Simpson Harris Morgan

Simpson Harris Morgan (* 1821 in Rutherford County , Tennessee , † August 15, 1864 in Monticello , Arkansas ) was an American lawyer , plantation owner and politician . The US Senator Albert B. Fall (1861–1944) was his son-in-law. The Confederate Congressman Augustus Hill Garland (1832-1899) and Rufus King Garland (1830-1886) were his brother.

Career

Simpson Harris Morgan was born and raised in Rutherford County about six years after the end of the British-American War . Nothing is known about his youth. He then moved from Shelbyville, Tennessee to Texas with RK Clark in 1844 . There he practiced as a lawyer first in Paris ( Lamar County ) and most recently in Clarksville ( Red River County ). In the following years he bought land in several counties and quickly became one of the most prominent citizens of the city. On September 7, 1852, he married into the Garland family from Lafayette County (Arkansas). His wife died shortly afterwards on March 1, 1853. He then married in 1859 a young woman named Laura from Tennessee. In the 1860 census, Morgan is listed with his wife and one month old child. Morgan was a railroad promoter and became president of the Memphis, El Paso and Pacific Railway, a forerunner of the Texas and Pacific. In November 1863 he defeated William Bacon Wright (1830-1895) in his candidacy for the second Confederate Congress . Morgan sat on two committees: the Committee on Impressments and the Judiciary Committee. He only attended one session and rarely took part in debates. Although he was strongly against the special tax on agricultural products, he usually supported the administration of Jefferson Davis (1808-1889). In this context, he voted in favor of strengthening the war powers of the central government. On his way back to Richmond ( Virginia ) because of the second session, Morgan contracted pneumonia near Monticello (Arkansas) , from which he died on December 15, 1864. His body was transferred to Clarksville and then buried in the family cemetery on his plantation (now Simpson H. Morgan Memorial Park ). His grave is unmarked today, with the exception of a pipe fence that surrounds his grave site.

Web links

• Simpson Harris Morgan in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• Simpson Harris Morgan on the Texas State Historical Association website
• Simpson Harris Morgan on The Political Graveyard website