1905 History of Crawford County Kansas

T. W. Morgan, of Osage township, is one of the most notable among the successful farmers of Crawford county. A resident in this county for more than twenty years, he has built up a farming enterprise which is a credit to himself and the county, and has always been a leader where industrial affairs are concerned. Possessed also of an eminent degree of public spirit, he has not been amiss in those matters which pertain to the general welfare of every community and to its progress in education, religion and material improvement.

Mr. Morgan is a native of Clay county, Indiana, being a son of John and Elizabeth (Wright) Morgan, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Indiana. The father, who died in Indiana at the age of seventy-one, was a farmer, a Democrat of the Jackson type and a loyal supporter of the Baptist church. The mother lives at Brazil, Indiana, and is now seventy-six years old. There were eleven children in the family, six sons and five daughters.

Mr. Morgan was reared on the Indiana home farm, and there by honest industry laid the foundations for his permanent success. When he was twenty-six years old he married Miss Aletha J. Boor, a daughter of E. M. Boor (whose history will be found on other pages of this work), and it has been due to their combined industry and capacity for managing and directing their affairs that success has come to them in such abundant measure. While she has given such careful and prudent care to the household management, he has been able to give all his energies to outside affairs, and as a result they have enjoyed a continuous and rapidly increasing prosperity. Mr. Morgan came to Crawford county in 1883. He bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, most of which was bottom land, and it has become one of the finest farms in Crawford county. On this land in pioneer days was located an old stage station and tavern, and many good men and bad men have lodged under the roof of the old log cabin, which still stands on his place as a relic of ancient history in this county. This old log house is twenty-four by twenty-four feet, and is a place of much speculative and historic interest. Mr. Morgan, in contrast to this old house indicative of the pioneer past, has erected a modern dwelling at a cost of fifteen hundred dollars, in which all the comforts and refinements of the present century will be found. He also has a capacious barn forty-eight by sixty feet in dimensions, and innumerable other improvements. He cultivates four hundred acres of his fine place, having added two hundred and forty acres to his original purchase, and is noted for being able to make a success of any enterprise he undertakes.

He is a Democrat in politics, and was the candidate of that party for the office of county treasurer in 1902 and 1904, but although strongly supported, was defeated by the Republican majority always cast in this county. He was treasurer of the McCune creamery, and in order to make this industry a modern and thoroughly equipped establishment he visited the world-famed creameries at Elgin, Illinois, and introduced as far as consistent all their best methods and improvements in the local creamery. Mr. Morgan is a member of the Home Builders' Union and A. O. U. W. and Sons and Daughters of Justice, and has also been identified with numerous enterprises which have made for the welfare and progress of this section of the state. Mr. Morgan, both in season and out, has always kept his faith in Kansas, and he is justified in saying that Kansas has kept faith with him and rewarded him abundantly for his past efforts.

Mr. and Mrs. Morgan have the following children: Aura, Roy, Lee T., Carey, Kenneth, Lloyd E., Aletha May and Helen Margaret, and they also have five grandchildren. The children all enjoyed good advantages both at home and educationally.