Half Baked or Fully Baked – A Morrill Connection?

I was recently asked to take a look at a friend’s family history.  Her grandfather was a Morrill from Portland, Maine, and the question arose if she related to Charles Morrill (the “M” in B & M Baked Beans).

I’ll admit I didn’t know much about B & M Baked Beans, ‘cept I like eating them.  But the Internet an excellent place and it took about 2 minutes to learn that Charles Sumner Morrill, Jr. (1833-1901) was a partner and founder of B&M Baked Beans in 1867.[i] Another Google search found a short genealogical tree for Charles Sumner Morrill, Jr. within an article regarding Morrill’s Corner[ii], a well-known area within Portland. Armed with those two bits of information and an abbreviated family tree that showed the names of my friend, her parents, and her grandparents, but little else.

Luckily, the process was straightforward. Using only Ancestry.Com, I was able to trace her ancestry back quickly.

           

Her Great grandfather was,

Edwin Jackson Morrill (1882-1943). His father was,

            Theodore J Morrill (1850-1911). His father was,

                        Edwin Morrell (1828-1897).  His father was,

                                    Peter W. Morrell (c. 1797-1881).  Connected to Morrill’s Corner history.  

                                                Peter Morrill, Esq. (1753-1819)

                                                            Peter Morrill (1709-1801)

                                                Steven Morrell (1739-1816)

                                    Asa Morrell (c. 1776, – c. 1830

Charles Morrill, (Sr.) (1811-1849)

            Charles Morrill, (Jr.) (1833-1901)

Peter was Charles’ 2nd Great grandfather.

Peter was my friend’s 6th  Great grandfather.

So yes, my friend is a third cousin, four times removed, of Charles Morrill of the B&M Baked Bean company fame.  

Note: I added a caveat that I did not double check and confirm every document and I did not have genealogical proof for the pedigree, but I was fairly certain of the various connections. I also did not extract all of the information I could from the records I did find.[iii]