Originally published in the BDHS newsletter, Spring 2018
By Bill Kombol
George Morris and Mary Ann Williams were married on Christmas Day 1876 in their native Wales. At the time George worked as a coal miner. Their first son, George Jr., died shortly after birth. Determined to make a new start, Mary Ann stayed home pregnant with their second, Abraham, while George migrated to Pennsylvania. There he worked in coal mines, saving money for more than a year to buy passage for his young wife and child.
A year later the family moved to Peoria, Illinois, to mine coal, then pursued hard rock mining in Idaho before arriving in Wilkeson where the final six of their eleven children were born. George worked in coal mines around Wilkeson, helping to open a mine in the middle of town.
He later purchased a livery stable and transfer company where many of the Morris boys worked. A lot of their business was hauling kegs of beer to the 13 saloons in that thriving coal mining town of east Pierce County. The couple celebrated their 50th anniversary in 1926 surrounded by all eleven children and their spouses.
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