Martha Matilda McGill Nelson - Life Story Part Three

Martha Morgan: A Journey to Zion

by Alan Morgan Kendall

Her Marriage 

Daniel Morgan and his wife Agnes Beveridge were also descended from many generations of

coal miners. They and their children, too, were drawn to this coal and iron center, pulsing with

an intensity fueled by the industrial revolution in full swing. And so it was that the children of

colliers perpetuated their race. Their son William Morgan was nearly 24 years old when he

asked young Martha “Nelson” , a tender 16 year old, to be his wife. On 13 Mar 1841 at the Old

Monkland parish of the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian), William and Martha presented their

names for the reading of banns announcing their intention to marry.7 The reading of banns was

a practice by which the announcement of their impending marriage was made at three successive

services, and was usually done in lieu of a marriage license. By the time the 1841 Scotland

census was taken on 6 June 1841, William and Martha had been married.8

Marriage of  William and Martha [Added]

William Morgan [Added]

Life in New Dundyvan

 The new Morgan family had parents and siblings in the area, all coal miners or iron workers. They seemed to be a close knit group. “Close” may be a word to describe their living conditions in a less than desirable way, for most of  the miners lived in row houses, owned, of course, by the coal mines. The row houses were crowded and notoriously unsanitary.

Typical row of Collier Houses

 These years were a season of unrest in the corridor between the major Scottish cities of Glasgow

and Edinburgh. The laboring populace seemed to be seeking for something better, and it was manifested, as it commonly is, in bitter feelings between the working class and the managing owners. One noteworthy rebellion occurred in December 1842 at the Dundyvan works. The coalminers united and went on strike for improvements. In response, the owners simply put the strikers out of their row houses into the streets at the mercy of the local charities. The strike was soon settled.9 Fortunately, the Morgans and kin had moved on by this time, but they must have received the news with keen interest.

Life in Dunfermline

[map added]

Dunfermline is an ancient city perched high over the Firth of Forth, the inlet of the North Sea entering Scotland. It was a center of royalty anciently, went into decline and decay, and was revived to respectability by the industrial revolution. It was, among other things, an iron foundry town, and that meant the need for coal. It was coal that was the life of the predecessors of William Morgan, as we have learned, not necessarily by their choice.

Dunfermline, Scotland [Added]

William and Martha, as well as members of the Nelson family relocated to Dunfermline shortly after their marriage. That is where their first child was born in the village of Hallbeath on 27 May 1842. The little girl was named Catherine Banks Morgan, after Martha's mother.

Catherine Banks Morgan [added]

Their family continued to grow as they lived and worked in the Dunfermline area, moving from village

to village as opportunities arose. Son Daniel (named for William's father) was born in Hallbeath,16 July 1844.

Daniel Morgan [added]

 He was followed by Agnes Beveridge (for William's mother) on 20 Aug 1846.10 The honorary naming of the children, plus the migration habits of the Morgans and Nelsonsshow strong family ties, which were to continue throughout their lives.

Agnes Beveridge Morgan

As was mentioned this was a decade of change and some strife in Scotland. Thinking men and women could not help but consider the inequalities existing among the classes in their society. The sense of  in justice must have been particularly keen to the Morgans, whose family had been under the stigma of their occupation for generations, and who probably suffered it firsthand. They may have wondered how, in a Christian nation, the prevailing church had been unable, or unwilling, to produce a society in which brotherly love produced a greater degree of justice. If they had considered, and even prayed for an answer to such a question, it was about to come forth. 

Sources:

7. Scotland, Lanark, Old Monkland—Church Records, Marriage Proclamations, 1819-1850.

Family History Library [FHL] Microfilm 1066602, Family History Library, Salt Lake City,

Utah.

8. 1841 Scotland Census [Databaase on-line]

9. Old Monkland Strikes, Court Cases & Misc. www.scottishmining.co.uk, 2011.

10. FamilySearch. LDS Church Membership Records. www.new.familysearch.org, 2011.