Hannah Maria Newberry Morris 1823-1893
2010
Hannah Maria Newberry Morris was born in New York to James Newberry and Mary Smith. She was the sixth of ten children born to her parents. Nothing is known about her childhood except that which is recorded in her father James’ ancestral summary. Hannah heard the message of the Gospel from missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints and was baptized in 1840 along with her parents and some siblings. The family migrated from Ohio to Illinois where they joined the Saints in Nauvoo. Hannah’s mother Mary died in Nauvoo. In 1843 she married George Morris in Nauvoo. A photograph of George and Hannah as young people is found in the ancestral summary of George Morris. Hannah’s life story is very interesting and poses as many questions as it gives answers. Reviewing historical information in its entirety it seems that she was from a family which dated back to the early colonists but one which had been infused with Native American blood through “Christianization”. However, the bloodlines remained strong and were from time to time strengthened by intermarriages with Native Americans. Thus in her husband George’ journal he makes the following statement:
“there is a foul plot brewing against Hannah and I must move her for her safety”
Many references are made to problems Hannah endured because of her Native American blood.
In 1848, Hannah and George made the trek West in the Brigham Young wagon train. They suffered the many hardships which have been recorded in history and in countless personal journals which were part of this endeavor. They settled in the Salt Lake valley where her husband worked on the construction of The Salt Lake Temple and dug wells to make a living. Hannah gave birth to twelve children. The third, Rosella is our direct ancestor. Rosella married John Jenkins whose daughter Mary Maria married Everest Elliott Watrous.
In 1862, Hannah’s husband George took a second wife named Annie Matthews. They became the parents of ten children. Six of the ten died as children.
Hannah could not read or write. Nevertheless, she was considered by those who knew her to be an intelligent, thoughtful, kind and gracious woman who endured much for her faith. She died in 1893 and was buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery where she rests next to her husband George. Also buried together in that place are George’ plural wife Annie Matthews, her parents and six of their children who died as children. In the portrait taken of Hannah in her later life which is found here, she is wearing what is known as a “Family Necklace”. It is identified as from the Iroquois Six Nations Confederacy or more specifically from the Northern Cherokee. It is said to be like wearing your genealogy around your neck. The necklace is passed from mother to daughter.
The migration of Hannah Maria Newberry Morris
New York to Ohio to Illinois to Utah