010155/lavina-blunt: accessed 12 January 2024), memorial page for Lavina Morgan Blunt (24 Jan 1805–1870), Find a Grave Memorial ID 263010155, citing Riverside Cemetery, Albany, Linn County, Oregon, USA; Maintained by sameelee (contributor 48534864).