{"id":1645,"date":"2022-02-13T18:02:15","date_gmt":"2022-02-13T23:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/?p=1645"},"modified":"2022-07-29T12:39:40","modified_gmt":"2022-07-29T16:39:40","slug":"bunnie-morgan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/friendsofgeercemetery.org\/index.php\/2022\/02\/13\/bunnie-morgan\/","title":{"rendered":"MORGAN, BUNNIE A."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

3 February 1888\u20142 September 1916<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

11 Feb 2022<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bunnie A. Morgan\u2014nicknamed Bun\u2014was born on 3 Feb 1883, the oldest of what would eventually be ten surviving children.1<\/a><\/sup>Birthdate: Geer Cemetery (800 Colonial St, Durham, NC), Bunnie Morgan headstone, photographed by Nicholas Levy, 29 Nov 2019.

\n\n\n\nOlder 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<\/a> : 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.).

\n\n\n\nYounger 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<\/a> : 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.).<\/span> 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.2<\/a><\/sup>U. S. Census 1900 Oak Grove.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bun attended the Mary Potter School in Oxford, NC, though we don’t know how long he was there.3<\/a><\/sup>“Freight Train Killed Negro,” Durham Morning Herald Sun<\/em> (Durham, North Carolina), 3 Sep 1916, p. 8. https:\/\/www.newspapers.com\/image\/787291124\/<\/a>: accessed 13 Feb 2022.<\/span> 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.4<\/a><\/sup>Owena Hunter Davis, A history of Mary Potter School, Oxford, North Carolina<\/em> (Oxford, N.C., privately published, 1944), pp 1-8. https:\/\/www.ancestry.com\/search\/collections\/10433\/<\/a>: accessed 13 Feb 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bun lived with his parents into his late 20s.5<\/a><\/sup>U. S. Census 1910 Oak Grove.<\/span> 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).6<\/a><\/sup>Bun living with Janie: “Freight Train Killed Negro,” Durham Morning Herald Sun<\/em>.

\n\n\n\nWalter 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<\/a> : 28 November 2018), > image 1 of 1; North Carolina State Archives Division of Archives and History.

\n\n\n\nWalter firefighter: Durham, N.C. Directory 1913-1914<\/em> (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<\/a> : accessed 13 Feb 2022).

\n\n\n\nEast Durham: \u201cEast Durham,\u201d Open Durham, https:\/\/www.opendurham.org\/category\/neighborhood\/east-durham<\/a>: accessed 12 Feb 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the evening of 2 September 1916, Bun had dinner with his sister and brother-in-law and their two sons.7<\/a><\/sup>“Freight Train Killed Negro,” Durham Morning Herald Sun<\/em>.<\/span> Bun’s older nephew, Connie Dewey Harper, had turned 3 only days before.8<\/a><\/sup>Connie Harper death certificate: “North Carolina Deaths, 1931-1994,” database, FamilySearch (https:\/\/familysearch.org\/ark:\/61903\/3:1:3QS7-89G8-5XBF?cc=1584959<\/a> : 31 July 2014), > image 1 of 1; State Department of Archives and History, Raleigh.<\/span> His younger nephew, Jesse Willard Harper, had been born after Christmas of 1915, and was less than a year old.9<\/a><\/sup>Jesse 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.<\/span> 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\u2014Bun was widely known as a man who never touched alcohol, possibly a legacy from his days at the Mary Potter School.10<\/a><\/sup>“Freight Train Killed Negro,” Durham Morning Herald Sun<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a><\/sup>“Freight Train Killed Negro,” Durham Morning Herald Sun<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was 33 years old, had never married, and had no children.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Bunny Morgan headstone12<\/a><\/sup>Geer Cemetery, Bunnie Morgan headstone.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

BORN<\/strong>: 3 Feb 188313<\/a><\/sup>Geer Cemetery, Bunnie Morgan headstone.<\/span>

DIED<\/strong>: 2 Sep 191614<\/a><\/sup>Geer Cemetery, Bunnie Morgan headstone.<\/span>

BIRTH PLACE<\/strong>: Durham County, NC15<\/a><\/sup>Bunnie Morgan death certificate: Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976<\/em> [database on-line]. https:\/\/www.ancestry.com\/imageviewer\/collections\/1121\/images\/S123_63-0022<\/a>. 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.<\/span>

DEATH PLACE<\/strong>: Durham, NC16<\/a><\/sup>Bunnie Morgan death certificate.<\/span>

SPOUSE<\/strong>: N\/A

PARENTS<\/strong>: Haywood Morgan and Lucy Thompson Morgan17<\/a><\/sup>Bunnie Morgan death certificate.<\/span>

CHILDREN<\/strong>: N\/A

OTHER FAMILY<\/strong>: Sister Janie Morgan Harper (5 Oct 1888\u201422 Dec 1965)18<\/a><\/sup>Jane Harper death certificate: Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976<\/em> [database on-line]. https:\/\/www.ancestry.com\/imageviewer\/collections\/1121\/images\/S123_544-2182<\/a>. 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.<\/span>

FAMILY BURIED IN GEER CEMETERY<\/strong>: Unknown

OCCUPATION<\/strong>: Laborer19<\/a><\/sup>Bunnie Morgan death certificate.<\/span>

CHURCH<\/strong>: N\/A

AFFILIATIONS<\/strong>: N\/A

ADDRESS<\/strong>: “East Durham”20<\/a><\/sup>Durham City Directory 1913-14, p. 154<\/span>

MILITARY SERVICE<\/strong>: N\/A<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Notes<\/h3>