North Carolina                                                                         
Richmond County

In the name of God, Amen. I John Morrison of the state of North Carolina and County of Richmond being 
of Sound and perfect mind and memory thanks be to God the giver of all blessings, for the same, do 
make this my last will and Testament in manner and form following,that is to say
            Unto my Son Angus Morrison during his life I lend & to his heirs forever I give and 
bequeath my negros John and Jenny_
           Unto my Son John Murdoch Morrison I lend my negros Joe and Mary and I give and bequeath 
them to his heirs after his death,to them and their heirs and assigns forever (illeg word)_
          Unto my Son Norman Allen Morrison I lend my negros Henry and George, during his life and 
after his death I give and bequeath the said negro boys to his heirs and to their heirs and assigns 
forever in the Same manner as I have disposed of two negros each to his two brothers Angus and John 
Murdoch  being a  Loan to my Said Sons and after their death to be equally divided among their 
respective heirs to hold to them and to their heirs and assigns forever
            Unto my wife Sarah and to my said three sons Angus, John M. and Norman A. I lend all the 
rest and residue of my property both real and personal during their lives and after their death to 
be equally divided among their heirs, to vest in Said heirs and assigns forever, and in case a division 
of the above property Should be desired I order each party to take his own Loan at the arrival of the 
youngest at the age of twenty one years or on the arrival of all then living at the said age of twenty 
one years, But it is expressly understood that the whole family remain in common to be supported on the 
proceeds of the plantation until the arrival of all the children at lawful age and then an equal 
distribution of all my property both real and personal,money in hand or due as well as all other 
personal effects,among them my said wife and Sons during their and each of their natural lives and 
after their respective deaths their respective loans to be equally divided among their respective 
heirs to vest in their  Said heirs their heirs and assigns forever. It is also my wish that my said 
children shall be properly educated and such of them as promises to receive instruction well   (to 
receive a liberal education -this phrase is partly marked out) the expenses of which  to be defrayed 
out of the common Stock and such negro or negros as may not be obedient to my said wife Sarah and such 
of them as she chooses may be hired out annually except so many of them as may be necessary to cultivate 
the farm and Such improvements as She may make thereon, and the money arising from the Said hiring shall 
be added to the common fund and as much thereof as may be necessary applied to the support of the family 
and education of my sons without extravagance or waste.___And in case there may be a deficiency for 
the support of the family and education of the children, arising from the proceeds of the farm and 
hire of such negros as may be hired out, then such deficiency to be made up out of the original money 
on hand that may exist at the time of my death.___ I also bequeath to my said wife Sarah her choice of 
the negros which may then exist Such  selection to be made at the time the devisionis above ordered to 
take place___ I nominate constitute and appoint my wife Sarah my sole and lawful executrix to carry this 
my last Will and Testament into full and perfect and complete effect, revoking and disanulling all former 
wills legacies and bequests heretofore by me made  pronouncing  this my last will and Testament in witness 
whereof I the said John Morrison have hereto set my hand and seal this 28th day of May 1837 
                    
                                                                   John Morrison his mark    Seal

Signed sealed published  pronounced and declared by the said John Morrison  as his last Will and 
Testament in the presence of us  who in the presence of the Testator and of each other  have Set 
our names as Witnesses hereto.
D McLaurin x
Duncan Stalker
Margaret Morison

State of North Carolina                            Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions
Richmond County                                       January Term 1839

The foregoing last Will and Testament of John Morrison decd. was proven in open court by the oath 
of D.McLaurin and Duncan Stalker two of the subscribing witness thereto,Sarah Morrison qualified as 
executrix to said will.  Ordered to be recorded.
                                                                     G.A. Nicholson(?) C.C.C.
"His tombstone says he died 2 Dec 1838 age 76." Catherine 

Fayetteville Observer,September 19, 1859     January 13, 2010 - M. Bridges
Chapel Hill, N.C., Dialectic Hall, September 10. Whereas, God in his infinite wisdom, has called away 
from earth Norman A. Morrison, of Richmond County, N.C., who graduated at this University in 1857;
Therefore, the Dialectic Society, deploring the loss of this beloved member has resolved 1st, That 
while we humbly submit to the Divine will, our hearts are filled with grief at the decease of one so 
young and so good, and of one whose prospects were so bright for a long, happy and useful life. 
2. That in his death we have lost a friend; that the community of which he was a member is deprived 
of one of its best and most useful citizens, and that his relatives have sustained a loss which none 
but they can know. 
3. That we tender our heartfelf sympathies to his bereaved relatives and mingle our tears with theirs 
on a common altar of grief; yet we would bid them be consoled by the refletion that there is a bliss 
beyond the grave, and that "Heaven oft in mercy smites even when the blow severest is. " 
4. That a copy of these resolutions be entered upon our records: that a copy of the same be sent to 
the family of the deceased, and to the Fayetteville Observer, N.C. Presbyterian, Wadesborough Argus, 
University Magazine and New Orleans Picayune, with the request that they be published. 
A.T. Cole, W.L. Garrett & S.P. Weir, Com.

Fayetteville Observer,Monday, October 24, 1859 
Departed this life, at noon, on the 24th instant, after an illness of eight or nine days, Norman A. Morrison, Esq., 
late of Richmond County, North Carolina (Poem)It has rarely been our lot in life to witness, in the untimely death 
of any one, the cutting off of such an amount of hope, happiness and prosperity. It is difficult to imagine one
whose situation in life was more happy, or whose future seemed more proptious. Endued by nature with a manly and 
commanding personage, "where every god seemed to have set his seal, to give the world assurance of a man," a mind 
richly cultivated, and amannerism which left no one who came within the sphere of his acquaintance out of the list 
of his friends.

Mr. Morrison was a native of Richmond County, North Carolina, where many of his family connections and friends reside.
He received a collegiate education at the University of his State--purchased land and made his home among us about the 
beginning of the present year, where his worth was highly appreciated, and his untimely fate is deeply deplored. In 
thus expressing ourselves we feel certain that we speak the sentiments of our friends and the community in general. 
His brothers, with and aged mother, are left to mourn their irreparable loss, to whom we respectfully offer our heartfelt 
sympathy and condolence. Joe's Bayou, Madison Parish, la., Aug. 26, 1859 Vicksburg Whig