Читать книгу History of Westchester County, New York, Volume 2 - Группа авторов - Страница 34

It has been more than a hundred years since the family to which this well-known citizen belongs became identified with Westchester county, locating here before the Revolutionary war, and its various members have won for the name an enviable distinction by their intelligence and worth. Its high reputation is by no ways diminished in this generation, and our subject, a retired farmer and capitalist of New Rochelle, displays in a marked degree the admirable characteristics which the name suggests.

He was born August 13, 1834, in the town of East Chester, Westchester county, in the same house which was occupied by his father and grandfather during the Revolutionary war. The latter, James Morgan, , was a native of Wales, and on his emigration to America settled in this county, becoming one of its honored pioneers. At that time this region was covered with a dense forest, and Indians and wild animals were numerous. He married Miss Jane Guion, who was descended from an old Huguenot family that was founded in Westchester county at or about the time that the Huguenots landed at New Rochelle. They took up their residence in Eastchester about 1684, and members of the family have since been prominently identified with the county's history.

James Morgan, the father of our subject, was born in East Chester, in 1793, and during the greater part of his active life followed agricultural pursuits. He was a man of great firmness of character, possessed an iron will, and always commanded the respect and esteem of all who knew him. He married Miss Sarah A. Valentine, whose mother was a daughter of General Trumbull, of Revolutionary fame. Her death occurred in 1873. To Mr. and Mrs. Morgan were born three children, but our subject is the only one now living. Martha J. died at the age of nineteen years, and Eugenia, who married Mathias B. Valentine, died in 1893.

Upon the old Morgan homestead, Charles V. Morgan was reared, receiving his early education in the common schools of the neighborhood. At the age of ten years he was sent to the New Rochelle school, where he prepared to enter a more advanced school and was subsequently admitted to Irving Institute, at Tarrytown, New York, on the Hudson, of which institution William G. Westron was principal, and there he pursued his studies for five years. He was thus fitted by education for the responsible duties of business life. On leaving school he went to sea, on board the sailing vessel owned by Boyd Hincken's line, and remained on the water for two years. Returning to East Chester, he successfully engaged in general farming for a number of years and made of his place one of the model farms of the locality.

In 1855 Mr. Morgan was united in marriage with Miss Susan M. Badeau, a daughter of Albert and Phebe (Drake) Badeau, who were also of French Huguenot stock. Five children blessed this union, and three are still living. Fannie E. is the wife of Charles C. Banks, a prominent lawyer of New Rochelle; Edward was receiver of taxes at the time of his death, which occurred in the spring of 1897; Charles Hobart and Albert Badeau constitute the firm of Morgan Brothers, prominent liverymen and undertakers, of New Rochelle; and Frank M. died in infancy. They have also six grandchildren living.

In political sentiment Mr. Morgan is a pronounced Republican, and his support is always given every measure which he believes calculated to prove of public benefit. As a business man he has met with good success, and is now the possessor of a considerable amount of property. After years of active labor he has laid aside all business cares and is now living retired at his pleasant home in New Rochelle, known as the Badeau homestead, on Union avenue. The spacious and attractive lawns are shaded by beautiful elms, walnuts and other trees, making it one of the most delightful homes in the village.