Charles Morgan

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Charles Morgan (* 21st April 1795 in Clinton , Connecticut , † 8. May 1878 in New York City ) was an American railroad - and transport - Tycoon .

At the age of 14 he started working in his uncle's ship chandlers business and later started his own import business. As this grew, he invested in a steamship line that traded with the West Indies .

Your own shipping line

In 1837 the first steamship line opened between New Orleans and Galveston . From this axis he extended his timetable in 1848 to the ports of Matagorda Bay , 1849 to Brazos Santiago , 1853 to Vera Cruz , 1856 to Key West , 1868 to Rockport, Corpus Christi and Havana and finally in 1875 to New York.

He started building his own ships and was one of the first builders to switch from wooden to iron construction.

In Nicaragua

Accessory Transit Company (of Nicaragua) obligation dated November 30, 1855, signed by Charles Morgan

When Cornelius Vanderbilt set out on a long business trip to Europe in 1853, he transferred responsibility for his Accessory Transit Co. to Morgan & Garrison, a business partnership between Charles Morgan and Cornelius Kingsland Garrison . This company should enable a passenger connection from New York City to California and relied on river boats and stagecoaches through Nicaragua . This connection should be faster than an alternative via Panama . When William Walker set out for Nicaragua with a mercenary force of 57 men in October 1855 and took power there, Morgan & Garrison supported him with US $ 20,000. In return, Walker canceled the previous Accessory Transit license and instead gave Morgan & Garrison an exclusive license to operate a transport link through Nicaragua. When Vanderbilt found out about this scam, he wrote a short and famous letter to his former business associates:

“Gentlemen: You have undertaken to cheat me. I won't sue you, for the law is too slow. I'll ruin you. Yours truly, Cornelius Vanderbilt. "

"Gentlemen! You dared to cheat on me. I'm not going to sue you because the judiciary is too slow. I will ruin you. Sincerely, Cornelius Vanderbilt. "

As a result, Vanderbilt founded another company that used the transit route via Panama. He cut transit prices so drastically that Morgan & Garrison were driven into bankruptcy and Vanderbilt was able to restore control of Accessory Transit Co.

Railway line

Construction of the New Orleans, Opelousas and Great Western Railroad also began in the 1850s . Since New Orleans was an important port for Morgan's steamship company, he saw this as an opportunity to ship his goods to Texas . He invested $ 2,050,000 in the construction of the railway line and was later able to take it over in full. It was reorganized as the Louisiana & Texas Railroad . The railway line was expanded further west and reached Lafayette in 1879. Morgan died a few weeks before reaching the city. The company continued to operate under his specifications and finally sold to the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1885 .

family

Morgan's Crypt in Green-Wood Cemetery , Brooklyn

On July 5, 1817, Morgan married Emily Reeves, who bore him five children. After her death in 1850, he married Mary Jane Sexton on June 24, 1851. Charles Morgan died in New York City on May 8, 1878. He was buried in the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ James P. Baughman, "MORGAN, CHARLES" Handbook of Texas Online - Published by the Texas State Historical Association
  2. ↑ CORNELIUS KINGSLAND GARRISON - SAN FRANCISCO'S FIFTH MAYOR
  3. ↑ Bill Carey: Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt fought war over route through Central America ( Memento of September 24, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) (English, accessed July 10, 2009)
personal data
SURNAME Morgan, Charles
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American rail and transportation tycoon
DATE OF BIRTH April 21, 1795
PLACE OF BIRTH Clinton, Connecticut
DATE OF DEATH May 8, 1878
Place of death New York, NY