John Morell

John Morell (17 February 1733–c. 1776) was an American merchant, planter, and slaveholder.

For the British educationalist and Congregational minister, see John Daniel Morell.

John Morell was born to Peter Morel, of Zurich, Switzerland, in 1733 in Savannah, Georgia. He married Mary Anne Bourquin, daughter of Henri Francois and Marie Bourquin in 1755. Together they had five children: Peter (1757), John (1759), Mary (1761), Henry, Susannah (1765). After the death of Mary Anne, Morell married Mary Bryan, daughter of Jonathan Bryan and Mary Williamson. With Mary Bryan, Morell had six children: Elizabeth (1767-1769), Bryan, Isaac (1770-1777), Esther (1772), Anne (1774), Hannah.[1] At the time of his death, his estate included 155 enslaved people, which he did not manumit. Instead these people were inherited, along with cattle, by his three living sons.[2][3]

After marrying his second wife, Morell purchased Ossabaw Island from his new father-in-law (1760, 1763).[4] He began a large timbering, ship-building, and indigo-cultivation enterprise facilitated by the 150 enslaved people recorded in his will.[5] In 1770, he was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society.[6] He served as delegate to the Provincial Council of Georgia (1774), as a member of the council of safety (1775), and died not long thereafter.[7][8]

References
  1. Bulloch, Joseph Gaston Baillie (1895). A History and Genealogy of the Families of Bellinger and De Veaux and Other Families. Morning News Print.
  2. "John Morel estate paper, 1777". finding-aids.lib.unc.edu. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
  3. Helffenstein, Abraham Ernest (1911). Pierre Fauconnier and His Descendants: With Some Account of the Allied Valleaux. Press of S. H. Burbank & Company. ISBN 978-0-598-99529-2.
  4. "Ossabaw Island". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
  5. "1777, Original Georgia Slave Inventory - John Morel - Ossabaw Island Plantation | #1910416479". Worthpoint. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
  6. "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
  7. "Ossabaw Island". Georgia Historical Society. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
  8. "Ossabaw Island Foundation | History Timeline". Retrieved 2021-06-07.


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