William P. Morey as son of Abraham Morey has not been proven by vital records or other independent sources. The relationship was described by Claire Sherwood6 in her Morey research based on circumstantial evidence and has been accepted by others. However, William P. was not listed as one of the "children heirs-at-law" in legal proceedings in connection with Abraham’s estate.1242 Further, census enumerations indicate William P. and John Franklin Morey were both born in 1814. John Franklin was listed as an heir at law, while William P. was not. The issue remains unresolved, but the preponderance of available evidence points away from a father - son relationship between Abraham Morey and William P. Morey.

Family Remembrance:1883 Jay Dewey Morey, grandson of William P. Morey, responded to the question, "Do you know the names of the brothers and sisters of William P. Morey and any dates and places death?" with this information, "The names of William P. Morey’s sisters and brothers: Asa Morey, Ashtabula County, Ohio; Stillman Morey, Iowa; John Franklin Morey, Iowa; Samantha married a Scott, Licking County; Polly married a Briggs; Laura married a Wheeler, Buckland, Auglaize County, Ohio; Norma married a Tracy, lived near Lima, Ohio."

Family Remembrance:1884 In response to the question, "You sent me the names of Wm. P. Morey’s brothers & sisters. How were you able to get that information?" Jay Dewey Morey (grandson of William P. Morey) responded, "I got this information thru a cousin Jane Morey of Lima, Ohio, who now is about 96 years old. It was dictated by an Uncle Wilson Morey, my father’s brother."

Biographical Sketch (1969):6, p. 16. "The attempt to trace backward the lineage of William P. Morey, born in Vermont, 16 August, 1814, (family record) died in Auglaize County, Ohio, 14 March, 1852, has been difficult chiefly because of the loss of Licking County, Ohio records where the family lived in the late 1820’s and 1830’s. In the conclusions reached in this report, weight has been placed on census records, cemetery inscriptions, and strong clues inherent in published material of Licking and adjoining Knox County on other members of the family."

Biographical Sketch (1969):6, p. 16. "Family records show that William P. Morey married Rebecca Patterson at some time prior to 1836 when their first child was born. Since marriage records are lost in Licking County, we must conclude she was the daughter of the only Patterson, Adam of Burlington Township, a near neighbor. The young couple removed to Moulton Township of Allen County, Ohio, which when Auglaize County was set off in 1848, fell in the new county. Seven children were born to them before his accidental death in 1852 at the age of thirty-seven."

1814 Birth:255,1636 "William P. Morey was born August 16th 1814" is recorded in the Morey Family Bible, passed down by his wife Rebecca Patterson Morey to her grandson Jay Dewey Morey. Age at death on 1852 tombstone in Stuevely Cemetery,171, v. 2, bk. 2, p. 307. Duchouquet Township, Auglaize County, Ohio would indicate a birth date of 18 August 1814, quite consistent with the Bible entry. Birth place of Vermont taken from 1850 census enumeration.

1820 U.S. Census:642 William P. enumerated in the household of his father Abraham Morey in Jefferson Township, Ashtabula County, Ohio as one of three males under the age of 10; William P. was about age 6.

1835 Marriage:2444, inside front cover. Marriage year of 1835 estimated based on birth of son Andrew Jackson Morey early in 1837. "Between 1829-1839 there was a period of time where no marriage records were available, possibly lost completely in the fire."

1836 Land Purchase:1139 On 8 June 1836 William P. Morey of Licking County, Ohio purchased 80 acres for $1.25 per acre. He was issued certificate no. 7055 by the registrar of the Land Office at Lima for the sum of $100. The land is located in present day Auglaize County.

1837 Land Patent:262 On 18 March 1837 U.S. General Land Office issued certificate no. 7055 to William P. Morey of Licking County, Ohio, for 80 acres, Range 5E of 1st Principal Meridian, Township 5S, Section 12, sold at the Lima Land Office on 8 June 1836. The land is located in present day Auglaize County. Certificate no. 70541370 issued to John P. Sillin.

1840 U.S. Census: In Burlington Township, Licking County, the following families (and their affiliations) appeared within the last forty-four households enumerated: Jacob Moore1488 (Patterson brother-in-law), Arthur Briggs2108 (Morey son-in-law), Wait Wright (Vermont family), W. P. Morey1489 (Adam Patterson's son-in-law), William Wheeler2109 (Morey son-in-law), John Sillin1491 (Adam Patterson's brother-in-law), Adam Patterson,1490 and Ephraim Patterson1284 (son of Adam Patterson).

1840 U.S. Census:1489
Licking County, Ohio (Burlington Township)
Head of Family •• W. P. Morey
Males under 5 •• 2 << Andrew Jackson, age 3; Wilson, age 2
Males 20-30 •• 1 << W. P. Morey, age 26
Females 20-30 •• 1 << Rebecca, age 23
One person in this household engaged in agriculture.

1850 U.S. Census:1636
Auglaize County, Ohio (Moulton Township)
Enumerated 14 September 1850
William Morey •• 36, male, farmer, real estate value $700, born in Vermont
Rebecca •• 34, female, born in Ohio
Andrew J. •• 14, male, born in Ohio
Wilson S. •• 12, male, born in Ohio
Clarinda •• 10, female, born in Ohio
Martin V. •• 8, male, born in Ohio
Stillman •• 6, male, born in Ohio
Ephraim •• 4, male, born in Ohio
Matilda •• 1, female, born in Ohio

1851 Justice of the Peace:27, p. 702 W. P. Morey served as Justice of the Peace, Logan Township, 1851-52.

1852 Death:349 In her claim for a mother's pension from son Ephraim's death in the Civil War, Rebecca Morey states her husband died March 14, 1852.

1852 Letter:1192 Letter from John Sillin to family living in Iowa, 21 March 1852. (Capitalization, grammar, punctuation rules, and spelling have been brought to modern standards in this transcription.)

Relationship of Names Mentioned in Letter to the deceased William P. Morey:
Horris (Horace) Wheeler - nephew; son of William's sister Laura Morey
John P. Sillin - brother-in-law; husband of Hannah Patterson, sister of William's wife Rebecca
Bruce - brother-in-law; Philip Bruce Moore, husband of Lydia Patterson, half-sister of William
Ephraim - brother-in-law; brother of Rebecca Patterson, William's wife
Betsy - half-sister; Elizabeth Patterson, half sister of Rebecca Patterson Morey by father Adam Patterson's first wife
Liddy - half-sister; Lydia Patterson Moore, half sister of Rebecca Patterson and wife of Philip Bruce Patterson
Cyrus - son; youngest son of William P. Morey and Rebecca Patterson
Mandy, Sara Ann, Sirvetus, Louisa -- nieces and nephews of William P. Morey; children of John P. Sillin and Hannah Patterson

March 21, 1852 Auglaize County, Ohio

Kind friends one and all I once more take my pen to drop you a line to let you know of our welfare. We are all well at this time and hope that these few lines will find you all enjoying the same blessings. I received a letter from you dated in February which gave us much satisfaction to hear from you once more and that you were all well. I have a melancholy circumstance to tell you. Last Monday we buried William Morey. He died the fourteenth of this month about 4 o’clock in the evening. His death was occasioned by a hurt that we got at Horris Wheeler’s raising a stable the Saturday week before. He was on a corner and was lifting a large rib up over the eavebarer on his shoulders and when he lifted it up high enough there were 6 men shoving at the forks and shoved the log in on him and caught him between the top log and the rib across the stomach and breast and jammed him very hard. He still stayed on the building till it was done but was very sick by spells. After supper he started home about 3 miles, got worse so at one time he thought he would not get home, then got some better and come home. After he went to bed took worse and out of his reason by spells all night and kept his bed all the next day. I heard that he was sick and went to see him not knowing that he got hurt the day before I looked at him and felt his pulse. I did not think that he had much fever if any. On Monday he sent for a doctor and had him fetched after taking some medicine. We all thought that he was getting better. The soreness had left his breast and back yet he never told anyone, not even the doctor, how he got hurt till Wednesday. Then he told Rebecca the reasons he did not tell was that all his family was opposed to him going in the morning on account that he was troubled with some kind of fits. Well, he still seemed to get better until Friday night, then he got worse. But during this time he had a very bad cough and raised a good deal of blood and matter until Friday, then the blood stopped. What he raised was of dark green color. The pain commenced on Friday again and still grew rose until mortification set in. He was supposed to be struck with death at 4 o’clock in the morning. He never spoke from about daylight till he died. That was at 4 o’clock in the evening. Now, Bruce, I will tell you he left a large family of small children and in a bad condition. They are out of corn and and they have lost one of their cows since Bill died and the rest are very poor and I expect some of them will die also. Bill was in some debt when he died and how that is to be paid and nothing to pay with. They maybe have wheat enough to bread them to harvest. Now I want you and Ephraim and Betsy if you can to help Rebecca if you will. If they don’t get help from some source then someone will have to administer the estate and there will have to be some of the land sold to pay the debts. That is making one debt to pay another and the estate has to pay both debts. Now if the administration fees was all I would take that on myself and it shouldn’t cost them anything. But my circumstance is so that I can’t help them very much as I am in debt for a piece of land that I have bought and have to make a payment of $80 by the first of April, which will take all the funds that I can raise. I suppose that 45 or 50 dollars will pay all the debts that Rebecca owes. It is true it is not much but it is more than they are able to pay at this time. Now I think that if Rebecca was out of debt that they could make a living of the farm, but if there has to be a sale called on the estate in order to pay the debts, the children will have to be put out. Rebecca can’t keep them together without something to keep on them. We have had the coldest winter here this winter that we have had for some 25 years. The thermometer was down 19 degrees below zero, the wind all the time from West Iowa. There were several people froze to death. There were 2 small children frozen dead one night in bed about 13 miles from here and we have a very cold snowy breeze. This week the ground is frozen hard enough to carry a wagon and horses. At this time we had a thaw in February and about 2 weeks of warm weather, then our snow went. Of the snow fallen in December and has fallen, then the snow was about 15 inches deep. Since then we haven’t had much snow, but several freeze-ups. In March we had another thaw out, but it now frozen hard again. All the wheat took tolerable good for the chance it has had. I sowed 12 acres the second week in September and it did not get up until October on account of the dry weather. I have 22 acres sowed this year all on my own farm and am going to plant 10 1/2 acres of corn at home. This year I have got apple trees big enough to bear 30 or 40 bushels of apples. Our peaches were killed in bud by the snowy breeze. Again wheat is worth 60 cents, corn 25, rye 40 cents per bushel. I raised over 300 some bushels of wheat last year and about 400 of corn. We do expect to see the iron horse run through Wapakoneta in about two years. The railroad is not run out within 20 miles of there. Now you wrote that Liddy wanted to know how large Hannah’s girls was. Well, Mandy is taller than her mother and Sara Ann ain’t much behind and Sirvatus is 2 1/2 inches taller than I am. We have one girl about 9 months old and call it Levina Loiza and it is a bright youth. Rebecca has a young son 6 months old and calls it Cyrus. She was 8 children. Cattle are now selling at a fair price. I sold 2 two-year-old steers for $14. Three is worth from 12 to 15 dollars per head. Milk about the same. Stock, hogs from 2 1/1 to 3 cents per pound. Horses bring a good price. I have got 5 head of horses and 2 mares will have colts this spring. I only have 12 head of cattle now. Joseph Dickey allows to start for Iowa about the last of April. We have beaten the Whigs last fall. In the governors election 26,000. That ain’t bad. I must stop. Yours with respect I want room.

John P. Sillin

1852 Tombstone:171, v. 2, bk. 2, p. 307. Stuevely Cemetery (also known as Two Mile Cemetery and Wheeler Cemetery), Duchouquet Township, Auglaize County, Ohio.
William P. Morey
d. Mar. 14, 1852
37y 6m 27d