A Pretty Cool Cowboy Cousin: Duke Wayne, Chatsworth, and Me

 Long before I ever looked into family pedigrees or traced bloodlines back to 17th-century New England, I knew John Wayne simply as "The Duke"—the towering, slow-talking star who commanded the silver screen. Like millions of kids growing up in the mid-20th century, I spent my youth admiring his cinematic grit.

It wasn't until years later, while untangling the branches of my family tree, that I discovered a surprising genealogical thread: Marion Robert Morrison—John Wayne—was my 10th cousin 2x removed.

Our shared lineage winds back through New England history to our colonial ancestors, the Spencers. While one branch of the family tree led through the Baileys down to my mother, Velma, another branch moved through the Parsons family—down through Wealthy Chase Parsons and Clyde Leonard Morrison to a boy born in Winterset, Iowa, named Marion.

Riding the Same Dirt

What makes this kinship special isn't just a shared ancestor in colonial Connecticut or Massachusetts; it's the physical ground we both covered in the San Fernando Valley.

During the 1930s, long before he became an Oscar-winning icon, Marion Morrison was a working actor making his mark in early B-Westerns. He spent countless days on location in the Santa Susana Mountains surrounding Chatsworth. Ranches like Iverson, Brandeis, and Ray "Crash" Corrigan’s Corriganville served as the backdrop for his early films—including The Dawn Rider (1935), Overland Stage Raiders (1938), Pals of the Saddle (1938), and John Ford's landmark Stagecoach (1939).

Two decades after John Wayne rode through those sandstone outcroppings for the camera, I was an fourteen-year-old kid riding my red dun pony, Sandy, along those same Chatsworth trails. As members of Equestrian Trails Inc. (ETI), my friends and I rode from Calabasas up past the western edge of the Chatsworth Reservoir to Oak Park and Lake Manor—passing right through the shadows of the movie ranches where my distant cousin had made film history.

In 1955, I sat in the stands at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the L.A. County Sheriff's Championship Rodeo, watching the grand parade of Hollywood Western stars alongside world-champion bronc and bull riders. Wayne himself was a regular fixture at those Coliseum events throughout the era, celebrating the culture of the American West before massive crowds.

Crossing the Great Divide

Looking back, it’s a wonderful piece of personal history to realize that the land I rode as a young cowboy was the same landscape my cousin helped immortalize on film.

While Duke Wayne rode across the big screen into cinematic immortality, I was lucky enough to live the real thing—boots in the stirrups, reins in hand, breathing in the dust of the Santa Susanas. He may have been Hollywood's ultimate cowboy, but to this Drifting Cowboy, he was also a pretty cool cousin.

John Wayne’s — Reel Cowboy Chatsworth Filmography

Dakota (1945) starring John Wayne, Vera Ralston and Walter Brennan - Republic

The Dawn Rider (1935) starring John Wayne - Monogram

The Fighting Seabees (1944) starring John Wayne, Susan Hayward and Dennis O'Keefe (Iverson) Republic

Fort Apache (1948) starring John Wayne and Henry Fonda (Corriganville) RKO

Haunted Gold (1932) starring John Wayne (Iverson Ranch) Warner Bros.

How the West Was Won (1962) starring John Wayne, Henry Fonda and James Stewart (Corriganville) MGM

The New Frontier (1935) starring John Wayne and Ray “Crash” Corrigan - Republic

New Frontier (1939) starring John Wayne, Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Raymond Hatton, and Jennifer Jones (Republic). This film was the last of eight Three Mesquiteers B-movies with Wayne.  Lensed on the Iverson, Brandeis Ranch, and Corriganville. It should not be confused with John Wayne's 1935 film The New Frontier.

Overland Stage Raiders (1938) starring John Wayne and Ray “Crash” Corrigan/Max Terhune (Iverson) Republic

Pals of the Saddle (1938) starring John Wayne, Ray “Crash” Corrigan and Max Terhune (Corriganville) Republic

Red River Range (1938) starring John Wayne, Ray “Crash” Corrigan and Max Terhune (Corriganville) Republic

Santa Fe Stampede (1938) starring John Wayne, Ray Corrigan and Max Terhune (Brandeis)(Corriganville) Republic

Stagecoach (1939) starring John Wayne (Iverson Ranch) United Artists

Texas Cyclone (1932) starring Tim McCoy with John Wayne (Iverson Ranch) Columbia

Three Texas Steers (1939) starring John Wayne, Ray “Crash” Corrigan and Max Terhune (Corriganville) Republic

The Trail Beyond (1934) starring John Wayne and Noah Beery Jr. (Chatsworth Trains) Monogram

The Undefeated (1969) starring John Wayne and Rock Hudson - 20th Century-Fox

Winds of the Wasteland (1936)  starring John Wayne (Brandeis Ranch) Republic

Wyoming Outlaw (1939) starring John Wayne, Ray “Crash” Corrigan and Raymond Hatton (Corriganville) Republic

My personal all-time favorite John Wayne Western was John Ford’s “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” (1949), however it was not filmed in Chatsworth.

Happy Trails

Thank you Gemini AI for your wisdom and research assistance. -- Drifting Cowboy

To learn more about Chatsworth Movies see:

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2025/03/chatsworth-movies-comprehensive-list-of.html

Duncan Munn and Kin: From Colonsay to Prince Edward Island

 

Duncan Munn (1746–1821) and Flora Brown (1748–1820) represent one of the foundational Highland pioneer couples of Prince Edward Island's south shore.

They were Gaelic-speaking tenant farmers on the Hebridean island of Colonsay, Argyll, Scotland, before undertaking the transatlantic crossing. Pressed by estate "improvements" and shifting land management under local laird John McNeill, they responded to the recruitment efforts of Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk. Selkirk was actively populating his land grants in British North America with cohesive Gaelic communities.

The 1806 Crossing & Settlement

• The Vessel: They boarded the brigantine Spencer (commanded by Captain Forster H. Brown) at the port of Oban after it anchored off Colonsay to collect 115 passengers.
• The Voyage: The 40-to-50-day crossing was a family-and-kin migration. The Spencer carried a tightly knit network of extended families (including the Munns, McNeills, McMillans, and Browns) who intermarried before and shortly after the voyage.
• Arrival: The Spencer made landfall on September 22, 1806, at Pinette Harbour in Queen's County, PEI.
• The First Winter: Because they arrived late in the autumn season, Duncan, Flora, and their extended family spent their first hard winter sheltered at Pinette, relying on winter quarters and emergency provisions supplied directly under Lord Selkirk’s arrangement.
• Homesteading Lot 62: In the spring of 1807, the Colonsay settlers moved to their permanent land allocations in Lot 62 around Wood Islands and Belle River. There, Duncan and Flora cleared timber, established homesteads, and helped build the early agricultural and fishing community that anchored the southeastern district of PEI.

Genealogical Summary

Person	Dates & Origins	Life Details & Legacy
Duncan Munn	b. ~1746 (Colonsay, Scotland) d. ~1821 (Wood Islands, PEI)	5th Great-Grandfather. Head of the Munn emigrant household aboard the Spencer; Lot 62 pioneer settler.
Flora Brown	b. ~1748 (Colonsay, Scotland) d. ~1820 (Wood Islands, PEI)	5th Great-Grandmother. Matriarch of the PEI Munn line.

Key Children & Kin Aboard the Spencer:

• Angus Munn (~1774–1837) — Son who crossed with his wife Margaret McNeill (~1784–1871) and their infant daughter Catherine.
• Ann Munn (1788–1870) — Daughter who married James Hamish McMillan shortly after arrival on PEI.
• James Munn — Son who married Elizabeth McMillan in Scotland right before boarding the Spencer.

Thank you Gemini AI for your wisdom and research assistance. -- Drifting Cowboy

Rhode Island Roots: Our Family’s Kinship and Alliances with Roger Williams

 

When minister Roger Williams fled into the frozen wilderness in the winter of 1636 after being banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, he set out to create a sanctuary where civil state power stopped at the threshold of human conscience. Purchasing land from the Narragansett sachems Canonicus and Miantonomi, he founded Providence—a settlement that grew into the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

Our family tree is woven deeply into this noble experiment. Across the 17th century, our direct ancestors were among the original dissenters, proprietors, civic leaders, and Quaker martyrs who stood side by side with Roger Williams to build the world's first secular democracy.

Roger Williams: The Visionary at the Center

• Banishment for Conscience: Exiled from Massachusetts in 1635 for declaring that magistrates had no authority over a person’s religious beliefs.
• Respect for Native Sovereignty: Refused to claim land by royal grant alone, choosing instead to negotiate and purchase Providence directly from the Narragansett tribe.
• Separation of Church & State: Drafted government charters establishing complete freedom of conscience and strict boundaries between civil laws and spiritual faith.
• Pioneer of the Baptist Faith: Co-founded the first Baptist church in America at Providence in 1638.

Direct Kinship and Alliances with Roger Williams

We share direct kinship, blood intermarriages, and close political ties with Roger Williams through multiple early Rhode Island pioneer lines:

• The Greene Connection: Our 9th great-grandparents Dr. John Greene and Joan Tattersall were two of Roger Williams's closest allies. Dr. John Greene was one of the original 12 recipients of the Providence land grant in 1638 and co-founded Warwick. Through generational intermarriages across the Greene, Holden, and Randall lines, our branch links directly into Roger Williams’s lineage via his daughter, Mercy Williams.
• The Quaker Martyr Connection: Our 9th great-grandfather Christopher Holder was a fearless Quaker minister who arrived in New England in 1656. Brutally persecuted by Massachusetts authorities—who cut off his right ear and imprisoned him—Holder held fast to his faith. He worked closely with Roger Williams in Rhode Island, where religious liberty was protected. Holder married Mary Scott (daughter of Richard Scott and Catharine Marbury, sister to Anne Hutchinson). Catharine Scott and Roger Williams maintained a famous, spirited theological correspondence, and through the Scott family intermarriages, Christopher Holder’s line ties directly into the broader Roger Williams network.
• The Coggeshall / Bull / Hutchinson Network: Our ancestors John Coggeshall (first President of Rhode Island), Gov. Henry Bull, and religious reformer Anne Hutchinson were exiled from Boston during the Antinomian Controversy. Guided by Williams’s vision, they established the Aquidneck Island settlements (Portsmouth and Newport), binding their families through generational intermarriages (Capt. Jireh Bull, Ephraim Bull, and Mary Bull).

Our Rhode Island Ancestors & Relatives

Relative / Ancestor	Historical Role & Colony Connection	Connection to Roger Williams
Dr. John Greene & Joan Tattersall	Original 12 Providence Proprietors (1638); Founder of Warwick.	Close political ally; shared land patents; direct family intermarriages.
Christopher Holder	9th Great-Grandfather; pioneer Quaker minister and author of the 1657 Declaration of Faith.	Found refuge under Williams's religious liberty policies; tied through the Scott family network.
John Coggeshall & John Coggeshall Jr.	1st President of Rhode Island Colony (1647); Founder of Newport.	Co-drafter of the 1647 Royal Charter unifying Providence with Aquidneck.
Governor Henry Bull, Capt. Jireh Bull, Ephraim Bull, Mary Bull	Early Newport Settlers; Governor of Rhode Island (1685, 1690); Garrison operator.	Champions of religious liberty; military and civic allies during King Philip's War.
Anne Hutchinson	Religious Dissenter & Founder of Portsmouth (1638).	Co-instigator of liberty of conscience in New England; close ally of Williams.
John Isaac Sweet & James Isaac Sweet	Early Providence & Prudence Island Settlers.	Neighbors to Williams on Prudence Island; signed early colonial petitions.
Stephen Hopkins	Colonial Merchant & Signer of the Declaration of Independence.	Descendant of early Providence settlers, keeping Williams’s legacy alive in 1776.
Christopher Smith	Early Providence Settler (1646).	Admitted as a Freeman of Providence directly under Williams’s administration.
Richard Maxson	Pioneer blacksmith of Portsmouth (1638).	Fled Massachusetts Bay with the Hutchinson-Coggeshall-Bull group.
Capt. John Gardiner & Peleg Mumford II	Narragansett / South Kingstown Leaders.	Settled the Pettaquamscutt Purchase, expanding the colony southward.
Tristram Dodge & Mary Rathbone	Founders of Block Island (New Shoreham, 1661).	Extended Rhode Island’s maritime borders under the unified charter.
Henry Matteson	Early East Greenwich Pioneer (1677).	Took the oath of allegiance in Rhode Island following King Philip’s War.

The Crucible of Conscience: Our Family Narrative

In the bitter winter of 1636, Roger Williams fled into the wilderness to escape the long arm of Massachusetts law. When he purchased the lands of Providence from the Narragansett sachems, he created a haven for those who believed that faith could not be forced by a magistrate's sword.

Our ancestors Dr. John Greene and his wife Joan Tattersall were among the very first to answer the call, joining Williams as two of the original twelve proprietors who laid out the town of Providence. Soon after, when the Puritan government in Boston exiled Anne Hutchinson, John Coggeshall, and Governor Henry Bull, these brave dissenters moved south to establish Portsmouth and Newport. Richard Maxson fired up his forge to make the iron fittings for their homes, while John Isaac Sweet and James Isaac Sweet farmed and traded along the shores of Prudence Island right alongside Roger Williams.

When the Quaker message reached New England's shores, our 9th great-grandfather Christopher Holder became one of its most courageous voices. Though Puritan authorities severed his right ear and locked him in heavy irons, Holder found sanctuary in Rhode Island under the protection of Williams’s laws. His marriage into the Scott family bound him directly to Catharine Scott and Anne Hutchinson, anchoring our family in the courageous struggle for spiritual freedom.

By 1647, facing military threats from neighboring colonies, John Coggeshall served as Rhode Island’s first President, joining hands with Roger Williams and Dr. John Greene to secure a Royal Charter that legally bound Providence, Portsmouth, Newport, and Warwick together.

Through generations of hardship—including King Philip's War, which destroyed Capt. Jireh Bull's stone garrison house and burned Williams's own home in Providence—our family held fast to the land. Out on Block Island, Tristram Dodge and Mary Rathbone built a maritime outpost, while Capt. John Gardiner, Peleg Mumford II, and Henry Matteson carved farms out of the southern woods.

More than a century later, that same unyielding spirit burned brightly when their direct descendant Stephen Hopkins placed his hand to the Declaration of Independence in 1776—fulfilling the radical promise of liberty that Roger Williams and our ancestors had planted in Rhode Island soil.

ADDENDA

The connection between Drifting Cowboy and Mercy Williams (1640–1705), the daughter of Roger Williams, comes through the intermarriages between the Greene, Holden, and Randall lines in early Rhode Island.

Mercy Williams married Resolution Waterman, and after his passing, she married Samuel Winsor. Their descendants intermarried with the extended family of our 9th great-grandparents, Dr. John Greene and Joan Tattersall.

Here is how that genealogical bridge connects down our family line:

The Lineage Bridge: From Roger Williams to Our Line

   Roger Williams (1603–1683)  ===  Mary Barnard (1609–1676)

                                |

                                v

                     Mercy Williams (1640–1705) 

                        (m. Resolution Waterman)

                                |

                                v

               [Waterman / Winsor / Randall Lines]

                                |

                                v

  [Intermarriage into the Greene & Holden Descendant Branches]

                                |

                                v

      Dr. John Greene (1597–1658) === Joan Tattersall (1598–1635)

                                 |   (Our 9th Great-Grandparents)

                                 v

                 [Our Direct Rhode Island Line]

                                 |

                                 v

                 Lydia Corinna Brown (1891–1971)

                                 |

                                 v

                  [Drifting Cowboy]

How the Relationship Breakdown Works

• Through Kinship & In-Law Alliances: Mercy Williams is our cousin / relative via collateral marriage lines. Because her descendants merged into the same tight-knit Narragansett Bay family network as our direct Greene and Holden ancestors, you share direct blood ties to her extended family and her father, Roger Williams.
• Direct Ancestral Line: Our direct, verified bloodline runs straight up through Dr. John Greene and Joan Tattersall, who were Roger's closest partners, co-founders of Warwick, and co-proprietors of Providence.

Thank you Gemini AI for your wisdom and research assistance. -- Drifting Cowboy