Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/433

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MORGAN
MORGAN

pline. Meanwhile he corresponded with his broth- er Enoch, who had come in 1701 to this country with a colony of Welshmen, and who, after a brief residence at Pennepek, settled in Pencader Hun- dred. Abel was led to regard the colonies as a field where he might be of great use to his coun- trymen, and, following his brother, he reached Philadelphia in February, 1712, and became pastor of the Pennepek church, and also of the Philadel- phia church, then its branch or mission. He or- ganized new churches in Chester and Montgomery counties, and also in New Jersey. Mr. Morgan soon saw the need of theological books for young ministers, and obtained supplies from Thomas Hollis and John Taylor, of London. In addition to his pastoral duties he translated into Welsh the " Baptist Confession of Faith," but it was never printed. The greatest work of his life was the preparation of the " Cyd Gordiad," or concordance of the holy Scriptures — a work that caused his name to be held in great love and veneration, espe- cially by his countrymen. It was completed only a short time before his death, but was not printed until 1730. It was the second Welsh book, so far as is known, that was printed in this country. It was revised and corrected for the press in March, 1780, by a Welsh Quaker, John Cadwalader, and the author's brother Enoch, and was dedicated to " The Honorable David Lloyd, Esquire, Chief J ustice of Pennsylvania." It was printed by Samuel Keimer and David Harry (Philadelphia, 1730). Rev. Mor- gan Edwards, author of " Materials toward a His- tory of the Baptists in Pennsylvania," says of Mr. Morgan : " He was a great and good man, and is held in dear remembrance by all who knew him." He has left many well-known Baptists among his descendants in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. — His brother, Enoch, clergyman, b. in Allt- goch, Cardiganshire, South Wales, in 1676 ; d. in Delaware, 25 March, 1740. emigrated to this coun- try in 1701, first settling at Pennepek, near Phila- delphia, and then in 1703 going to Iron Hill, in Pencader Hundred, Del., which was afterward known as " The Welsh Tract," from the large num- ber of Welshmen that had settled there. He be- came the third pastor of the Welsh Tract Baptist church, and so remained until his death. — Enoch's son, Abel, clergvman, b. in Welsh Tract, Del., 18 April, 1713 ; d. in Middletown, N. J., 24 Nov., 1785, was educated at Pencader academy. He was or- dained in 1734 as a Baptist minister, and in 1738 was chosen pastor of the church at Middletown, Monmouth co., N. J., where he was when the bat- tle of Monmouth occurred. He was a thorough patriot, and his sermons are full of devotion to the cause of America. He was a diligent student and a skilful disputant, engaging in many discussions on the subject of baptism. His chief opponent was Rev. Samuel Finley, D. D., president of Princeton, who wrote a work called " A Charitable Plea for the Speechless." To this Mr. Morgan replied in " Anti-Ptedo Rantism, or Mr. Samuel Finley's ' Plea for the Speechless' examined and refuted" (Phila- delphia, 1747). Dr. Finley published a rejoinder, and this was answered by Mr. Morgan in a " Re- ply" (1750). Mr. Morgan's valuable library was bequeathed by him to Middletown Baptist church, where it still remains.


MORGAN, Charles, merchant, b. in Killing- worth (now Clinton), Conn., 21 April, 1795; d. in New York city, 8 May, 1878. His uncle, John Morgan, of Hartford, was the owner of the first ship that carried the American fiag to China. Charles was entirely self-educated, and in 1809 went to New York, where he was a clerk, and after- ward opened a shop in Peck slip for the sale of ship-stores and chandlery. Subsequently he im- ported goods from the West Indies and southern ports, and became sole owner of a line of sailing- vessels in the West India trade. He ran the first steamer between New York and Charleston, S. C. and built, with other merchants, the " William Gibbons," the " Columbia," and the " New York.'^ In 1836 he sent the first steamer from New Orleans to Texas, and in that year he became the proprie- tor of a lai-ge foundry and machine-shop in New York, known as the Morgan iron-works, which manufactured steam-engines, boilers, and machin- ery for many of the heaviest marine engines in the American merchant and naval service. During the civil war the greater part of his fleet was char- tered by the U. S. government. Subsequently he estaijlished the Morgan line of steamers in the Gulf of Mexico, and soon had almost a mo- nopoly of the trade of the Gulf ports. He was also sole owner and director of the old Opelou- sas, afterward known as Morgan's Louisiana and Texas railroad, which he supplemented by build- ing a road from Indianola to Cuero, Tex., and. in order to perfect his line of communication, he dredged a steamboat channel through Atchafa- laya bay. He constructed at Indianola the finest wharf in the southern states, which was 2.500 feet in length. He also purchased and built steamers for the California trade, which were used on the Panama and Nicaragua routes. His enterprises were managed entirely by himself. Morgan City, La., was named in his honor. Mr. Morgan gave $50,000 for the endowment of the Morgan school in Clinton, Conn., which was erected at a cost of $60,000, and dedicated on 7 Dec, 1871. His sec- ond wife gathered a large and costly collection of paintings and other art objects, which, after her death, was sold in New York city in 1886.


MORGAN, Charles Hale, soldier, b. in Manlius. N. Y., 6 Nov., 1834; d. on Alcatraz island, Cal.. 20 Dec, 1875. Pie was graduated at the U. S. military academy in 1857, assigned to the 4th artillery, and took part in the Utah expedition of 1859. He became 1st lieutenant on 1 April, 1861, and was engaged in the western Virginia operations and in the defences of Washington from December of that year till March, 1862. He served in the Army of the Potomac during the peninsular campaign, was promoted captain on 5 Aug., 1862, and in October appointed chief of artillery of the 2d corps. He held a volunteer commission as lieutenant-colonel on the staff from 1 Jan., 1863, till 21 May, 1865. He engaged in the Rappahannock campaign, and was brevetted major for services at Gettysburg, lieutenant-colonel for the action at Bristoe Station, Va., colonel for Spottsylvania, colonel of volunteers, 1 Aug., 1864, for the Wilderness campaign, and brigadier-general of volunteers, 2 Dec, 1864, for services as chief-of-staff of the 2d army corps during the campaign before Richmond, Va. He assisted in organizing an army corps of veterans in Washington, D. C. in 1864^'5, and was assistant inspector-general and chief-of-sta£E to Gen. Hancock, commanding the middle military division from 22 Feb. till 22 June, 1865. From that date till 7 Aug., 1865, he was a member of the board to examine candidates for commissions in colored regiments. He was brevetted brigadier-general, U. S. army, 13 March, 1865, for services in the field during the war, and made full brigadier-general of volunteers on 21 May, 1865. He was mustered out of the volunteer service, 15 Jan., 1866. and from 10 March to 26 June, 1866, served on a board of officers to make