Jim Morrison
promotional photo of Jim Morrison in 1968, Elektra Records
Birth Name: James Douglas Morrison
Date of Birth: December 8, 1943
Place of Birth: Melbourne, Florida, U.S.
Date of Death: July 3, 1971
Place of Death: Paris, France
Ethnicity: Scottish, German, English, Swiss-German, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, distant Dutch and French Huguenot
Jim Morrison was an American singer, songwriter, and poet. He was the lead singer of rock band The Doors, whose members also included John Densmore, Robby Krieger, and Ray Manzarek. He was also known as The Lizard King, The American Poet, Jimbo, and Mr. Mojo Risin’.
Jim was the son of Clara Virginia (Clarke) and Rear Admiral George Stephen Morrison, USN. His father commanded U.S. naval forces at the Tonkin Gulf.
Jim’s patrilineal line traces to Alexander Morrison, who was born, c. 1755, on Island of Lewis, Ross & Cromarty, Scotland.
Jim’s paternal grandfather was Paul Raymund Morrison (the son of Robert Bruce Morrison and Suzannah/Susannah/Susanna Reep). Paul was born in Georgia. Robert was the son of Stephen Morrison and Lydia Emery. Suzannah was the daughter of John Reep and Sarah Ann Beal.
Jim’s paternal grandmother was Caroline Mary Hoover (the daughter of Benjamin Franklin Hoover and Claudia Irene Crawford). Caroline was born in Ohio. Benjamin was of Swiss-German descent, and was the son of Isaac Graybill Hoover/Huber and Lydia Ann Groff. Claudia was the daughter of Thomas Sylvester/L. Crawford and Caroline/Carrie H. Elder.
Jim’s maternal grandfather was Dalton Frank/Trank Clarke (the son of Franklin/Frank Clark/Clarke and Sophia/Sophie Eunice Frank/Trank). Dalton was born in Kansas. Jim’s great-grandfather Frank was the son of Harvey Hindman Clarke and Margaret Leman Brownlee. Sophie was the daughter of William Frank/Trank and Matilda Stiles.
Jim’s maternal grandmother was Anna/Annie Robinson Stidger (the daughter of Leroy/Roy L. Stidger and Etta B. Robinson). Anna was born in West Virginia. Leroy was the son of Samuel Baker/D. Stidger and Elizabeth M. Walton. Etta was the daughter of Henson Robinson and Sarah Ann Reed.
Sources: Genealogies of Jim Morrison – http://www.wargs.com
http://www.geni.com
http://www.findagrave.com
https://www.wikitree.com
Additional information- https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/landscape/MLY5-QQ3
But andrew, is wrong as Jim Morrison had more English ancestry than German or Scottish. He’s make up was mostly English and Scottish, with some German as well.
Morrison lines:
Morrison Scotland
Reep Germany
Emery Germany
Beal undocumented
Hoover Switzerland
Crawford Scotland
Groff Switzerland
Elder Germany
Clark Scotland or Northern Ireland (they were Presbyterians)
Trank Germany
Stiles England
Stidger Germany
Robinson undocumented
Reed Northern Ireland
Actually he is still mainly British, as I calculated the percentages and still more British than German. Still to my surprise, he has a lot of German.
Morrison lines:
Morrison: 50% Scottish, 37.5% Northern Irish, 12.5%
Emery: 62.5% English, 25% Dutch, 12.5% German
Reep: 50% German, 50% British most likely looking at last names
Beal: Unknown
Hoover: 50% Swiss, 50% unlikely British
Groff: 100% German
Crawford: 12.5% German, 87.5% British
Elder: 50% British, 50% unknown
Clark: 100% Northern Irish
Brownlee: 87.5% Scottish, 12.5% French
Trank: Unknown
Stiles: 100% English
Walton: 50% German, 25% English, 25% Northern Irish
Stidger:50% German, 50% English
Robinson: Most likely British Isles descent
Reed: Most likely British Isles descent
At the moment without taking in the most likely and unknown ancestries, he is at 42.187% British. If you account the most likely outcomes (you said Reed was Northern Irish which I don’t know is true), it would amount to 57.81225. This is also forgetting the 15.625% which is completely unknown.
There is a recent article in Celtic Family Magazine which claims that Morrison was partly of Irish ancestry. It points out that some members of the Scottish family married into the Clelland clan, who were from Down County in northeast Ireland.
Here is a link to the issue:
https://web.archive.org/web/20160601070104/https://www.aravenabovepress.org/collections/celtic-family-magazine-collection/products/celtic-family-magazine-spring-2016-issue-11
genealogy of Jim Morrison (focusing on his father’ side): https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/Morrison-Family-Tree-4075
genealogy of Jim’s paternal great-great-grandmother, Lydia Emery: https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/Emery-Family-Tree-1496
genealogy’s of Jim’s mother (through her brother, Dalton Stidger Clarke): https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/Clarke-Family-Tree-7019
I don’t think Jim had more English ancestry than German overall
The Clelland clan originated from Scotland but some obviously moved into Northern Ireland, and were part of the Ulster Scots, many of whom moved onto America.
THANK YOU
I had a look at Jim’s documented genealogies.
Well, most of his recent lines actually trace back to Germany (including Swiss German people), Scotland and Northern Ireland, rather than England.
I don’t want to be polemical, but I understand why “English” is not the most claimed ethnicity by White Americans, contrarily as you often see in this site.
Real “English” ancestry actually is mostly reduced to the first wave of Euro immigrants to New England, combined with Dutch and some French Huguenots. These ones later mixed with the consequent German, Scots-Irish and Irish immigrants. The large bulk of White Americans is based upon this ancestral substrate,
“Real “English” ancestry actually is mostly reduced to the first wave of Euro immigrants to New England, combined with Dutch and some French Huguenots. These ones later mixed with the consequent German, Scots-Irish and Irish immigrants. The large bulk of White Americans is based upon this ancestral substrate,”
While it’s true that German, Scots-Irish, and Irish immigrants mixed with the English-descended Americans, it’s not true that these immigrants are “the large bulk” of white Americans’ ancestry. The large bulk of their ancestry is English, from the colonial times, people with more German or Scottish/Scots-Irish ancestry are exceptions, and often come from areas or towns where these group settled exclusively. That’s why many people here have ethnicities like “English, small amounts of German and Scottish”. It’s not anyone who’s trying to trick you. If anything, English ancestry is often UNDERstated on this site, when certain people have ethnicities like “English, Scottish”, and no recent immigrant ancestors, which gives the impression that they are English and Scottish to around the same degree, when they, in reality, are likely way more English than Scottish.
” The large bulk of their ancestry is English, from the colonial times”
That is what I said. Their only English ancestry traces back to 1600s, and it’s pretty distant. How is English ancestry underestimated in this site is beyond me. To have an Anglo surname does not mean to have English ancestry. It often turns out that it’s rather an anglicized German last name or usually a Scots-Irish one. About Jim Morrison’s ancestry:
Morrison Scotland
Reep Germany
Emery Germany
Beal undocumented
Hoover Switzerland
Crawford Scotland
Groff Switzerland
Elder Germany
Clark Scotland or Northern Ireland (they were Presbyterians)
Trank Germany
Stiles England
Stidger Germany
Robinson undocumented
Reed Northern Ireland
“Their only English ancestry traces back to 1600s, and it’s pretty distant.”
That’s like saying “French-Canadians aren’t that much French, because their French ancestors are from the 1600’s”. The average white American with roots in the U.S. beyond, let’s say, the mid 1800’s, are majority English with ancestry from the settlers in the 1600’s. So your use of the word “only” makes no sense since it’s the majority of their ancestry. I’m not talking about only looking at the surname, I mean their actual roots when you trace them.
Yes, it seems like English is a minority of Jim Morrison’s ancestry. But he doesn’t represent the average.
Actually before the 1700s the U.S. were not much populated. Those who colonized the Frontier were mostly Scots-Irish.
An interesting article: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/23/opinion/whatever-happened-to-german-america.html
I’m not denying the influence that the Germans and Scots-Irish had on the American population. But there seems to be an ongoing myth that Americans are less English than they actually are. All I can say at this point is that I’ve gone through many family trees of celebrities here, and from them, I can say that most white Americans who aren’t descended mainly from recent immigrant families appears to be mostly English.
“I can say that most white Americans who aren’t descended mainly from recent immigrant families appears to be mostly English”
Yes. Colonial family trees are very well documented, and they use to trace back to England (and Netherlands in N.Y.) More recent genealogies are full of holes and not so accurate.
btw at the end of the day Jim Morrison had more German (including Swiss-German) and Scottish ancestry than English.
He also had Swiss-German ancestry through his paternal great-grandfather Benjamin Franklin Hoover, whose ancestral lines lead mostly back to Switzerland. (http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=PED&db=dowfam3&id=I199956&style=TABLE)
Jim’s Swiss ancestors were Mennonites.
Hello, Andrew. How can I find out more (such as source) of Jim’s Mennonite background? Thanks, Dale
https://www.geni.com/people/Johann-Hoover-Sr/6000000003099386715
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=PED&db=dowfam3&id=I199962
a little trivia:
Jacob Reep, the paternal grandfather of Jim’s paternal great-grandmother Susannah Reep, was the uncle of U.S. President William McKinley, since Jacob’s second wife, Sarah Allison, was the sister of Nancy Allison McKinley, the mother of President William McKinley.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=25451989