Morgan, William

The following data is extracted from Biographical Sketches, Coles County, Illinois - Morgan Township.

William Morgan, farmer; P. O. Rardin; born in Sullivan Co., Ind., Dec. 13, 1827; he emigrated with his parents when S years old and located in what is now known as Morgan Tp. in 1834, and before the organization of the township, which is named in honor of his father, David Morgan, who resided here from 1835 until his death, which occurred in October, 1860. The subject of this sketch lived with his parents and assisted in farming until 1850, when he engaged in farming for himself upon the place where he has since lived; he owns 320 acres in his home farm and 320 acres in other parts of the township; when Mr. Morgan first located in this township, it was inhabited by Indians, whose camps were along the river, their chief camps being along Brush Creek, where the mounds may be seen to this day; wolves were plenty, and to obtain quail, prairie chickens, turkeys or deer, it was hardly necessary to step outside of the door-yard; his trips to mill consumed four days, and the distance was fifty miles, either to Eugene on the Wabash, or to Terre Haute; at that early date, he had only two neighbors, and from his location at the north part of what is now Morgan Tp. to within a half mile froth Charleston, a distance of twelve miles, there was not a single habitation; for roads, to avoid getting lost, a single furrow would be plowed from point to point; this was the way the road was laid out to Charleston and other parts. His schooling was obtained under disadvantages, in an old log school house, whose fire-place was the whole of one end of the building; the scholars were obliged to gather their wood from the stump, take it to the schoolhouse, chop it and take it in. His marriage with Margaret Shirre was celebrated Sept. 6, 1850; she was born in Glasgow, Scotland, May 28, 1835; they have four children, now living, by this union-William David, now attending the Chicago Medical College his third term; Ralph D., Alexander J. and Josie Clay.

Source: Biographical Sketches, Coles County, Illinois - Morgan Township

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