William Vincent Morrison (1906-1977) was an American lawyer, probate investigator, and genealogical researcher best known for his efforts in seeking a pardon for William H. "Brushy Bill" Roberts in 1950, a man who in the 1940s appeared claiming to be Billy the Kid.

Early life and career

Morrison was born in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and was a descendant of

Lucien Bonaparte Maxwell Lucien Bonaparte Maxwell (September 14, 1818 – July 25, 1875) was a mountain man, rancher, scout, and farmer who at one point owned more than . Along with Thomas Catron and Ted Turner, Maxwell was one of the largest private landowners in Uni ...

. Following high school, he became the manager of a grocery store in

St Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which ...

in 1930 and continued taking correspondence courses at LaSalle Extension University, graduating in 1940. By the 1940s, Morrison had become a court appointed probate investigator, specializing in wills and bankruptcies, often working with various law firms in St. Louis, Missouri, and in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Genealogical studies and research on the Maxwell Land Grant

Morrison was a member of the Missouri Historical Society and conducted extensive primary research on the Maxwell Land Grant. Many of Morrison's papers have been donated to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

Joe Hines and Billy the Kid

In 1949, Morrison was appointed to settle a court case involving a man named Joe Hines, whose brother had died in Minot, North Dakota. During the course of proving his identity to the court, Hines claimed that he was in fact the notorious outlaw

Jesse Evans Jesse Evans (c. 1853 — unknown; disappeared 1882) was an American outlaw and gunman of the Old West, and leader of the Jesse Evans Gang. He received some attention due to his disappearance in 1882, after which he was never seen or heard from ag ...

that had fought in the

Lincoln County War The Lincoln County War was an Old West conflict between rival factions which began in 1878 in Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory, the predecessor of the state of New Mexico, and continued until 1881. The feud became famous because of the pa ...

and related that Billy the Kid was not killed by Pat Garrett in 1881. Morrison was intrigued, but skeptical. Hines would not reveal the name or whereabouts of The Kid, but did provide some leads that Morrison was able to follow which eventually led him to William H. " Brushy Bill" Roberts in Hico, Texas. Following a period of interviews and approximately one year of gathering evidence, Morrison became convinced that Roberts was The Kid and took the 90-year-old Roberts in front of

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

Governor Thomas Mabry to obtain a pardon. Mabry was unimpressed, and allowed numerous skeptics to attend the meeting, who peppered Roberts with questions. Roberts had a stroke on the spot, and died slightly more than a month later. Disappointed with the results, and believing that Roberts had not received a fair hearing, Morrison collaborated with renowned folklorist C. L. Sonnichsen on a book entitled ''Alias Billy the Kid'' published in 1955.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, William V. 1906 births 1977 deaths