Morgan, John A.

MORGAN

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 6/13/2021 at 16:12:53

JOHN A. MORGAN
born Nov 19, 1840, Ohio

J. A. Morgan, now deceased, was prominently connected with the business interests of Warren count,y engaged in the lumber trade in New Virginia, was a loyal and devoted citizen of this region and during the Civil war he manifested his patriotism to his country by his enlistment and service in the Union army. A native of Ohio, he was born in Harrison county, November 19, 1840, being a son of John and Jemima (Merrill) Morgan, whose family numbered eight children, four sons and four daughters, our subject being the fourth in order of birth. Four of the number are yet living, namely: Rachel, wife of W.W. Williams, deceased, afterward married Lou Davis of Gallia county, Ohio; Elizabeth, is the wife of Walker Williams, a resident of Coffey county, Kansas; Alcinda is the wife of George Hixson, a resident of Gallia county, Ohio; Jesse M. resides in the same place. The father of this family was a native of Pennsylvania, his birth having occurred near Morgantown in 1801. Throughout his life he followed farming and died in Gallia county, Ohio, in 1856. In early life he supported the Whig party, became a staunch abolitionist, and when the Republican party was formed to prevent the further extension of slavery, he joined its ranks, being the first to espouse its cause in his township His wife was born in Marion county, West Virginia in 1801 and died at the very advanced age of eighty-nine years. The subject of this review was reared and educated in Gallia county, and through travel, experience and observation became a well informed man. He early began work on the farm, which he continued until his enlistment on the 23d of August, 1861, in his country's service. He became a member of Company G, One Hundred and Seventy-eighth Ohio Infantry, under Captain James Gatewood and Colonel C. G. Hawley. The regiment rendezvoused at Portsmouth, Ohio. The following June it was transferred to the First Heavy Artillery Corps and took part in all the engagements and skirmishes with that command. Mr. Morgan continued at the front, faithfully defending the old flag and the cause it represented until after the close of the war, when, on the 3d of July, 1865, he was mustered out at Nashville, Tennessee.
Returning to his home our subject resumed farming. On the 19th of October, 1865, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary English, a native of Harris county, Ohio, and a daughter of James English. Five children were born of this union: Ollie, who was born in Gallia county, Ohio and is the wife of T. G. Armstrong, who resides near Osceola, Iowa; Maude, who was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, and is the wife of Carl Hamilton, of Fort Dodge, Webster county, Iowa; Elva, wife of A. S. Heaton, of Lamoni, Decatur county, Iowa; Harriet, wife of William M. Heaton, a farmer of Virginia township, Warren county; and John Burr, who is living in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Mr. Morgan removed with his family from Gallia county, Ohio, to Tuscarawas county and in 1869 became a resident of Iowa, locating in Wapello county. There he remained until the spring of 1872, engaged in agricultural pursuits, when he came to Warren county, settling on a farm on section 33, Virginia township. There he made his home until 1882, when he removed to the village of New Virginia. To some extent he was engaged in railroading and in April, 1894, he opened a lumber yard. His business steadily and constantly increased and assumed extensive proportions, and he was enjoying a lucrative trade at the time of his death. He also engaged in purchasing grain for the firm of Harper & Harper, of Des Moines, and was a thoroughly reliable and enterprising business man whose well-directed efforts brought to him a full measure of success. In politics he was a stalwart Republican from the time when he cast his first presidential vote, for Abraham Lincoln, at Cleveland, Tennessee, while in the army. Socially he was connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and for nearly a quarter of a century was a member of the Masonic fraternity. The attractive family home in the south part of the town stands as a monument to his thrift and enterprise. Mr. Morgan passed into eternal life on the 28th day of October, 1895, and his interment was conducted under the impressive ceremonials of his brethren of the Masons and Odd Fellows orders. Source: A Memorial and Biographical Record of Iowa, Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1896, vol.1, p.435