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Priscilla Selena Woodhurst was born at Sittingbourne around late 1865 or early 1866 [Birth Index: Milton 2a 710, 1866 (March)] of parents Daniel Woodhurst and Priscilla Hales. Some descendants claim that she was born on August 4th 1865, although this date appears a little too early in relation to the registration quarter.
The 1871 Census finds her at age "5" living with her parents at 20, Springfield Road in Tunbridge, Kent.
The 1881 Census finds her at age "15" living with her parents at 210, Shortlands Road, South Side in Sittingbourne, Kent.
In 1884 she emigrated with her mother and siblings to America, sailing from Liverpool on the City of Montreal and arriving at Michigan on July 26th 1884. She appears never to have been naturalized.
In 1888 she married a Welshman named James Morgan. They took out their marriage license on September 12th 1888 and married in Jackson, Jackson County in Michigan on October 10th [IGI: Batch M017299]. The marriage record describes her as aged 23 and him as a labourer aged 23 born in Wales of father William Morgan and Sarah A. Davis. They remained in Jackson where they produced the four children listed below.
It is possible that the GRO reference to his parents' marriage is [Marriage Index: Cardiff 11a 334, 1865 (March)], which names the partners as William Morgan and 'Sarah Davies'.
On March 24th 1898 James was committed to an asylum for the insane at Kalamazoo in Michigan. Apart from citing this date, his commitment papers record only that he was then aged 31 or 32. According to a local newspaper article he escaped from the asylum in 1903 and was found dead by some railroad tracks having apparently been hit by a train. He was reported as 37 years old and as having lived in America for 20 years. In this article his brother - named also as 'James' but possibly actually named John and living in Lansing - claimed that he might sue the asylum for negligence, because this was not the first time James had escaped. The Coroner's report states that James, born in Wales, was aged 37; that he married at age 23 and was the father of four children still living; that his father 'John Morgan' (apparently misnamed) was also born in Wales and that his mother's name was 'unknown'; that he died on February 20th 1903 in Jackson having been 'killed by cars'; and that he was buried on February 21st.
The US 1900 Census finds Priscilla Selena living with her four children in the Summit township of Jackson County. The record states that her birthdate was August 1865, that she had immigrated in 1883 (but actually 1884) and that she was the owner of a house under mortgage.
Descendants' reports state that Priscilla Selena was the only one among her siblings to retain contact in later life with her brother Albert Henry (1) and that she died on March 10th 1956.