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File contributed to the Fulton County ILGenWeb Project
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Source: The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Fulton County
Munsell Publishing Co., Chicago, 1908

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The Biography of Peter W. MORGAN 

Transcribed exactly according to the original complete text by Alice Stipak. 

[Surnames: CROWELL, MORGAN, WHEELER] 

[starting on page 1004] 

    
MORGAN, Peter W.--After a long life of industry and usefulness the worthy citizen of Farmington, Fulton County, Ill., whose name constitutes the caption of this sketch, is now spending his declining years in comfortable and contented retirement. Mr. Morgan was born in Jefferson County, N. Y., on August 30, 1830, a son of William M. and Hanna (Wheeler) Morgan, who were also natives of the State of New York. His grandfather, William Morgan, who was of Welsh nativity, came to the United States near the close of the eighteenth century and settled in New York State, where he lived until his son, William M., moved to Illinois. The grandfather, together with his brother, General George Morgan, rendered faithful service in the War of 1812, making his [page 1005] home in Illinois after that contest was ended. The former lived with his son, William M., in Fulton County, just west of the town of Farmington, spending the remainder of his days on the farm which his son had there purchased. 
    
The father of the subject of this sketch was a shipbuilder by occupation and worked at ship carpentering on Lake Ontario. His arrival in Fulton County occurred in the year 1836, when most of that region was forest and uncultivated prairie. He bought a tract of land in Vermont Township, which he cleared and improved, and upon which he lived, successfully engaged in the cultivation of the soil, until the end of his life, in 1871. He was a man of untiring industry and strict probity and a most zealous and energetic worker in the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
    
Peter W. Morgan obtained what mental training was possible in those early days and, under the circumstances in which his lot was cast, by attending the district schools at intervals of respite from his work of assisting his father on the farm. While still young he learned the trade of a carpenter, and continued to live in the vicinity of his father's place, engaged in carpentering and building. In 1866 he bought lot 2 in Section 2, Farmington Township, containing eight acres of land, on which he built a good-sized and substantial house of brick, constructed in accordance with his own designs. All the finishing work of the residence was done by himself. There he and his wife have made their home for forty years, with the exception of a short time spent in Nebraska, and there they expect to remain to the end of their lives, as it is a spot where they have enjoyed great comfort and contentment. Mr. Morgan was at one time engaged in the plow works in Farmington, being employed in the capacity of a grinder and polisher during the winter months. It is his opinion that some of the younger people now living in Farmington are unaware that such a shop was ever operated in the town. 
    
On May 2, 1852, Mr. Morgan was united in marriage with Martha Crowell, who was born in Ashtabula County, Ohio, and in early youth received the customary mental instruction in the district schools of Illinois. Six children have been born of this union, namely: Olney K., Olive A., Orpha M., Florence, Carrie and Earnest, all of whom are married and living away from the parental home. Mrs. Morgan is a woman of much amiability and strength of character. She is a devoted Christian and is very energetic in the work of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which she and her husband are long-time members. In politics Mr. Morgan is a supporter of the principles of the Republican party. In 1906 he served in the capacity of Tax Collector. He and his worthy wife are ranked among the most estimable and useful members of the community.