Generation 3

There are records of 5 children born to Thomas and Elizabeth Morton. Those children are Richard, Thomas², Anne, Judith, and John³. In this generation, our direct ancestor is Thomas Jr. Our Uncle John³ is later known as Captain John Morton. There is more information on him that I'll share at a later date.

Elizabeth Woodson's Second Marriage

Thomas Morton died when Elizabeth was 31 in 1730. The next year she married Edward Goode in Virginia. She lived until 1740 so she was only 41 when she died.

Name:	Elizabeth Woodson
Gender:	female
Birth Place:	VA
Birth Year:	1699
Spouse Name:	Edward Goode
Marriage Year:	1731
Marriage State:	VA
Number Pages:	1

Source Information:Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.

Henrico, Virginia: Our First Home in America

Mortons of Moore County, TX and our ancestors have lived primarily in three areas since settling in America. The first area the Mortons settled was Henrico County, Virginia. Some time between 1805 and 1813, our branch moved to the Williamson County, Tennessee area. Then we know Papa Jim's Grandfather William Jones Alexander Morton settled in Moore County in 1902 after a decade in Greer County, Oklahoma. They left Tennessee three days after their marriage in 1892.


Here are some satellite images of the area in Virginia our family lived

Generation 2 in America

As stated, Thomas Morton was the next in our direct line and the first born in North America (although the USA didn't exist yet obviously.) Thomas was the second of three boys according to all the records I have seen so far. The first was John² Born 1689. Thomas was born in 1690 and then Joseph was born in 1693.

Here are some references to records that further verify the marriage date, parents, and one son (Capt. John.) It also shows a connection from our family to the Randolph family.


I haven't done any research on these siblings since I am concentrating on the direct line first with a few exceptions.

Classification of Cousins

Writing about our famous relatives got me to thinking about cousin classification so I looked it up. The level of a cousin depends on the number of generations to a common ancestor. A first cousin is someone who is two generations from your common ancestor. A second cousin is three generations from your common ancestor. A third cousin is four generations from a common ancestor and so on. What gets confusing is when a cousin is a different number of generations from the common ancestor than you. Each generation difference from your generation to the common ancestor is a generation 'removed.'


The chart above is the simplest way to break it down

This is different from what I have always thought. I thought second cousins were your parents' cousins. Your parents cousins are really your first cousins once removed because they are one generation removed from you to your common ancestor who is two generations from them. Your parents' cousins' children are actually your second cousins. You share a great-grand parent. A third cousin is your great-great-uncle/aunt's great-grandson/daughter. The number cousin you are when there are generations removed is determined by the shortest distance from either one of you to your common ancestor.

So, using the example of George H.W. Bush, Elizabeth Woodson's great-great-grandfather is the closest common relative. If you share a grandfather you are first cousins, great-grandfather you are second cousins, and great-great-grandfather, you are third cousins. She is his third cousin but the common ancestor is his 8th great-grandfather. That puts him 6 generations removed from the same relationship she has with the common ancestor therefore he is her 3rd cousin 6 times removed. Any questions?

Elizabeth Woodson and Our Famous Relatives

Through the Ancestry.com One World Tree^tm you can check what famous relatives you have and how they are related. All the famous relatives we have from William James Alexander Morton back are related to use through the Woodson Family. This may be because they were an influential family that has been traced very far back.

I am afraid you will all be disappointed to know that the closest famous relative I have found is none other than Hillary Rodham Clinton. Elizabeth Woodson's father, Richard Woodson (1662-1716) is Mrs. Clinton's 6th Great grandfather. Therefore, Hillary is Elizabeth Woodson's 5th great grand niece. That would make her my 7th cousin twice removed And Papa Jim's 7th cousin even.

Other notable historic figures related to us through Elizabeth Woodson include the following:

14th President Franklin Pierce - 5th cousin 1 time removed (his 5th great grandmother is Elizabeth's 4th great grandmother)
41st President George Herbert Walker Bush - 3rd cousin 6 times removed (his 8th great grandfather is her great great grandfather)
43rd President George Walker Bush - 3rd cousin 7 times removed(his 9th great grandfather is her great great grandfather)

There are many more but they're too distant to go into specifics including William Faulkner, President Taft, John Steinbeck, Marlon Brando, Orville Wright, Katherine Hepburn, John F. Kennedy, Sam Walton, Robert Louis Stevenson, Truman Capote, and Bob Hope.

I will go into the Woodson family a little bit later since I think there is some interesting info there.

Thomas Morton1 1690-1730 and Elizabeth Woodson1699-1740

I have several sources for the births and marriage of Thomas Morton, the second son of John Morton¹, and Elizabeth Woodson. There is the William and Mary College Quarterly listed below along with the following.

Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 [database on-line]

Name:	Thomas Morton
Gender:	male
Birth Place:	VA
Birth Year:	1690
Spouse Name:	Elizabeth Woodson
Spouse Birth Place:	VA
Spouse Birth Year:	169?
Marriage State:	of VA

Name:	Thomas Morton
Gender:	male
Birth Place:	VA
Birth Year:	1690
Spouse Name:	Elizabeth Woodson
Spouse Birth Place:	VA
Spouse Birth Year:	1699
Marriage Year:	1720
Marriage State:	VA

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Name:	Elizabeth Woodson
Gender:	female
Birth Place:	VA
Spouse Name:	Thomas Morton
Spouse Birth Year:	1690
Marriage Year:	1718

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