William Fellowes Morgan Sr.
William Fellowes Morgan Sr. (September 24, 1860 – May 2, 1943) was an American banker, businessman and politician. He served as president of the Brooklyn Bridge Freezing and Cold Storage Company, which he founded, and as secretary and treasurer of the United States Golf Association and president of the National Society for the Prevention of Blindness.
William Fellowes Morgan Sr. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the New Jersey General Assembly | |
| In office 1906–1908 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 24, 1860 Clifton, Staten Island, New York |
| Died | May 2, 1943 (aged 82) Manhattan, New York |
| Political party | Republican, Progressive |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Relations | Mildred, Countess of Gosford (niece) |
| Children | 3, including William Jr. |
| Parents | David Pierce Morgan Caroline Fellowes Morgan |
| Education | St. Paul's School |
| Alma mater | Columbia University Columbia School of Mines |
| Signature |  |
Early life
Morgan was born in Clifton, Staten Island on September 24, 1860 and was named after his maternal grandfather.[1] He was a son of "eminent banker" David Pierce Morgan (1831–1886) and Caroline (née Fellowes) Morgan (1832–1914). Among his siblings was Clara Hewitt Morgan, David Percy Morgan (treasurer of American Sugar Refining Company, brother-in-law of Herbert Parsons and son-in-law of John Edward Parsons[2]),[3] Alice Morgan (wife of diplomat John Ridgeley Carter and mother of Mildred, Countess of Gosford and Bernard Carter), and Lewis Henry Morgan. His parents moved to Paris in 1879 and lived there until 1883 before returning to the United States and living in Washington, D.C. until his death in 1886.
His paternal grandparents were Amos Morgan and Betsy (née Jennings) Morgan.[4] Through his sister Alice, he was uncle to Mildred, Countess of Gosford,[5] the wife of Archibald Acheson, 5th Earl of Gosford.[6] His maternal grandparents were William Fellowes and Caroline (née Davis) Fellowes, who lived in Louisville, Kentucky but moved north to Staten Island.[7] His maternal uncle, Cornelius Fellowes, was the second husband of Caroline Suydam Whitney.[8]
After completing preparatory studies at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, he spent some time in England playing rugby.[9] When he returned to the U.S., he attended Columbia University, where he graduated in 1880, followed four years later from the Columbia School of Mines.[1] While at Columbia, he became friends with future governor of New York and President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt. In the election of 1883, when 24 year old Roosevelt was running for reelection to the New York Assembly, Roosevelt asked Morgan to supervise a polling place at 733 7th Avenue to prevent voter fraud. He called a "doubtful district."
Career
After graduating from Columbia, he began working for the brokerage firm of Leavitt & Davis, where he remained until 1886 when he formed William Fellowes Morgan & Co., which dissolved two years later.[9]
After leaving the brokerage business, Morgan became a pioneer the use of refrigeration in warehouses which made him wealthy. In 1887, he founded the Brooklyn Bridge Freezing and Cold Storage Company, located at Arch No. 11 of the Brooklyn Bridge, and served as its president.[9] He was a director of the Merchants Refrigeration Company, the Tri-State Land Company, the Chemical Bank and Trust Company, and the Citizens' Central National Bank of New York.[1] He also served as president of the New York Merchants Association from 1915 to 1922.[9]
For many years, he lived in Short Hills, New Jersey, where he was involved in civic affairs and served as chairman of the Township Committee and as president of the Board of Education. From 1906 to 1908, he served in the lower house of the New Jersey Assembly. In politics, Morgan was a Progressive, which was popularly nicknamed the "Bull Moose Party" per its leader Theodore Roosevelt.
Other work
From 1905 to 1919, he served as president of the Young Men's Christian Association of New York. He was also a veteran of the Seventh Regiment, N.Y.N.G. He was commissioned a major on the staff of General Ward of the First Brigade in 1884 and, thirteen years later, was with the brigade when it escorted the body of President Ulysses S. Grant to his tomb on Riverside Drive.[9]
Morgan was a trustee of his alma mater, Columbia University, from 1910 to 1916, and a trustee of the American University of Beirut in Beirut, Lebanon, founded in 1866. From 1927 to 1939, he was chairman of the board of trustees of Wells College in Aurora, New York.[9]
Personal life
On January 22, 1885, he was married to the tennis and golf player Emma Leavitt (1865–1956)[10] at St. Thomas Church in New York. Emma was a daughter of Henry Sheldon Leavitt and Martha Ann (née Young) Leavitt. Together, they were the parents of three children:[1]
- Beatrice Morgan (1886–1951), who married Frederic Pruyn, son of Robert C. Pruyn, in 1907.[11] They divorced and in 1936,[12] she married David Marvin Goodrich, chairman of the board of B. F. Goodrich Company and son of its founder, Benjamin Goodrich.[13] At the time of their wedding, Goodrich had recently divorced his first wife, Ruth Pruyn, the sister of Beatrice's first husband.[12]
- William Fellowes Morgan Jr. (1889–1977), the Commissioner of Public Markets for New York City. He married Mary Rathbone of Albany, New York.[14] After her death in 1948, he married Enola Clark "Dodie" Stevens.[15]
- Pauline "Polly" Morgan (1893–1971),[16] who married Cleveland Earl Dodge, a son of Cleveland Hoadley Dodge,[17] in 1919.[18]
Morgan died on May 2, 1943 at 510 Park Avenue, his residence in Manhattan.[9] After a funeral at St. George's Church in Stuyvesant Square, he was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.[19] His widow died in December 1956.[10]
Affiliations and interests
An avid golfer and tennis player, Morgan was secretary and treasurer of the United States Golf Association. He was also a president of the Senior United States Golf Association, Father and Son Golf Association and of the Garden City Golf Club. He was also a member of the Baltusrol Golf Club in New Jersey.[9]
He was a member of the Union Club (where he served as governor), the Knickerbocker Club, the Racquet and Tennis Club, St. Anthony, City Club, the Jekyll Island Club, the Merchants Club as well as the Society of Colonial Wars and other social organizations.[1]
References
- Reynolds, Cuyler (1914). Genealogical and Family History of Southern New York and the Hudson River Valley: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Building of a Nation. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 1213. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- "MISS. EDITH MORGAN; BRIDE OF F. R. King. Relatives Only at Ceremony in Church of the Epiphany" (PDF). The New York Times. February 10, 1924. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
- "DAVID PERCY MORGAN DIES SUDDENLY AT 69; Former Treasurer of American Sugar Refining Co. Had Retired From Business" (PDF). The New York Times. March 30, 1932. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
- Bergen, Tunis Garret (1915). Genealogies of the State of New York: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 1212. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- "Mildred, Countess of Gosford, Daughter of Diplomat, Is Dead" (PDF). The New York Times. September 11, 1965. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
- "MISS CARTER WEDS VISCOUNT ACHESON; Daughter of American Minister to Roumania the Bride of Lord Gosford's Heir. GIFTS FROM KING AND QUEEN And the Queen Mother--Reception at Dorchester House Follows the Ceremony In St. George's" (PDF). The New York Times. June 22, 1910. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
- Whittemore, Henry (1894). History of Montclair Township, State of New Jersey: Including the History of Families who Have Been Identified with Its Growth and Prosperity. Unigraphic. p. 298. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- Phoenix, Stephen Whitney (1878). The Whitney Family of Connecticut, and Its Affiliations: Being an Attempt to Trace the Descendants, as Well in the Female as the Male Lines, of Henry Whitney, from 1649 to 1878. Priv. Print. [Bradford Press]. pp. 913–914. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- "W. F. MORGAN SR., CIVIC LEADER, DIES; Prominent Figure in the Cold Storage Industry for Last 55 Years Was 82 | PHILANTHROPIES NOTABLE | Ex-Head of Y.M.C.A. --Active in Church Circles--President of Merchants' Group for Years". The New York Times. May 3, 1943. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- "MRS. MORGAN DIES; FRIEND OF Y.W.C.A.; Board Head, 1917-23, Raised Millions for Group--Won Tennis Title in 1891". The New York Times. December 30, 1956. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- "LONG BRIDAL PROCESSION.; Many Attendants for Morgan-Pruyn Ceremony To-day". The New York Times. February 5, 1907. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- "MRS. BEATRICE PRUYN WED TO D. M. GOODRICH; Bride Sister of Mrs. Cleveland E. Dodge and W. F. Morgan Jr., Markets Commissioner". The New York Times. November 19, 1936. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- of 1898, Harvard College (1780-) Class (1913). Harvard College Class of 1898 Quindecennial Report. Harvard College. pp. 127–128. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- "Mrs. W. F. Morgan Jr". The New York Times. April 19, 1948. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- "Deaths". The New York Times. December 23, 1977. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- "Mrs. Cleveland E. Dodge Is Dead at 78". The New York Times. August 23, 1971. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- Treaster, Joseph B. (November 25, 1982). "Cleveland E. Dodge, Businessman and Philanthropist, Is Dead at 94". The New York Times. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- "MISS MORGAN BRIDE OF CLEVELAND DODGE; Wed at St. George's to Grandson of Philanthropist--To Spend Honeymoon in Arizona. MISS CRIMMINS MARRIED Airman Flying Over Sound Shore Salutes Guests at Her Wedding to Lieutenant Chaillnor". The New York Times. June 13, 1919. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- "W. F. Morgan Sr. Honored At Rites. Several Hundred at Service in St. George's For Business Man and Philanthropist". New York Times. May 6, 1943. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
... attended a funeral service yesterday for William Fellowes Morgan Sr. in St. George's Episcopal Church in Stuyvesant Square. Mr. Morgan, who had been ...
Further reading
- Washington Post; June 16, 1907. W. Fellowes Morgan, secretary of the United States Golf Association, today announced the entries for the national open gold championship, which will be decided over the links of the Philadelphia, Cricket Club on Thursday and Friday of next week.
- Time; Monday, February 15, 1932; Toastmaster and organizer of the banquet was William Fellowes Morgan (Columbia, 1880), president of the National Society for the Prevention of Blindness. Patrician, handsome and ruddy at 71, he is rich (warehouses, refrigerating), High Church Episcopalian (president of the Church Pension Fund), a famed after-dinner speaker and clubman. Toastmaster Morgan, member of the Columbia Society of the Early 80's, was Columbia's second alumni trustee (1910 to 1916).