Raleigh S. Morgan
FromPortrait and Biographical Record, Buchanan and Clinton
Counties, Missouri, containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent
and Representative Citizens, together with Biographies and
Portraits of all the Presidents of the United States.
page 611
RALEIGH S. MORGAN, an extensive landholder, and for many years widely known as one of the most prosperous pioneer agriculturists of Clinton County, is now a highly esteemed and honored resident of the city of Plattsburgh, where he enjoys the congenial companionship of old-time friends and acquaintances. Our subject was born near Shepherdstown, on the Potomac, Jefferson County, W. Va., December 23, 1824. His parents, Raleigh and Rebecca (Slyer) Morgan, were both native Virginians, their Welsh ancestors having been among the early settlers of the Old Dominion. Mr. Morgan was reared upon the old Virginia homestead, and after having learned the trade of a house-painter, located at twenty-one years of age, near Winchester, Clark County, Ky. With ambitious energy he followed his trade and engaged in farming until 1857, when he came to Missouri, bringing with him his family, two slaves and $7,000 in money.
Purchasing a fine farm of three hundred and sixty acres, located seven miles from Plattsburgh, our subject devoted himself to the duties of mixed farming and was among the largest growers and feeders of live-stock in the county. His original Missouri homestead has grown to four hundred and forth acres, and he now owns three farms, all under a high state of cultivation, and containing a total of over one thousand acres of land. His real estate is all under his immediate supervision and he personally manages the home farm, which is one of the finest and most profitable in this section of the country. In common with many others, he suffered heavy financial losses during the war, but took no active part in the conflict.
At twenty-five years of age Mr. Morgan was united in marriage in Clark County, Ky., with Miss Amanda Ann Trimble, a native of that State and county. The marriage was blessed by three children, two daughters and one son. Raleigh Morgan, the eldest, is a prominent citizen of Plattsburgh. Mary Margaret, now the widow of Albert Shaver, resides with her father. Her son, Raleigh A., twenty-one years of age, is his grandfather's assistant and is a young man of unusual promise and ability. Sally Ann, the second daughter, is the wife of David L. Stoutimore, whose pleasant home is just across the street from the elegant and commodious residence of our subject, finely located upon South Spring Street. Soon after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Morgan joined the Old-school Presbyterian Church, and have ever been among the active workers of that religious organization. They and the various members of their family occupy a high social position and are leaders in benevolent enterprises, having materially assisted in the advancement of the best interests of their home neighborhood and county.
Although never an office-seeker, Mr. Morgan is a stanch Democrat, and deeply interested in local and national issues. A man of intelligence and ability, upright in character and earnest in purpose, for thirty-five years he has been closely identified with the progressive movements of the State, and is numbered among the public-spirited citizens whose steadfast integrity and energetic industry have deservedly won for them both affluence and influential position.
Transcribed by Nancy T. Green
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