Dennis and Patrick Morrison, Vermilion and Cumberland County
One orphan who was researched by his family was Dennis Morrison, who was sent to Vermilion County, Illinois. Most interestingly, his family obtained the records of his entrance into the New York Juvenile Asylum and posted them on Ancestry.com. These records are held by the Columbia University archives and can be obtained there for a fee, if the family hires a genealogist or graduate student to find the records.
Update: records for the Asylum can now be more easily accessed through a professional historian and genealogist, Clark Kidder, who obtained the complete records from Columbia University for research purposes. He can be contacted through his website: www.newyorkjuvenileasylum.com.
Dennis and his brother, Patrick Henry, were surrendered at the New York Juvenile Asylum by their father, John Morrison, on October 18, 1853. Dennis' birthdate was recorded as July 4, 1843, making him ten years old when he was left at the Asylum.
As a young man, Dennis volunteered in the 125 Illinois Regiment, Company B on September 3, 1862 and fought in the Civil War until he was mustered out on June 9, 1865.
In the 1880 census Dennis was 36 years old and still unmarried. He was boarding with a family in Cottonwood Township, Cumberland County and working as a minister.
Dennis married Clarinda Sedgwick in Greenup, Illinois on August 4, 1880. they had four children and raised them in Cumberland County. Their children were Guy, Clarence, Ethel and Lebert. In 1900 Dennis was noted as a farmer in Cumberland County in the census, but unfortunately, Dennis was admitted to the Danville Home for Disabled Volunteers September 19, 1900. In 1920, he was not listed as a patient, but as an employee. His stated occupation in 1920 was "firing squad man." there were four firing squad men and they were each over 70 years old. Dennis later died there January 18, 1929.
When Dennis was seeking his pension for his Civil War service a letter was written for him by his past guardians -- demonstrating a long relationship and continuing communications between them.
