Wayne County Biographies



Part of the Indiana Biographies Project



Nathan Morgan

Three-fourths of a century ago Nathan Morgan was born in an unpretentious house situated on Fifth street, on the Market House Square, Richmond, the date of the event being November 15, 1823. He came from good old Quaker stock, and his grandfather, John Morgan, was a native and life-long resident of the state of New Jersey. Our subject's father, Nathan Morgan, Sr. , was born and reared in Blackwaytown, New Jersey, and on the 12th of May, 1813, he was united in marriage with Beulah Beetle. Of the eight children born to this worthy couple the four eldest died in infancy, and the others were William A., Beulah Ann, Mary and Nathan.

In the early part of 1823 the family set out for the west, intending to join the new Quaker settlement in Indiana. Their few necessary household effects were placed in a one-horse wagon, and while the mother and two children rode in the vehicle the father walked nearly all of the way, most of the time carrying an eighteen-months-old child. He was a cabinet-maker by trade, and, having reached Richmond, he embarked in the business, which he carried on until 1850, then being succeeded by his son. His last years were spent upon a farm located about one mile and one-half north of this city. His death occurred March 7, 18S5, when he was five months and twenty days over ninety-two years of age. Had it not been that he fell and crushed his hip, the accident proving fatal on account of his advanced age, he might have reached the century mark, for he was a man of remarkable vitality and had always adhered to a simple, healthful mode of life. In all his transactions his career was signally upright, just and exemplary, and he possessed the respect of all who knew him. His first wife, Beulah, died in 1824, and three years later he married Margaret Holloway, by whom he had six children, namely: Hannah, Charles D., Elizabeth, David, Abbie and John E.

With the exception of the two years, 1S47 and 1848, when he was in Baltimore, working as a cabinet-maker, the subject of this sketch has always made his home in Richmond, and since his return from the east he has lived at 24 North Fifth street (the name having been changed from Pearl street). From 1850 to 1856 he carried on the cabinet-making business which had formerly belonged to his father, after which he traveled for some time, selling patent rights. His next venture was to open a meat market and provision store, which enterprise engaged his attention until the outbreak of the civil war.

The patriotic spirit which has always animated Nathan Morgan since his youth prompted him to enlist in the defense of the Union, September 13, 1861, for a period of three years. He was placed in Company C, Forty-first Regiment of Indiana Volunteer Cavalry, and after serving in the ranks for six months he was promoted to be a hospital steward. He participated in the various campaigns, in which his regiment did gallant service, and at last was wounded in a charge at Triune, Tennessee, his horse falling upon him and fracturing one of the bones of his leg below the knee. In consequence of this injury he suffered dreadfully for the remaining six months of his service, then being mustered out, October 4, 1864, at Indianapolis, and for many years he was forced, at intervals, to resort to crutches.

Thus disabled, Mr. Morgan found it very difficult to resume the ordinary vocations of life, and for two or three years was chiefly engaged in selling patent rights. When Ezra Smith & Company organized the Church & School Furniture Company in this city, in 1868, Mr. Morgan was employed by the concern as a patternmaker, and subsequently he traveled and sold goods for them. In 1878 he opened a meat market on Fort Wayne avenue, and continued to carry on the business for ten years. He still owns the property, and rents the store, being practically retired. He has taken a loyal part in local affairs, and has served as clerk, inspector and judge of elections for thirty years. Until the St. Louis convention of 1896 he was an ardent Republican from the formation of the party, but, having devoted much time to the study of the financial question, he espoused the views of H. M. Teller, and is strongly in favor of the free and unlimited coinage of both gold and silver, while at the same time he believes in a moderate protective tariff, and is opposed to the forcible expansion of our country's territory. He is a member of the Sol. Meredith Post, Grand Army of the Republic, in which he has held the position of surgeon. It appears that when he was a youth he studied medicine for a short time with an uncle, and also clerked in a drug store, and during his army experience he acted as a physician's assistant.

The marriage of Mr. Morgan and Miss Frances I. League was solemnized in Baltimore, Maryland, June 29, 1847. Of the five children who blessed their union, three are deceased: Lewis G., who died at the age of eight years; George W., who died when in his thirty-third year; and Emma R., who was the wife of Albert G. Ogborn, of Richmond. Ida M., the eldest child, is the wife of O. V. Lemon, who is employed as a shipping clerk by the Richmond City Mill Works. William L. Morgan is engaged in the meat-market business in this city. Our subject and wife are among the best known citizens of Richmond, where their friends are legion.

Source:
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana, Volume 1, The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, 1899





Nathan Morgan, Jr., proprietor of the People's Meat Market, Fort Wayne avenue, Richmond, is the eighth child of Nathan Morgan, Sr. He was born in Wayne County, Ind., Nov. 15, 1823, and obtained his education in the subscription schools. He grew to maturity in Richmond, and in 1837 he commenced learning the cabinet-maker's trade of his father. In 1846 he left Richmond for Baltimore, Md., where he was engaged in the car shops of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company. June 29, 1847, he married Frances I. League, of Baltimore, and in 1848 he returned to Richmond, Ind. In 1853 he succeeded his father in business, but was obliged soon after to abandon it on account of failing health, when he commenced as a traveling salesman. He then engaged in the butcher's trade, until Aug. 28, 1861, when he enlisted in the Second Indiana Cavalry at Indianapolis and served over three years. He participated in the battles of Corinth, Chickamauga, Perryville, Ky., and a number of skirmishes. In 1868 he became foreman of the school-furniture department of the Ezra Smith & Co. Manufacturing Association, remaining eight years. During that period the Coffin Works were established, of which Mr. Morgan has been a stockholder since organization. Since 1878 he has been engaged in his present meat market. To Mr. Morgan and wife have been born five children — Ida M., wife of O. V. Lemon, Jr.; Emma R., wife of A. G. Ogborn; William L. carries on a meat market at 904 Main street, Richmond; Lewis A., died in 1862, and George W.

Source:
History of Wayne County, Indiana. Chicago: Inter-State Publishing Co. 1884. Volume 2