MORGAN, BUNNIE A.

Bunnie A. Morgan—nicknamed Bun—was born on 3 Feb 1883, the oldest of what would eventually be ten surviving children.¹Birthdate: Geer Cemetery (800 Colonial St, Durham, NC), Bunnie Morgan headstone, photographed by Nicholas Levy, 29 Nov 2019.

Older siblings: “United States Census, 1900,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-68F6-TZ?cc=1325221&wc=9BWW-4WT%3A1030551601%2C1032311101%2C1032376101 : 5 August 2014), North Carolina > Durham > ED 36 Oak Grove Township > image 23 of 28; citing NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

Younger siblings: “United States Census, 1910,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RVZ-JPH?cc=1727033&wc=QZZW-HM9%3A133642301%2C137874101%2C133836301%2C1589089177 : 24 June 2017), North Carolina > Durham > Oak Grove > ED 45 > image 21 of 34; citing NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). He grew up in the rural township of Oak Grove, east of downtown Durham, where his father, Haywood Morgan (b. 1855), was a farmer, and his mother, Lucy (b. 1864), worked at home.²U. S. Census 1900 Oak Grove.

Bun attended the Mary Potter School in Oxford, NC, though we don’t know how long he was there.³“Freight Train Killed Negro,” Durham Morning Herald Sun (Durham, North Carolina), 3 Sep 1916, p. 8. https://www.newspapers.com/image/787291124/: accessed 13 Feb 2022. At this time (prior to 1900) the school took in African Americans of all ages, including adults. The emphasis was on the Bible and the reading and memorization of verses, and they made an effort to recruit rural children like Bun. He would have lived on the third floor of the schoolhouse with the other boys, while the girls boarded with the founder, Dr. George Clayton Shaw, and his wife.⁴Owena Hunter Davis, A history of Mary Potter School, Oxford, North Carolina (Oxford, N.C., privately published, 1944), pp 1-8. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/10433/: accessed 13 Feb 2022.

Bun lived with his parents into his late 20s.⁵U. S. Census 1910 Oak Grove. Later he lived with his sister Janie and her husband Walter Harper, a firefighter, in East Durham (considered a separate town prior to its inclusion into a single, expanded city).⁶Bun living with Janie: “Freight Train Killed Negro,” Durham Morning Herald Sun.

Walter Harper marriage license: “North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979 ,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSHK-4SCY-H?cc=1726957 : 28 November 2018), > image 1 of 1; North Carolina State Archives Division of Archives and History.

Walter firefighter: Durham, N.C. Directory 1913-1914 (Durham, N.C.: Hill Directory Company, 1913-1914) p. 154, Harper surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25165 : accessed 13 Feb 2022).

East Durham: “East Durham,” Open Durham, https://www.opendurham.org/category/neighborhood/east-durham: accessed 12 Feb 2022.

On the evening of 2 September 1916, Bun had dinner with his sister and brother-in-law and their two sons.⁷“Freight Train Killed Negro,” Durham Morning Herald Sun. Bun’s older nephew, Connie Dewey Harper, had turned 3 only days before.⁸Connie Harper death certificate: “North Carolina Deaths, 1931-1994,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89G8-5XBF?cc=1584959 : 31 July 2014), > image 1 of 1; State Department of Archives and History, Raleigh. His younger nephew, Jesse Willard Harper, had been born after Christmas of 1915, and was less than a year old.⁹Jesse Harper birth certificate: “North Carolina, Center for Health Statistics, Vital Records Unit, County Birth Records, 1913-1922,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSB5-WSWB-S?cc=3477667 : 11 August 2020), > image 1 of 1; North Carolina Department of Public Health, Office of Vital Records, Raleigh. Bun had worked odd jobs all his life and was currently employed by Lafayette Little, who sold lumber and did carpentry. But it was Saturday night and Bun was headed for downtown Durham. Not to carouse, however—Bun was widely known as a man who never touched alcohol, possibly a legacy from his days at the Mary Potter School.¹⁰“Freight Train Killed Negro,” Durham Morning Herald Sun.

At 7:30 p.m. a woman who lived nearby saw him walking westward along the railroad tracks. She turned away and moments later heard the scream of a train’s brakes. Bun was killed instantly as the train struck him from behind.¹¹“Freight Train Killed Negro,” Durham Morning Herald Sun.

He was 33 years old, had never married, and had no children.

BORN: 3 Feb 1883¹³Geer Cemetery, Bunnie Morgan headstone.

DIED: 2 Sep 1916¹⁴Geer Cemetery, Bunnie Morgan headstone.

BIRTH PLACE: Durham County, NC¹⁵Bunnie Morgan death certificate: Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976 [database on-line]. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1121/images/S123_63-0022. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data:North Carolina State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics. North Carolina Death Certificates. Microfilm S.123. Rolls 19-242, 280, 313-682, 1040-1297. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina.

DEATH PLACE: Durham, NC¹⁶Bunnie Morgan death certificate.

SPOUSE: N/A

PARENTS: Haywood Morgan and Lucy Thompson Morgan¹⁷Bunnie Morgan death certificate.

CHILDREN: N/A

OTHER FAMILY: Sister Janie Morgan Harper (5 Oct 1888—22 Dec 1965)¹⁸Jane Harper death certificate: Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976 [database on-line]. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1121/images/S123_544-2182. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: North Carolina State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics. North Carolina Death Certificates. Microfilm S.123. Rolls 19-242, 280, 313-682, 1040-1297. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina.

FAMILY BURIED IN GEER CEMETERY: Unknown

OCCUPATION: Laborer¹⁹Bunnie Morgan death certificate.

CHURCH: N/A

AFFILIATIONS: N/A

ADDRESS: “East Durham”²⁰Durham City Directory 1913-14, p. 154

MILITARY SERVICE: N/A