Old Blue Genes: The Morgans of New England

The Morgan surname is Welsh. Some believe the name to be derived from Celtic for "sea circle", and is derived from the Old Welsh name Morcant. The surname Morgan traces its origin from the powerful Welsh family established c. 1330 by Morgan ap Llewelyn, (son of Llewelyn ap Ifor, Lord of St. Clere, and Angharad, daughter and heiress of Sir Morgan ap Maredudd (Meredith), Lord of Tredegar), meaning either "great kingdom" or "great hundred". It is a popular family name in Wales, as well as there being a group of Morgans from "Morgund". It is possible that the name was Celtic from the Cornovii Tribe who lived in the North of Scotland and in the Severn Valley near the Wrekin in Shropshire.

My immigrant ancestor (and 8th Great Grandfather) was Robert Morgan (1601-1672) from Tredegar, Monmouthshire Wales. He migrated to Virginia in 1635, and soon moved north to Salem, Massachusetts. His son, Samuel, was my direct ancestor, but his eldest son was Sir Henry Morgan, famous privateer which the rum "Captain Morgan" was named for.

But starting from more recent history, and going back to Robert, my 3rd great grandparents were Henry Gray Morgan (1808-1883), originally from Bucksport (just across the Penobscot) & Harriet Holmes (1816-1856) of Frankfort (formerly Winterport), Maine. Harriet was a member of the extremely large and wealthy Holmes family of Plymouth, Massachusetts who descended from colonial settler John Holmes of Milton Keynes, England. Many thousands of Americans descend directly from John Holmes. Harriet's father, Thomas Holmes, was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, but migrated north to Winterport, Maine in Waldo County. Harriet's brothers appear in many court records of Waldo County filing claims against many townspeople to whom they had lent money.

HOLMES HOMESTEAD (2011 PICTURE)

WINTERPORT MAINE

(CORNER OF MAIN AND HOLMES STREET)

MORGAN HOMESTEAD

WINTERPORT MAINE

(WILLOW STREET)

HENRY GRAY MORGAN HOUSE
END OF STREET ON THE RIGHT

According to the below Notice of Sheriff's Sale in 1853, certain property conveyed to Henry in 1848 was put up for auction. It's not totally clear to me whether this was the same property on Willow Street, but I doubt it:

Republican Journal
Jun 17, 1853

According to Winterport Town Records I located on microfilm at the LDS Library, Henry was a wood surveyor and also a juror for Winterport.

Henry & Harriet had five children in Winterport:

1. Albert H Morgan (1839-1883) fought in the Civil War in 1863, as part of the Maine 16th Regiment. He and his wife moved to Chicago, where Albert found work as a typesetter. He died in 1888, leaving behind a wife, Agnes, and two children (James and Nina), who also worked as typesetters. Agnes went on to be a proprietor of The Gladstone (1888 Chicago Directory), which may have been a bar or hotel. Her kids each had spouses, but had no children of their own, from available records.

William Sanford Morgan
(About 1910)

2. My 2nd great grandfather, William Sanford Morgan (1841-1920), also fought in the Civil War, and settled in Portland. He was the only child of Henry who had any descendants alive, as of 1970.

GRAVE OF LOUISE AND ROGER RUNDLETT
LOUISE'S DEATH DATE UNKNOWN

3. Louise Maria Morgan (1843-1924) moved to Boston as a young adult, and worked as a tailoress in the home of Robert Hutchinson (a book binder) (1865 Mass. State Census). She married Roger Sheridan Rundlett of NH in Dec 1865, and lived with Roger in Cambridge Mass. until about 1882, and then settled in the family home on Willow Street in Winterport, with Roger then owned by 1900. No children. Roger was a surveyor, along with his brother-in-law Seth Morgan (see below). Roger also was a Civil War veteran and was listed as a "tuner for H&MO Company" in the 1878 Cambridge Directory. Also in 1878, Roger lent his brother-in-law, William Sanford Morgan, $200.00 for a mortgage on William's Beech Ridge Road property in Scarborough, Maine. William paid his brother back within two years.

Louise's obituary:

Mrs. Louise Rundlett died at her home on Willow street on Sunday afternoon. Mrs. Rundlett had been in poor health for several years, but was only confined to her bed for a few days. She was the widow of the late Roger Sherman Rundlett, who died a few years ago. They were prominent in the social affairs of the village for many years, but since his death she has gradually failed in health. She was a member of Cushing Chapter, O.E.S. She left a brother, Seth H. Morgan and a sister, Mrs. Augusta Emery. The funeral services will be held at the M.E. church at 3 PM Wednesday. The services of the Order of the Eastern Star will be used.

The Free Library will be open after the services of Mrs. Louise Rundlett on Wednesday. The hours will be from 3 to 5 PM.

The Bangor Daily News, 16 Apr 1924, Wed Edition, Page 9

GRAVE OF HORACE B. MORGAN

Togus National Cemetery, Augusta, Maine

4. Horace B. Morgan (1845-1911), a short man like his brothers (5'3") also fought for the last year of the War, as he had just turned 17 at that point. He and his wife Jennie moved around a lot. They lived in Peabody Mass, Portland Maine, Boston, and Chelsea, Maine. He also stayed at Togus hospital, like his brother William. He had a heart valve problem, and hemiplegia. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage. He was survived by his wife, and two sons (Henry & Horace Edward). His son Henry had no children, but Horace had one daughter, Jennie Carroll, born in NJ, who had no children of her own. Interesting side note, from reviewing various census records, Jennie's husband Raymond, as well as Horace's son Henry (and his 2nd wife Ida), worked together at the Singer Sewing Machine company (Henry as a machinist and Raymond as a salesman). This might explain how Jennie met her husband (through her uncle Henry).

5. Harriet Augusta Morgan (1849-after 1924) went by her middle name "Augusta". She married twice - briefly to Alfred Rand, and then later to Charles Emery, who pre-deceased her in 1914. As a widow, she lived with her sister Louise and brother Seth on Willow Street. Augusta had no children..

Soon after little Harriet was born, Henry & Harriet divorced. Henry kept the kids, married his 2nd wife, Abigail ("Abbie") Pratt Harding from Bucksport, and had two more boys, Seth Morgan (1858-1924), who never married, but took care of his ailing half-brother Horace, and Irving Morgan (1859-1861), who died as a baby. Seth and his brother-in-law, Roger Rundlett, worked as surveyors, and according to the book An Old River Town by Ada Douglas Littlefield, they surveyed the icy width of the Penobscot River in 1904 and measured it to be 1/4 mile wide. Seth worked as a plumber for his final years.

When Henry died in February of 1883, his Estate transferred the property to Abbie, who died 16 years later. Henry was apparently a Mason, according to the funeral notice in the local paper:

Republican Journal - Belfast
Feb 15, 1883

The below obituary for Abbie Morgan declares her to have been a person of note in the community:

Obituary - Abbie Pratt Harding-Morgan
Republican Journal of Belfast
Aug 3, 1899

As for Henry Gray's ancestry, below he is included on the birth listing for Bucksport (formerly Buckstown), Maine, to William and Rachel Morgan, and he was one of 8 children:

William Morgan and Rachel (Page) Morgan were from Bucksport, Maine, and yet it appears that many family researchers conflate them William Morgan and Rachel (Sheldon) Morgan of Pittsford, Vermont.

William (1775-1852) and Rachel (1779-1848) both had settled in Winterport along with their son Henry, and are all buried there together in Oak Hill Cemetery.

Here are the Winterport graves of this family: