02/26/2026
Everyone has a story. . .
HISTORY BEHIND THE HEADSTONES: Education is Everything
"Behind every achievement, there is a family whose love, support, and blessings make everything possible." — Gujarat Flash
Why are some families full of exceptionally talented and intelligent people? Is it nature, or nurture, or some combination? This month we take a look at the Morris/Johnson extended family, whose members included a well-known pastor, numerous teachers, judges, war heroes, and distinguished church and community leaders. Their accomplishments are all the more remarkable because the family lived during a time when their African-American heritage meant that many opportunities were not readily available to them.
The Reverend Dr. Joseph Edward Morris was born on November 24, 1866 in Turkeyville, Lancaster County, PA, the third eldest of 13 children of Christian Morris and Susann Williams.
At age 14, he worked as a farm hand while attending school during the winter months. When he was 19 years old, he worked as a foreman in a rolling mill at Lancaster. However, God had other plans for him; in 1891 he moved to Pittsburgh, joined the Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church and felt called to preach.
By 1895, Joseph was a licensed pastor and began a lifelong ministry of pastoring churches, successfully clearing their debt, and growing the congregation. He began in 1896 at Olean, NY, later moving to Clarksburg, WV, and then being called to various A.M.E. churches in western Pennsylvania, including locations in Erie, Monongahela City, Braddock, Monessen, and Uniontown.
A biography written about him in 1916 noted that he had received more than 1,000 people into the church. Other accomplishments included earning his doctorate degree, publishing articles, writing music, becoming a university trustee, and owning and controlling “considerable” real estate, all while being active in civic and political affairs.
Joseph received many accolades during his career and must have been an extremely charismatic individual. He was described as a “natural born leader” who “has never been known to fail in anything.”
But Joseph’s life was not without tragedy. He married Emma Laura Gilkerson (1873-1951) of Pittsburgh on June 15, 1892. They had four daughters—Irene, Mahulda, Lois, and Josephine—and were happily living in Braddock at 516 Corey Avenue while Joseph pastored the Corey Avenue A.M.E. Church. They lived in a predominantly White neighborhood, which must have had it challenges. However, their daughters were accomplished and well liked when 15-year-old Mahulda was killed instantly by a passenger train while crossing the railroad tracks at Copeland Crossing at Fourth Street on June 29, 1911.
She was returning from a party with her girlfriends and waiting for a freight train to pass in what was known to be a “death trap” crossing; the roar of the freight train drowned out the sound of an approaching passenger train which failed to ring a bell or whistle in warning.
Mahulda’s horrific death rocked her family and community. All 150 students in Braddock High School, where she was sophomore, along with students from her former grammar school, marched through Braddock to her home in tribute, carrying flowers. Numerous local ministers, as well as “several hundred others, including members of both races,” paid their respects. Mahulda was laid to rest in Section 3 of Monongahela Cemetery.
Five years later, in February 1916, while pastoring St. Paul’s A.M.E. Church in Uniontown, Joseph made the fateful decision to purchase a motorcycle so he could visit his congregation more easily. His unorthodox choice of transport was even mentioned in The Pittsburgh Press.
On November 20, 1919, while traveling a road between Uniontown and Connellsville, Joseph rounded a bend and crashed head-on into an oncoming automobile, dying instantly of a broken neck. He was 53 years old. Newspapers noted that he was the “best known Negro clergyman of western Pennsylvania” and his funeral in Braddock was attended by scores of ministers from a 100-mile radius. Joseph was buried alongside Mahulda in Monongahela Cemetery.
Emma, Joseph’s wife, died on August 2, 1951. She was an active member of the A.M.E. Church throughout her life and instilled in her daughters the importance of education, as all three daughters became teachers. At the time of her death, she was living in Charleston, WV, with her daughter and son-in-law, who were an assistant professor of Business Administration and an elementary school principal, respectively. She was buried alongside her husband.
Irene Olive Morris, the eldest of the four Morris girls, was born on May 26, 1894. From her earliest years, it was obvious that she would go places. In 1912, she was one of the first three African-American graduates from Braddock High School. Newspaper articles at that time called her a “young and rising elocutionist” and her eloquent speaking abilities, probably inherited from her father, were greatly admired. Irene graduated from Wilberforce University in Ohio, the nation’s oldest, historically Black university, while also completing graduate work at the University of Chicago, Columbia University, and the University of Pittsburgh. She was described as a “remarkable woman” who was “one of the best speakers I ever heard.”
Irene was a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and an honorary board member of the Greater Pittsburgh YWCA. She gave up her career in education to raise her five children and instilled in them the same standards of excellence that she had received while growing up.
On June 15, 1922, Irene married Oliver Livingstone Johnson. Oliver was born in a log cabin on March 11, 1891 in White Hall Virginia, the son of a former slave. By 1895 his family relocated to Dookers Hollow in Braddock, where his father worked as a laborer at the Edgar Thomson Works. Oliver met Irene while they were both among the first Black graduates of Braddock High School.
The story of Oliver’s amazing life could fill many pages; since he is not buried in Monongahela Cemetery, but in the military section of Mount Lebanon Cemetery, we will just list a few highlights here to better understand how his and Irene’s achievements influenced their children. (Oliver’s parents, siblings, nieces, and nephews are all buried in Monongahela Cemetery, but that’s a story for another time.)
After his graduation from Braddock High School, Oliver attended Howard University in Washington, DC. His father sold the log cabin in Virginia to fund Oliver’s legal education at Harvard University. After one year of law school, he was drafted to fight in World War I where he was gassed during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, at that time the largest military campaign in United States history.
When he came home, he could not afford to return to Harvard and finished his law degree at the University of Pittsburgh. He was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1922 and opened his own law office, later becoming the first Black Assistant District Attorney in Allegheny County, and one of the first eight African-American men admitted to the Allegheny County Bar Association. Oliver was very active in the Civil Rights Movement during the 1940s to 1960s. He died on July 10, 1971 at the age of 80. The Allegheny County Bar Association and the University of Pittsburgh Law School have scholarships named in his honor.
Oliver and Irene raised their three sons and two daughters at 1131 Ross Avenue in Wilkinsburg. It is no surprise that their five children were highly educated with impressive careers. Their eldest child, Oliver Morris Johnson (1923-1945) was killed in action during the Battle of the Bulge on February 12, 1945 and is buried in Luxembourg American Cemetery.
Livingstone Morris Johnson (1927-2023) was an Eagle scout and an Air Force war hero, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and other medals. He later joined his father’s law firm and eventually became a judge in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. During his career he won numerous awards and was a lifetime member of many professional, charitable, and community organizations. He is buried in the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies in Washington County.
After graduating from the University of Chicago, Justin Morris Johnson (1933-2021) joined the United States Air Force, reaching the rank of Major during 14 years of active and reserve duty. His service included two active-duty flights into Vietnam as an aircraft commander. After receiving his law degree, he joined his father and brother in their law practice. Following a distinguished career, he was appointed to the Pennsylvania Superior Court in 1980, and served until his retirement in 2007. He was also an adjunct professor at Duquesne University Law School, served on many boards, and had a national leadership role in the Presbyterian Church. He is buried in Allegheny Cemetery in Lawrenceville.
Justine Morris Johnson Gutzmer (1929-2025) attended West Virginia State College and taught school in East Orange, NJ and Los Angeles, CA. She was known as a devoted teacher with a passion for education. She is buried in the Georgia National Cemetery in Canton, GA.
Irene Morris Johnson Guerrini (1931-2008) graduated from Penn State University, earned a Master of Education Degree from the University of California at Berkley, and her Ph.D. from New York University Graduate School of Education. She also studied at the University of Michigan Graduate School of Education in Ann Arbor; the University of Vienna in Stroble, Austria; and the College of the Americans in Mexico. She was a teacher in the East Orange, NJ school system for 30 years and later taught in the West Palm Beach school system for an additional ten years. She died in West Palm Beach, Florida at the age of 76 but is buried in Monongahela Cemetery.
The impressive achievements of this exceptional family serve to remind us of the many amazing and important histories behind the headstones.
PHOTO CAPTIONS:
1. Undated photo of the Rev. Dr. J. E. Morris.
2. “Sad Tribute Paid to Girl By Friends.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. July 2, 1911, page 6.
3. “Will Herd Flock on Motorcycle.” The Pittsburgh Press. February 11, 1916, page 29.
4. “Dr. Morris Killed by Auto.” Unknown newspaper article, published around November 25, 1919.
5. Undated photo of Emma Laura Gilkerson Morris.
6. Headstone of the Morris family. Monongahela Cemetery. Section 3.
7. “A Poem on the Service Flag by Miss Irene O. Morris.” Photo from program circa 1918.
8. “Braddock High School Senior Class Entertainers.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. April 28, 1912, page 43. (Irene is sitting in the bottom right corner; Oliver is the second from the left in the top row.)
9. Headstone of Irene Morris Johnson. Monongahela Cemetery. Section 3. (Note Mahulda’s name is listed on both Morris family headstones.)
10. “Pioneer Lawyer Passes.” Front page article, New Pittsburgh Courier. July 17, 1971.
11. “Pioneer Lawyer, cont.” New Pittsburgh Courier. July 17, 1971, page 5.
12. “ ‘Hall of Valor’ Honors Heroes of All Wars.” Includes 1st Lt. Livingstone M. Johnson. Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum Trust, Inc. Undated.
13. Undated photo of Dr. Irene Morris Johnson Guerrini.
