Early Mormon Missionaries: John Morgan

The entry for John Morgan in the Early Mormon Missionaries database is deceptively simple since it does not capture any details of his service, including the fact that he served as mission president for many years. It does, however, show that he was set apart each time he headed from Utah Territory back to the South.

Here is a summary of the resources on John Morgan:

Important John Morgan Posts

Here is a list of the presidents of the Southern States Mission:

Presidents of the Southern States Mission

Here is a summary of John Morgan's time as president of the Southern States Mission, as captured in the Southern Star:

History of the Southern States Mission

• • •

John Morgan was set apart October 11, 1875 by Joseph Young.

Joseph Young (1797–1881), President of the Seventy.

He was set apart January 25, 1878 by Orson Pratt.

Orson Pratt (1843–1881), Apostle.

He was set apart March 29, 1881 and again March 29, 1882 by George Q. Cannon.

George Q. Cannon (1827–1901), First Counselor in the First Presidency.

He was set apart January 4, 1890 by unknown; information not complete in this entry.

• • •

His entry shows his parents as Gerrard Morgan and Ann E Hamilton.

Garrard Morgan (1806–1889).

Eliza Ann Hamilton Morgan (1815–1901).

John Morgan was born August 8, 1842 in Greensburg, Decatur, Indiana, and baptized November 24, 1868 by Robert L. Campbell. Summary of resources on Robert L. Campbell.

Robert Lang Campbell (1825–1874), Territorial Superintendant of Schools.
Picture from FamilySearch Family Tree, couresy of "Katherineandreasen2."

Keeping the Saints Informed: John Morgan and the Southern States Mission

While he served as President of the Southern States Mission, John Morgan or his missionaries sent regular letters to the Deseret News keeping the Saints in Utah Territory up to date about the missionaries and converts. Here is a letter I saw today while looking for something else.

The letter is written from Covington, Indiana, December 1879. Morgan describes the immigration of the Southern converts to Manassa, Colorado, both a company that left in November and one scheduled to leave in March. Negotiating with the railroads was an important part of his mission, and he mentions a detail or two about that. He mentions specific missionaries and encourages those missionaries called at Conference to show up: "...it would lighten the burden on the rest of us materially, and be the means of doing much good; thousands and thousands of people in this mission have never met an Elder and are in absolute ignorance of what we teach."

He tells about a visit to St. Louis, and, "Passing through Illinois, I called to see my parents, whom I had not met with for four years; a church house was opened for me and I was invited to preach, which I did to a crowded house who paid close attention." He met Elder George Nebeker in Covington, and was planning to head immediately to Kentucky.

Asking an interest in the faith and prayers of Israel, that our missionary labors may be crowned with success, I remain your brother in the Gospel of Christ,

John Morgan.

Garrard and Eliza Morgan's Children [Updated...Again]

This post is from September 8, 2009. My father just sent a question about the 1880 Census, since Luella's name is transcribed "Love" in online resources although the census taker wrote her name as "Loue." Besides adding the 1870 and 1880 Census to this post, there are a number of different resources that have been found on the Morgan family since I put up this post in 2009, many due to the ongoing efforts of Morgan cousins Bessie at Ancestral Ties and Karen Matthews. See Ancestral Ties or Ancestry.com for more information.

* * *

In an 1863 letter home to his mother during his Civil War service, John mentions several of his brothers and sisters:

I get letters frequently from Will. Reced one from Lu[ella] last evning also one from Morg [Perhaps Morg Hamilton buried in South Park Cemetery in Greensburg, Indiana]. Kiss Jap for me. [His dog?] I would give a thousand dollars to see. Is Lon [Leonidas] studying any now. Tell him to improve his time above everything else. Let novels and such trash alone. Let him have something solid and something that will give him information to read. Knowledge is more than gold and silver. Poor Jimmie. I am sorry his jaw troubles him yet. He is a good boy and has the go aheaditiveness about him to make a man of himself one that will make his mark.

Garrard and Eliza Morgan Marriage from Ancestral Ties

Based on the information I had, it was not clear whether Garrard Morgan III and Eliza Ann Hamilton had married in Kentucky or Indiana. Family records stated that they married in Indiana.

Bessie at Ancestral Ties put up a post yesterday showing definitively that the marriage occurred in Nicholas County, Kentucky on January 1, 1833. Garrard and Eliza were married by John Rogers.

Click here to see Bessie's post and copies of the original marriage register. She also has many other very interesting posts on the Morgan and other families, if you haven't looked at her blog lately.

Progress is being made on the Morgan genealogy and family history! Thank you, Bessie!

Morgan 8 & 9: Garrard Morgan III and Eliza Ann Hamilton Morgan, Part 4

John visited his parents and family from time to time but they were not interested in joining the church, although his brother James moved out to Manassa, Colorado. John recorded these visits in his diary and the accounts are found in posts on Ancestral Ties. He saw his parents in November 1883.

Garrard Morgan III

Garrard died April 10, 1889. The family genealogical files do not include data on his burial location, and I can't find the information in online cemetery records in either Mattoon or Greensburg.

Eliza Ann Hamilton Morgan

 

 Leonidas Morgan

Garrard Morgan IV

Luella Morgan

Eliza spent her last years living in Middletown, Henry County, Indiana, with her son William. She died April 18, 1901 and was buriedthe next day in South Park Cemetery in Greensburg, Decatur, Indiana. A note in the family history states that she was buried in a plot belonging to her brother David W. Hamilton.

The 1900 census notes that David N. Hamilton, born Dec 1817 in Kentucky, was living in Greensburg, Decatur, Indiana, with his wife Julia. They were married in 1864 and had no children. His father was born in Ireland and his mother was born in Kentucky. If this is Eliza's brother, and if the census information is correct, then the father's birthplace of Ireland contradicts Mary Linton Morgan's research into the family origins of the Hamiltons which claimed that they tied into an old Kentucky family. Once again, more work needs to be done on these lines.

The 1900 Greensburg, Decatur, Indiana census showing David and Julia Hamilton.

Looking into the family has left me with a lot of questions. Many birth, marriage and death dates, particularly of John's brothers and sister, need to be tracked down. Additionally, here are a few questions I had as I looked at records:

• Did Garrard Morgan I fight in the Revolutionary War?
• What were the family's religious experiences in the Second Great Awakening?
  
• Were the Kentucky Morgans slave holders? (Some Morgans show up as slave owners in the 1850 Nicholas County Slave Census, but I have no idea if they were relatives.)
  
• Why did the Morgans move to Indiana?
• During their Civil War service, did John and Will Morgan have to fight any of their Kentucky cousins?
• Who's going to do all the nitty-gritty research and track down all the records?

The pictures are from Bessie. Thanks!

This being the last day of 2009, I am going to start posting stories and information from my Wessman family. I will continue to post from the Morgan and Tanner families as I have time to research and information to share. Happy New Year!

Morgan 8 & 9: Garrard Morgan III and Eliza Ann Hamilton Morgan, Part 3

The Life and Ministry of John Morgan notes that Garrard and Eliza moved their young family to a farm at Summit, Coles, Illinois, which was about a mile outside Mattoon, Coles, Illinois, when John was ten years old (about 1852). The book notes that they moved to the area due to the railroad being located at Mattoon.

I cannot find any historical proof of the place name "Summit" in Coles County. There is a Summit Township about ten miles away in Effingham County, but that's quite a stretch to be "a mile."

Perhaps their neighborhood was briefly but never formally called Summit.

In 1853, surveyors from the Illinois Central Railroad and the Terre Haute and Alton Railroad realized that their railroads would cross at Mattoon, and a land rush began. This is when the Morgan family moved to the area, and young John Morgan would have seen the construction of the two railroads, and all the excitement surrounding which railroad would reach the Mattoon area first. This was undoubtedly the beginning of his lifelong love of rail travel.

The town site was mapped out in 1854, the railroads crossed in 1855, Mattoon became a village in 1857 and a city in 1861. Local farmers produced record amounts of corn and broom corn. Once again, the Morgans participated in the life of the community, including attending the Fourth Lincoln-Douglas Debate in nearby Charleston, Illinois, where Abraham Lincoln's father and mother-in-law lived.

On August 2, 1861, John's older brother Will Morgan joined the 38th Illinois US Infantry. A year later in August 1862, John Morgan joined the 123rd Illinois US Infantry. John Morgan served for the duration of the Civil War, and Will probably did as well, although I cannot find his discharge record since he joined the Signal Corps in November 1863. Here are some posts on their Civil War service.

During their Civil War service, did John and Will Morgan have to fight any of their Kentucky cousins? John Morgan spent good parts of his Civil War service chasing Southern General John Hunt Morgan around the South, but I cannot find any proof of the two families being related.

John and Will returned home to their parents after the war with many tales to tell, but John left soon afterward for New York, and Will returned to live in Indiana.

...to be continued...

Coles County Illinois Genealogy and History. Illinois Genealogy Trails.

Photo of the old train station in Mattoon from www.flickr.com/photos/bap824/3511767568/.

Morgan 8 & 9: Garrard Morgan III and Eliza Ann Hamilton Morgan, Part 2

Garrard Morgan III and Eliza Ann Hamilton were born in Kentucky and married in Kentucky or Indiana, as mentioned in Part 1 of their history. (The Life and Ministry of John Morgan notes that they were married in Kentucky.)

Their six children were born in Indiana and Illinois:

• William (1840)
• John (1842)
• Luella or Sarah (1845)
• Leonidas (1847)
• James (1850)
• Garrard IV (1854)

A history of Decatur County, Indiana tells that in this early period of settlement in Indiana, children were educated at subscription schools, with parents paying a fee for each child they sent to school. It was not until 1853 that the Indiana legislature established free public schools.

The usual school term in Decatur county during the early days was three months, and the school day began early in the morning and lasted until sundown. The teacher would be at his desk at sunrise and the first pupil to arrive at the school house would be the first to recite. This privilege of reciting first was much sought by those more eager for knowledge and there was usually keen competition among the star pupils, and consequent early rising. There were a few drones, however, who cared little whether school kept or not, and therefore, as if to show their contempt for learning, would come straggling in about ten o'clock, or in plenty of time for the noon recess.

Early schools were held in vacant log cabins, chinked with mud, provided with puncheon seats and oiled-paper windows. Text books were the American Primer, Dilworth's and Webster's spelling book, Guthrie's or Pike's arithmetics, the English Reader, the Bible and, sometimes, Weem's Life of Washington. This last book was a novel, but won a place in the list of text books because of the excellence of the moral carried by the cherry tree story....

Sometime near 1840 Miss Jane Bartee taught a school in the southern part of the county. She must have possessed an ear for both rhyme and rhythm, for she gave her school rules a metrical embodiment. The following classical fragment is still extant:

"No rippin', no tearin'.
No cussin', no swearin',
No clingin', no swingin', to trees."

The father of this poetical school ma'am was a justice of the peace, and, by virtue of that office, a member of the county board, which performed the duties of the present-day county commissioners. When the board met in Greensburg, Mr. Bartee would walk thither, barefooted and garbed in undyed homespun, and, thus attired, enter upon his official duties with all due dignity.

Along with a man named J.S. Grant, Garrard Morgan was one of the first teachers of the school outside of Greensburg, Decatur, Indiana.

In the early days, not much preparation was required in order to "teach school." The pedagogue looking for a school for the winter, with an opportunity to "board round" and so eke out his scanty earnings, went to the township trustees, applied for a place, and if they liked his appearance he was hired without much of an examination into his qualifications. In most cases, the trustees themselves were men with very little education and would not presume to question the ability of anyone seeking a position as teacher.

During spring, summer, and fall, Garrard would have carried on his pursuits as a farmer, on his farm about a mile south of Greensburg, but come winter, he taught the three month school term.

Somewhere along the line, Garrard's son John received enough education to write beautiful although not impeccably-spelled or -punctuated letters (at the age of 20, a letter to his father, and at the age of 21, a letter to his mother) and eventually became a noted author, teacher, lecturer, and public speaker.

When John Morgan arrived in Salt Lake City in December 1866 at age 24 with less than a year's study at Eastman Business College (not Eastman Commercial College, as previously stated) as the grand total of his advanced education, what could have induced him to start his own school? First, due to this note in the Decatur County history, we know that he had seen his father serve as a teacher, and, second, he had attended the business school that Harvey G. Eastman had established a few years before John Morgan attended the very successful school. The bar for establishing and running a school was not as high in the mid-18th century as it is now, and John Morgan had found his calling in life, and was widely influential in his role as teacher and business school administrator.

...to be continued...

Harding, Lewis A. History of Decatur County, Indiana: Its People, Industries and Institutions, with Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families. Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen, 1915, pp 182-184.

Richardson, Arthur M., and Nicholas G. Morgan. The Life and Ministry of John Morgan: For a Wise and Glorious Purpose. : N.G. Morgan, 1965.

The picture of Southern Indiana from www.flickr.com/photos/32955736@N00/2182429350/.

Morgan 8 & 9: Garrard Morgan III and Eliza Ann Hamilton Morgan, Part 1

Garrard Morgan III
b. 16 May 1806 Near Carlisle, Nicholas, Kentucky
m. 1 Jan 1833 Greensburg, Decatur, Indiana
d. 10 Apr 1889 Mattoon, Coles, Illinois
Wife: Eliza Ann Hamilton
Father: Garrard Morgan II; Mother: Sarah Sanderson

Eliza Ann Hamilton Morgan
b. 5 Jul 1815 Nicholas County, Kentucky
d. 18 Apr 1901 Middletown, Henry, Indiana
b. 19 Apr 1901 Greensburg, Decatur, Indiana
Husband: Garrard Morgan III
Father: James Hamilton; Mother: Margaret Hamilton


View Larger Map

(A) Carlisle, Kentucky, to (B) Greensburg, Indiana, to (C) Mattoon, Illinois, where Garrard died, to (D) Middletown, Indiana, where Eliza died.

Garrard Morgan III was the son of Garrard Morgan II and Sarah Sanderson. He was probably born at the Morgan farm on Licking Creek (now Licking River) near Carlisle, Nicholas County, Kentucky, on May 16, 1806. He had three older brothers, two younger sisters and a younger brother.

As a child, he lived in one of the areas famous for being the origin and hotbed of the Second Great Awakening, so religious activity would have been a significant part of his earliest memories.

When Garrard was almost eight years old, his father died and was buried in the Old Concord Church cemetery (Presbyterian).

After his father's death, his mother did not remarry and proceeded to raise her seven children, as family tradition relates, with the aid of her extended family in the area.

In 1823, when Garrard III was seventeen years old, the Sarah Morgan family moved to Indiana to join Sarah's two sisters and their families. Only Garrard's oldest brother John remained behind in Kentucky, where he had already made his start in life. Two of his siblings also later returned to live in Kentucky.

The Morgan family settled in brand-new Decatur County. It was formed on New Year's Eve, 1821, and named after recently deceased Commodore Stephen Decatur, military hero for his part in a number of conflicts, including the War of 1812.

Greensburg was the county seat, and the Morgans lived nearby, and a number of their children were born in the area.

On New Year's Day 1833, at the ripe old age of 26, Garrard married seventeen-year-old Eliza Ann Hamilton. Even less is known about her family than about the Morgan family, but they were also evidently from Nicholas County, Kentucky. I see a research note in the genealogy stating, "[E]nclosed is marriage bond of Garrard Morgan and Eliza Ann Hamilton - date Dec. 31, 1832. It is entered in Marriage Bk. A Jan. 1, 1833." It is not clear from the notes whether the marriage record was from Indiana or Kentucky. The same note also gives additional information about Eliza as follows: "I note Eliza A. Hamilton, b. July 2, 1815 to James Hamilton and Margaret (Peggy) Turner on a list..." (What list?) (A.H. Burden to J.L. Tanner, March 9, 1991.)

To be continued...

Picture of Garrard and Eliza Morgan from Richardson's Life and Ministry of John Morgan. Picture of the Decatur County Courthouse from www.flickr.com/photos/75905404@N00/482531524/. Yes, there is a tree growing from the clock tower.

John Morgan's Brother James

John Morgan had a brother named James, eight years younger. In a letter to his mother, John asked about his brother and said, "[Jimmie] is a good boy and has the go aheaditiveness about him to make a man of himself one that will make his mark." That's about all we know about him.

James Morgan is a fairly common name. But, according to the 1880 census and other sources, there were just a few James Morgans born about 1850 (1848-1852) in Indiana. Of all those James Morgans, I can only find one with both parents born in Kentucky.

And ... [drum roll] ...

... he shows up in the 1880 census living in Manassa, Conejos, Colorado.

This brings up many questions. Is this really John Morgan’s brother? Why was he in Colorado? Did he join the church? Did he stay in Colorado? Will I ever be able to forgive the federal government which let the 1890 census go up in flames?

There are undoubtedly places I could look to find more information, but I can’t find any more answers in a reasonable amount of time in a search of the sources available online. He wasn't buried in Manassa. He doesn't show up in the usual locations for looking up church records. (Such as Old Family Search.)

James actually shows up twice in the 1880 United States Census. The first time living with his wife and child, the second time in a boardinghouse. Here are the entries with all the extraneous data such as page numbers removed:

Name: James Morgan
Residence: Manassa, Conejos, Colorado
Birthdate: 1850
Birthplace: Indiana
Relationship to head-of-household: Self
Spouse's name: Mary Morgan
Spouse birthplace: Illinois
Father's name:
Father's birthplace: Kentucky
Mother's name:
Mother's birthplace: Kentucky
Race or color (expanded): White
Ethnicity: American
Gender: Male
Marital status: Married
Age: 30 years
Occupation: Trav. Ag't For Nursery

Name: James Morgan
Residence: Ammas City, La Plata, Colorado
Birthdate: 1850
Birthplace: Indiana
Relationship to head-of-household: Other
Spouse's name:
Spouse birthplace:
Father's name:
Father's birthplace: Kentucky
Mother's name:
Mother's birthplace: Kentucky
Race or color: White
Ethnicity: American
Gender: Male
Marital status: Married
Age: 30 years
Occupation: Nursery

There were three other James and Mary Morgans not to be confused with John Morgan’s brother:

• James Oliver Morgan (b 30 May 1851 Spartansburg, Indiana) married Mary Moore from Lynn, Randolph Indiana.
• James Francis Morgan (b 11 Oct 1850 Jackson County, Indiana) married Mary Pittman from Ohio (I’ve seen them in the 1870 census in Brown County, Indiana).
• James Riley Morgan (b 26 Nov 1851 Farabee, Indiana) married Mary Gordon from Washington County, Indiana.

More questions than answers! If someone decides to research more into this question, please leave a note in the comments with anything you find.

[Ed.—Bessie has done some wonderful work on James Morgan. See her posts here and here.]

Morgan 16 and 17: Garrard Morgan II and Sarah Sanderson Morgan

Garrard Morgan II

b. 23 October 1773 Goochland County, Virginia
m. 1798 Carlisle, Nicholas, Kentucky
d. 14 April 1814 Concord, Kentucky
b. Concord Church, Concord, Kentucky
Wife: Sarah Sanderson
Father: Garrard Morgan; Mother: Elizabeth Milton

Sarah Sanderson Morgan
b. 10 June 1774 South Carolina
d. 1848 Greensburg, Decatur, Indiana
Husband: Garrard Morgan II
Father: John Sanderson; Mother: Sarah Foscue

Garrard Morgan II was the son of Garrard Morgan I and Elizabeth Milton. Family tradition claims that Garrard I was an itinerant Methodist minister and also that Elizabeth died the year before Garrard II was born. (That last one is simply conflicting information from different sources. There's a lot of work that could be done on these lines, to clear up such discrepancies.)

Garrard II moved from Goochland County, Virginia, to settle in Nicholas County, Kentucky. There, he met and married Sarah Sanderson.

Sarah Sanderson was the sister or daughter of John Sanderson. One source records her parents as John Sanderson and Sarah Foscue of Craven County, North Carolina, near Cape Hatteras, but I have not seen any documentation for this claim.

In 1801 or 1802 Garrard and Sarah purchased a farm on Licking Creek. Licking Creek got its name from salt licks formed by natural salt springs in the area. It is now called Licking River. After passing to the east and northeast of Carlisle, Kentucky, where the Morgans settled, it flows past the site of the Blue Licks Battlefield (Revolutionary War), in which Daniel Boone fought and his son Israel Boone died. Daniel Boone was actually living in Nicholas County when Garrard Morgan moved there, but despite the family legend and despite the fact that Daniel Boone's mother was a Morgan, there is no proven connection between the families. Daniel Boone's Morgan family was from Pennsylvania, and Garrard Morgan's family was from Virginia.

Garrard and Sarah began farming their property and raising their children, but then Garrard died at the age of 40. He left his widow, Sarah, with seven children. The oldest child was 15 years old. The baby was not yet a year old.

Garrard II was buried in Concord Church Cemetery about three miles south of Carlisle. The meetinghouse was destroyed in a storm about thirty years ago, and the church and cemetery lie in ruins, as you can see by following the link. According to the website:

Old Concord Church was one of the original sites of the Kentucky Revival at the beginning of the 19th century. It was located north of Cane Ridge about 12 miles, and just south of the city of Carlisle, Kentucky. It was a Presbyterian church at one time whose minister, Barton W. Stone, led many to give up their creeds and man-made doctrines to take the Bible as their only guide for religious practice.

Cane Ridge was the site of a large camp meeting in 1801 which was one of the events beginning the Second Great Awakening, and one of the major events leading to the formation of the Restoration Movement, which in turn foreshadowed and fed into the restoration of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But it would be another 50 years before Garrard II's grandson John Morgan joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

After the death of Garrard II, Sarah did not remarry. Due to the help and assistance of the large Sanderson family and the hard work of Sarah and her children, they managed to keep the farm.

In 1823 Sarah joined two of her sisters who had married into the Howard family and settled in Decatur County, Indiana. Sarah and her children, except John Sanderson Morgan, who remained in Kentucky, started farming near Greensburg. Her children grew and married and two more of them returned to Kentucky.

The sources disagree over whether Sarah Sanderson Morgan returned to Kentucky, dying in Covington, Kenton County, in 1848. Covington is located where the Licking River joins the Ohio River. She may have remained in Indiana and died there in 1848.

The Morgan children:

John Sanderson Morgan, born January 6, 1799 in Carlisle, Kentucky. Married Ellenor Bruce in 1828. Died at the age of 53 on June 17, 1852. He was a Kentucky state senator. Nicholas Morgan claims that he was the founder and president of Kentucky's first railway company, but I have searched a number of records and histories of Kentucky and its railroads and cannot find a mention of John S. Morgan.

James Morgan, born January 9, 1802 near Carlisle. Married Elizabeth (Betsey) McCoy in 1821. Died at the age of 70 on April 1, 1872. He served in the Indiana legislature for three terms. During the Civil War he served as Captain in the 7th Indiana Infantry for a three month enlistment in 1861.

Woodson Morgan, born January 18, 1804 near Carlisle. Married Elizabeth Bruce in 1835. She died in 1851, leaving him with eight young children, the youngest of whom also died shortly thereafter. The children went to live with relatives until Woodson remarried a widow, Amanda Vaughan Dunlap. He served a term in the state legislature, and then refused to serve again, instead serving as supervisor of his township. Died September 17, 1887 at the age of 83.

Garrard Morgan III will be covered in a separate biography. He was born May 16, 1806, near Carlisle, married Eliza Ann Hamilton, and died at the age of 82 in 1889.

Elizabeth Morgan was born about 1808 and married a Mr. Stevenson or Stephenson.

Mary Morgan, called "Polly," was born on January 13, 1811, and died on February 3, 1884. She married Robert Marshall Hamilton in 1832.

William Franklin Morgan was born on April 19, 1813 near Carlisle. He was less than a year old when his father died. He married Ann Threlkeld Bruce in 1838 and died on September 13, 1900 at the age of 87. One of his children, James Morgan, worked for many years as an influential political reporter for the Boston Globe. Here is an interesting story about James and Nicholas G. Morgan and a plate from the White House. (One source lists James as being the manager of the Globe. I haven't found any corroboration of Nicholas' claim that he was the editor.)

Reading through the list of the children, you may notice that two of the children married Hamiltons (not siblings) and three of the sons married Bruce daughters. The father of the three Bruce daughters, Henry Bruce, is reported to have said about Sarah Morgan, "Because of Sarah Sanderson's successful management of her fatherless children she deserves a pension from the United States Government."

Sources:
Linked sources.
Family records.
Richardson's Life and Ministry of John Morgan.
Nicholas County Sites in the Kentucky Historical Marker Database.
Gazetteer of Early Kentucky Locations.
Old Concord Church.

The picture of Licking River, Kentucky, from www.flickr.com/photos/holland/3274845388/. The photo of the Nicholas County, Kentucky, marker from www.flickr.com/photos/auvet/3383830204/. The photo of the preserved Cane Ridge Meeting house from www.flickr.com/photos/30721393@N08/3322037491/.

John Morgan to Garrard Morgan, Feb. 12, 1863

Before getting to the contents of this post, I will mention that Bessie is currently posting a lot of excellent information about John Morgan on her blog.

—

Here is a Civil War-era letter from John Hamilton Morgan to his father, Garrard Morgan III, as found in Richardson's Life and Ministry of John Morgan. The book reproduces an actual copy of part of the letter, and also provides a transcript. The transcript altered spelling, punctuation, and even changed or left out words. For example:

scattered all along the Cumberland River.. and they also occasinly make a raid betwen here and Nashville?

was altered to:

scattered all about the Cumberland River. And they also occasionally make a raid between here and Nashville.

The edited version of the letter in the book removed a reference to John's red-headed brother Will who also served in the war. How very curious. Nothing at all is said in the biography about any of his brothers or sisters except a list of names on page 589.

I will include as much as possible from the original letter, then change to the edited book version, then finish with the original.

Feb 12 1863
Camp Near Murfreesboro Tenn

Mr Garrard Morgan

Dear Pa Your kind favor came to hand after considerable delay. Mail facilities are verry uncertain now. Wheelers and Morgans Cavalry infest the road from Munfordville south on the R.R. and are scattered all along the Cumberland River.. and they also occasinly make a raid betwen here and Nashville? they are defeated and captured on evry hand but it [change to edited version] appears as though every cedar thicket and hollow along the road is alive with Rebel gorillas! They are led on by bold, daring men who are not paid by the Confederate Government but depend entirely on what they plunder to pay them for their trouble and danger.

They will attack a train out foraging and if they can overpower them, they disarm them and drive them on the double quick 8 or 10 miles—parole and set them loose to take care of themselves. Such instances are very common.

There is a perpetual skirmish fight going on all along the line in front; some of them terminating in an engagement that would have been counted bloody in the beginning of the war.

. . .

They are moving rebel wounded and sick from Murfreesboro almost every day.

We start on scout this evening by ourselves—that is, our Regiment is going out by itself.

I do not know how long we will be out but expect some 8 or 10 days. We intend to bushwack it—march [resume original letter] night and lay by in the day time.

The Col intends to take 200 of his best men along with him.

There was one of our 60 boy's discharged the other day his name is Charles Linder he lives a Robert Waggoners he could give you a good deal of information and is a good clever boy.

but I must Close I have not seen Will [his oldest brother William Woodson Morgan] for some time he is out as a scout. I must get ready for the Scout Write soon and give me the News

Write soon
John

View Larger Map

John Morgan was listed in the Illinois Civil War Records Database as follows, including the interesting fact of his height:

Name: John Morgan
Rank: Pvt
Company: I
Unit: 123 IL US INF

Personal Characteristics
Residence: Mattoon, Coles Co, IL
Age: 20
Height: 5'5"
Hair: Light
Eyes: Gray
Complexion: Fair
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Farmer
Nativity: In

Service Record
Joined When: Aug 1862
Joined Where: Mattoon, IL
Joined By Whom: Cpt Adams
Period: 3 yrs
Muster In: Sep 6, 1862
Muster In Where: Mattoon, IL
Muster In By Whom: N/A
Muster Out: Jun 28, 1865
Muster Out Where: Nashville, TN
Muster Out By Whom: Cpt Hosea
Remarks: Mustered out as sergeant


Letter as found in Richardson, Arthur M., and Nicholas G. Morgan. The Life and Ministry of John Morgan: For a Wise and Glorious Purpose. [S.l.]: N.G. Morgan, 1965, pp 12-13.

See http://www.ilsos.gov/genealogy/CivilWarController for a list of the men in company I, 123rd Illinois US Infantry Regiment and Morgan's service record. Charles Linder, mentioned in this letter, was from Summit, Moultrie, IL, and also joined the military in Mattoon, IL. He was "discharged Feb 3, 1863 at Murfreesboro, Tenn for disability." This "good clever boy" was seven years older than John Morgan. I also wanted to look up the service records for John Morgan's companion in his first trip to Salt Lake City, but do not find a name for him in the John Morgan biography. John's brother William was listed in the service records as "William H, private company E, 38 IL US Inf, from Mattoon, Coles, IL, age 22, 5'5-1/2", red hair, blue eyes, light complexion. Single, farmer, born in Decatur Co., In. He joined Aug 2, 1861, in Mattoon, IL, and was mustered in on Aug 21, 1861, at Camp Butler, IL, and no further records available except the note "promoted sergeant trans to signal corps Nov 27, 1863."

Photo of Stones River in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, from www.flickr.com/photos/somegeekintn/3725982582/.

John Morgan's Children

Here is a page out of Harold Morgan's Book of Remembrance. It shows:

Harold Morgan

His parents:
John Hamilton Morgan
Mary Ann Linton Morgan

His grandparents:
Garrard Morgan III
Eliza Ann Hamilton Morgan
Samuel Linton
Ellen Sutton Linton

His full brothers:
Linton Morgan
Mathias Cowley Morgan

His half brothers:
Nicholas G. Morgan
Earl Morgan
Jack Morgan
John Morgan
Joseph Morgan

I have John Morgan's children listed as follows. Please contact me with any corrections.

John (1842-1894) m. (1868) Helen Melvina Groesbeck (1852-1930)
Helen Melvina (1870-1952) m. Andrew Burt and later George Austin
Elizabeth (1872-1874)
Eliza Ann (1875-1952) m. James Frank Smith
Ruth (1878-1949) m. Berke Kunkel
John (1881-1881)
Flora Groesbeck (1882-1885)
Nicholas Groesbeck (1884-1971) m. Ethel Tate
Gail (1888-1984) m. John Clayton
Bessie (1891-1938) m. Percy Harold Rex
Gerard Earl (1892-1957) m. Merin Engman
John Hamilton (1894-1982) m. Lucile Lloyd

John (1842-1894) m. (1884) Annie Mildred Smith (1863-1935)
Annie Ray (1884-1972) m. Lawrence Hensen Heiselt
Myrtle (1887-1890)
John Albemarle (1889-1935) m. Eva Block
Ivy (1892-1940) m. Luther Grantham
Joseph Smith (1893-1948) m. Violet Dutler or Dudler

John (1842-1894) m. (1888) Mary Ann Linton (1865-1951)
Linton (1890-1952) m. Eudora Eggertsen
Harold (1892-1963) m. Jessie Christensen
Mathias Cowley (1894-1964) m. Mildred Pearce

The Morgan children died at the ages of: 82, 1, 76, 70, <1, 2, 87, 96, 47, 64, 88, 87, 3, 45, 48, 54, 61, 71, 70. An average of 55 years. If you remove the four deaths of small children (Elizabeth, John, Flora, Myrtle) and the five that lived more than 80 years (Helen, Nicholas, Gail, John H., Annie), the other ten lived an average of 46.5 years.

Morgan 4: John Morgan—Early Life and Civil War

Very little is known about the Morgan family’s migration to America or their history prior to the 19th century, but records trace back at least to 17th century Virginia.

John Hamilton Morgan’s parents, Garrard Morgan III and Eliza Ann Hamilton Morgan, were born in or around Nicholas County, Kentucky.

Garrard and Eliza followed a similar path across the wilderness as the Thomas Lincoln family, from Kentucky to Indiana to Coles County, Illinois. The first of their seven children, William Woodson Morgan, was born in Indiana on July 27, 1840.

Eliza gave birth to their second son, John Hamilton Morgan, on August 8, 1842, in Greensburg, Decatur, Indiana.

Subsequent children Sarah, Leonidas, James, Luella, and Garrard IV were also born in Indiana before the family settled outside Mattoon, Coles County, Illinois.

On September 6, 1862, Colonel James Monroe organized the 123rd Illinois Volunteer Regiment at Camp Terry, Mattoon, Coles County, Illinois.

• From Coles County: Companies A, C, D, H, I, and K.
• From Cumberland County: Company B.
• From Clark County, Company E.
• From Clark and Crawford Counties: Company F and G.

John Morgan belonged to company I. He was twenty years old.

The regiment shipped out on freight cars on September 19, 1862, for action under Major General William “Bull” Nelson. Their immediate task was to fortify Louisville, Kentucky, against Confederate General Braxton Bragg.

On October 1, the regiment left Louisville under the command of Union General Don Carlos Buell in pursuit of Bragg. The regiment with its untrained recruits suffered heavily in the Battle of Perryville on October 8, 1862.

The regiment spent the next three months protecting the railroad bridge in Munfordville, Kentucky.

The Battle of Chickamauga

The Battle of Stones River from December 31, 1862 to January 2, 1863, was the regiment’s second introduction to the horrors of warfare. [Despite what Wikipedia says, the Regiment was not at the battle, according to regimental histories, and they were not particularly inactive, as follows. See regimental history.]

After a period of inactivity, the regiment saw action at the Battle of Vaught’s Hill (March 20, 1863).

The Battle of Reseca

Their next action was at the Battle of Hoover’s Gap (June 24-26, 1863), followed by the Battle of Chickamauga (September 19-20, 1863), Farmington (October 7, 1863), Resaca (May 13-15, 1864), New Hope Church (May 25-26, 1864), Dallas (May 24-June 4, 1864), Marietta (June 9-July 3, 1864), Kennesaw Mountain (June 27, 1864), and Selma (April 2, 1865).

Several of the battles were part of the Atlanta Campaign. The regiment also participated in Garrard’s Raid and Wilson’s Raid.

The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain

After the Battle of Selma, Captain Owen Wiley wrote that,

Our loss was one officer killed; six wounded; seven men killed and forty-two wounded. All did their duty, and so deserve the highest praise. Color Serg’t. John Morgan, Company I is deserving the highest credit for his gallantry in action in being the first to plant a flag upon the Rebel works, and for being in the supreme advance until all the Rebel Forts were captured, planting our colors upon each of them successively.

In John Morgan's funeral address given by B.H. Roberts, Roberts said that,

When the Union forces were attacking the rebel breastworks at Selma, Alabama, three men who carried that old flag during the assault were shot down; as it fell from the hand of the third man John Morgan seized it, leaped over the breastworks and planted it triumphantly inside the enemies’ lines where the regiment maintained it....

He was wounded during the war, but in what battle I do not remember; twice he was captured; once exchanged and once he made his escape...

After the war, John Morgan attended Eastman’s Commercial College in Poughkeepsie, New York, and graduated in the spring of 1866. He returned to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to join an army acquaintance in the accounting business, but his career as a carpet bagger ended quickly as he and his friend both took a job driving a large herd of cattle from Kansas City to Salt Lake City.

John Morgan and his friend arrived in Salt Lake City on December 23, 1866. The friend left shortly thereafter for California, but John liked Salt Lake City so much that he decided to stay.