John Morgan Gravestone Update -- Photo Added

Bessie at Ancestral Ties headed an effort to add information about John Morgan's wives to his gravestone, since they are not all buried in the family plot. That project was finished several months ago, and here is her description. (John Morgan Gravestone Project completed.) Thank you, Bessie!

[Original post July 30, 2012. Update September 29, 2012—My mother found a photo she took of the newly completed gravestone during a recent visit to the Salt Lake City Cemetery and I have included it here. Many thanks to her for sending the photo!]

Morgan's Commercial College

After John Morgan decided to stay in Salt Lake City on his cross-country post-Civil War trip, he opened a school called Morgan's Commercial College. Google Books now has a copy of an advertisement for the college. (View and download here.)

The advertisement includes a list of the students at the college with many notable names among them. One person I noticed in particular is John Morgan's future beloved colleague, J. Golden Kimball. With the exception of the Cannons and the Youngs who are rather underrepresented, the list reads like a "Who's Who" of Salt Lake City.

[Update: See further notes about this pamphlet on Bessie's blog. John Morgan's Commercial College.]

Adding Information about John Morgan's Wives to His Grave Marker

Bessie at Ancestral Ties is heading an effort to add information about John Morgan's wives to the back of his grave marker. The missionaries from the Southern States raised money to have this marker engraved and placed on their former mission president's grave.

See Bessie's post about the project (John Hamilton Morgan gravestone, October 2010) and her post about donating to help fund the project (John Morgan Salt Lake Cemetery Plot).

Important John Morgan Posts

To make this site more useful, here is a list of the most interesting posts about John Morgan and his family. It also includes a number of links to Ancestral Ties.


Early History

John Morgan—Early Life and Civil War
Birth and service in the 123rd Illinois Volunteer Regiment.

John Morgan Biography—Salt Lake City
John Morgan starts his college and marries Helen Melvina Groesbeck.

Robert Lang Campbell
The Salt Lake City man who befriended and baptized John Morgan and started him on his career in education.


Southern States Mission and Church Service

The History of the Southern States Mission
This is quite extensive. This history was published in The Latter Day Saints Southern Star, 1898-99. As of today it contains 34 posts. The index is here.

An Incident in the Life of President John Morgan
An adventure on the trains.

A Warning Sent to John Morgan
"We will not suffer you any longer to impose upon some of the ignorant men of this mountain."

Another Warning Note to John Morgan
"Runn Morgan Runn."

A Trip to Lookout Mountain
A missionary tells about a day trip to Lookout Mountain with President Morgan.

Looking Up Southern States Missionaries
A response to a question from a reader.

Service as a General Authority
A review of the article "The Seventies in the 1880s" by William Hartley.

Notes from Church Chronology
A timeline of the service dates of the First Council of the Seventies up to 1900 and some notes about John Morgan's service.


Genealogy

Where Did John Morgan Die?
In Matthias Cowley's home in Preston, Idaho.

Garrard Morgan III and Eliza Ann Hamilton Morgan, Part 1, (Part 2), (Part 3), (Part 4)

Garrard and Eliza Morgan's Children
How many siblings did John Morgan have, and why do the records disagree?

John Morgan's Brother James
Why does James Morgan show up in the 1880 Colorado census?

Garrard Morgan II and Sarah Sanderson Morgan
A history of John Morgan's grandparents with notes about his aunts and uncles.


Wives and Families

Helen Groesbeck Morgan

Annie Smith Morgan

Mary Ann Linton Morgan

John Morgan's Children
A list of the children from his three families.

John Sutton Linton
Why did John Morgan meet Mary Ann Linton?

Don't miss the information about the Morgan family on Ancestral Ties, in particular:
John Hamilton Morgan
Helen Melvina Groesbeck Morgan
Annie Mildred Smith Morgan
Mary Ann Linton Morgan

Garrard Morgan III
Eliza Ann Hamilton Morgan

James Morgan (These posts involved some real detective work.)

Garrard Morgan II
Sarah Sanderson

James P. Hamilton
Margaret (Peggy) Turner


Annotated Diary

John Morgan's Diary
November 17-22, 1888
November 23-26, 1888
November 27-30, 1888
December 1, 1888
December 2, 1888
December 3, 1888
December 4-5, 1888
December 6, 1888
December 7-8, 1888
December 9, 1888
December 10-14, 1888
December 15-18, 1888
December 19-23, 1888

See also Ancestral Ties, where Bessie is annotating more diary entries. She has the diary entries listed in the index under "JHM [date] journal entry" with all the entries from the year listed under the heading.


Sermons, Stories, and Correspondence

John Morgan to Garrard Morgan, Feb. 12, 1863
A soldier writes to his father.

Mother's Day John Morgan Civil War Letter
A soldier writes to his mother.

Heber J. Grant to the Morgan Family
A summary of a letter written to the Morgan family by Grant following reminiscences about John Morgan at B.H. Roberts' 80th birthday celebration.

Address Given May 23, 1881, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City
John Morgan talks about preaching the gospel in the Southern States and relocation of the converts to Conejos County, Colorado.

Address Given December 18, 1881, in the Assembly Hall, Salt Lake City
John Morgan talks about the Southern States Mission and the Colorado Settlements.

Missionary Experience on the Little Colorado—John Morgan's Death—A Miraculous Administration
A few pages from a Morgan book with some information about Mary Ann Linton Morgan.

John Morgan on the Southern States Mission
Morgan's notes on the mission of James T. Lisonbee.


Gravestones and Monuments

Morgan Family Gravestones
Photos of the gravestones in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

Gravestone Locations
How to locate the gravestones in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

The John Morgan Monument
Pictures and text of a beautifully restored monument located at 257 South Main Street in Salt Lake City.

The John Morgan Monument
The Southern States Missionaries take up a collection to provide a grave marker for John Morgan. Includes text of a letter published in various newspapers, signed by B.H. Roberts, J. Golden Kimball, William Spry, Elias S. Kimball and Ben E. Rich.

Obituary
As found in the Southern Star in 1900 compiled from several sources.

John Morgan Funeral Address by B.H. Roberts (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)


Sources

Sources on John Morgan
A list of sources about Morgan, his family, and the Southern States Mission.


(This was originally published Nov. 28, 2009, but I will keep moving it up as I add new Morgan materials so it shows up first in the index.)

John Morgan's Children

Here is a page out of Harold Morgan's Book of Remembrance. It shows:

Harold Morgan

His parents:
John Hamilton Morgan
Mary Ann Linton Morgan

His grandparents:
Garrard Morgan III
Eliza Ann Hamilton Morgan
Samuel Linton
Ellen Sutton Linton

His full brothers:
Linton Morgan
Mathias Cowley Morgan

His half brothers:
Nicholas G. Morgan
Earl Morgan
Jack Morgan
John Morgan
Joseph Morgan

I have John Morgan's children listed as follows. Please contact me with any corrections.

John (1842-1894) m. (1868) Helen Melvina Groesbeck (1852-1930)
Helen Melvina (1870-1952) m. Andrew Burt and later George Austin
Elizabeth (1872-1874)
Eliza Ann (1875-1952) m. James Frank Smith
Ruth (1878-1949) m. Berke Kunkel
John (1881-1881)
Flora Groesbeck (1882-1885)
Nicholas Groesbeck (1884-1971) m. Ethel Tate
Gail (1888-1984) m. John Clayton
Bessie (1891-1938) m. Percy Harold Rex
Gerard Earl (1892-1957) m. Merin Engman
John Hamilton (1894-1982) m. Lucile Lloyd

John (1842-1894) m. (1884) Annie Mildred Smith (1863-1935)
Annie Ray (1884-1972) m. Lawrence Hensen Heiselt
Myrtle (1887-1890)
John Albemarle (1889-1935) m. Eva Block
Ivy (1892-1940) m. Luther Grantham
Joseph Smith (1893-1948) m. Violet Dutler or Dudler

John (1842-1894) m. (1888) Mary Ann Linton (1865-1951)
Linton (1890-1952) m. Eudora Eggertsen
Harold (1892-1963) m. Jessie Christensen
Mathias Cowley (1894-1964) m. Mildred Pearce

The Morgan children died at the ages of: 82, 1, 76, 70, <1, 2, 87, 96, 47, 64, 88, 87, 3, 45, 48, 54, 61, 71, 70. An average of 55 years. If you remove the four deaths of small children (Elizabeth, John, Flora, Myrtle) and the five that lived more than 80 years (Helen, Nicholas, Gail, John H., Annie), the other ten lived an average of 46.5 years.

Ancestral Ties on John Hamilton and Helen Melvina Groesbeck Morgan

Bessie has put up two lovely posts about John Hamilton Morgan and his wife Helen Melvina Groesbeck Morgan. The first is a series of entries from John Morgan's diary and includes information on the death of his daughter Flora. The second is the first part of Mellie's biography. I've never seen the first photograph in the post about Mellie. What a distinguished looking woman, and what amazing beadwork on her dress.

Coming up this week: a biography of Mary Linton Morgan written by her granddaughter and a post on John and Mary's son Linton Morgan and his wife Eudora Eggertsen Morgan. In addition, Bessie sent a selection from John Morgan's diary about a trip to Arizona, which I will type up and post as soon as possible.

Some Experiences from John Hamilton Morgan and His Family

Here are a few pages from a book written by Nicholas G. Morgan, copied and sent by John and Mellie Morgan descendant Bessie. Thank you! Very interesting memories and stories and a letter well worth reading.

Morgan Family Gravestone Locations

Happy Memorial Day!

In memory of John Hamilton Morgan and his wives, here are the locations of their graves in the Salt Lake City Cemetery, as well as several of the Groesbeck family.

John Hamilton Morgan
Helen Melvina Groesbeck Morgan
Maria (Polly) Bovee Groesbeck (Helen Melvina's grandmother)
B_10_16_2_NW2R

Nicholas Groesbeck (Helen Melvina's father)
Elizabeth Thompson Groesbeck (Helen Melvina's mother)
J_21_10_2E

Annie Mildred Smith Morgan
S_42_16_3_E
Center Street and 445 North
Go east from Center Street six headstones
Go north from 445 North 33 headstones

Mary Linton Morgan
X_3_42_5_W
1150 East and 355 North
Go north from 355 North ten headstones
Go west from 1150 East 22 headstones

Thanks to Morgan descendant Bessie S. for sending this information and the photos of the family markers. For the other photos, see the post Morgan Family Gravestones.

The John Morgan Monument in Salt Lake City

Description of the monument sent by John Hamilton and Helen Melvina Groesbeck Morgan descendant Bessie S.

My mother had an eight-page pamphlet published by the Utah State Historical Society and the John H. Morgan Memorial Library on the occasion of the unveiling of the original John Hamilton Morgan monument.

Included in the pamphlet are tributes from Nicholas G. Morgan, Sr., D.H. Christensen, given February 20, 1947, and one from President B.H. Roberts, no date given.

The pamphlet includes John H. Morgan’s “Life in Brief,” a picture of John H. Morgan in later years, a copy of an invitation to the Morgan Commercial College Young Men’s Re-Union Ball for Thursday Evening, January 26, 1871, and a picture of the monument and plaque (below).

On the cover it says:

In Memoriam
John Hamilton Morgan
Soldier, Educator, Statesman, Churchman

The monument was unveiled and presented to Salt Lake City at 7:30 p.m., May 8, 1959. It is located at 257 South Main Street.

View Larger Map

The plaque reads: Morgan Commercial and Normal College, Organized January 1868. On this site John Morgan, noted Civil War veteran, educator, LDS missionary, and Church Leader established the first successful educational institution in the territory of Utah. Here was established in the Morgan College in 1870, Utah’s first free public library and reading room, and here many of the future pioneer merchants, bankers, educators, and church leaders received their educational training.

April 30, 2009. This is the spot where the monument stood, with its drinking fountains, outside of Kress in the 1960s.

When I first saw this insert on the side of the monument, I thought, “How nice they included Mellie as she went off to school as a young student and later became the teacher’s wife.” There is a young man (a missionary, I think) pictured on the opposite side of the monument.

Thank you for the information and photos, Bessie!

Morgan Family Gravestones

Many thanks to a descendant of John and Helen Groesbeck Morgan who sent photos of the gravestones of John Morgan and his wives.

Here is the newspaper article written by a committee of Southern States missionaries taking up a collection to purchase the marker for John Morgan's grave.

John Hamilton Morgan
8 August 1842 (Greensburg, Indiana) - 14 August 1894 (Preston, Idaho)

Helen Melvina Groesbeck Morgan
7 February 1852 (Springfield, Illinois) - 15 June 1930 (Los Angeles, California)

Annie Mildred Smith Morgan
(Different dates and birth places listed from 1844 in Indiana to 1864 in England) - 3 April 1935

Mary Ann Linton Morgan
11 February 1865 (Nephi, Utah) - 16 March 1951 (Salt Lake City, Utah)

See additional information on the graves here.

Morgan 4: John Morgan Biography—Salt Lake City

John Morgan found lodgings in the home of Bishop Joseph L. Heywood and with the encouragement of Superintendent of Common Schools Robert L. Campbell, lost no time in opening The Morgan Commercial College early in January 1867.

He started the College in a small downtown building but quickly moved to larger quarters at 257 South Main Street rented from Nicholas Groesbeck.

On November 26, 1867, Robert L. Campbell baptized John Morgan a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Nicholas Groesbeck sent his children to the College in exchange for part of the rent. In January 1868 his oldest daughter, Helen Melvina, began her studies. John asked Mellie to marry him in June 1868. He described the day in his journal.

In the language of Don Brucoult, I have slept on it, and all that I saw or dreamed of was: “Why don’t you propose?” My sleeping thoughts would go wandering through dreamland accompanied by the echo of: “Why don’t you propose?” In dreams me-thought I met an old friend and with ghastly grin he asked: “Why don’t you propose?” and then fled from me with a loud laugh that echoed back: “Why don’t you propose?” Awakening with a start, the watch that lay tick, tick, ticking on the table said as plain as words could say: “Why don’t you propose?” Sleeping, or working, or thinking it was all the same, and it all said: “Why don’t you propose?” The aspen tree—the water in the ditch in front seems to gurgle out: “Why don’t you propose?” There’s a bird that’s singing from branch to branch and singing merrily: “Why don’t you propose?” Turning to the blackboard on the wall, I see written plainer than was the inscription that the prophets of old interpreted: “Why don’t you propose?” The tinkling bell hanging from the neck of old crumply horn as she wends her way to the green pastures across the Jordan, chimes in: “Why don’t you propose?” The murmuring breezes as they float listlessly by seem to say: “Why don’t you propose?” The clock in the Old City Hall chimes out: “Why don’t you propose?”

So I did.

John and Mellie were married in the Endowment House on October 24, 1868. They set up residence in an apartment over the school.
The College continued to grow until it had to move to a larger site at 144 West 1st South Street. It had up to six hundred students enrolled at one time.

John and Mellie’s first child, Helen Melvina Morgan, was born in January 1870. Additional children were born in 1872, 1875, 1878, 1881, 1882, 1884, 1888, 1891, 1892, and 1894. At least three of the children died in early childhood.