Frederic Arthur Morgan (May 15, 1846October 2, 1925) was an American farmer and Republican politician. He was a member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

, representing Oshkosh in the 1871 session. He was one of the first members of the Wisconsin Legislature to have been born in the territory of Wisconsin.

Background

Morgan was born May 15, 1846, in the town of

Pewaukee Pewaukee is a city in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 15,914 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. The name of the city of Pewaukee comes from that of the name of the village, the ori ...

, in Waukesha County, Wisconsin Territory. He attended public school, including some time at the

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

in Fond du Lac. He moved with his parents to Black Wolf, Winnebago County, in 1851. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, he served as a private in Company I of the 39th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment. The 39th Wisconsin Infantry was a "100 day" regiment, with its members mustering into service in May 1864, and mustering out in September 1864.

Public office

Morgan was a member of the

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board of supervisors, of which he was elected chairman in 1868 and re-elected in 1869. In 1870, he was elected to the 3rd Winnebago County Assembly district (the Towns of Black Wolf, Nekimi, Nepeuskin, Omro, Poygan, Rushford, and Utica) for the

24th Wisconsin Legislature The Twenty-Fourth Wisconsin Legislature convened from to in regular session. Senators representing odd-numbered districts were newly elected for this session and were serving the first year of a two-year term. Assembly members were elected ...

as a Republican, with 1,142 votes, against 69

write-ins A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

(Republican incumbent James H. Foster was running for the

Wisconsin Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after those ...

, and there was no Democratic or

third party Third party may refer to: Business * Third-party source, a supplier company not owned by the buyer or seller * Third-party beneficiary, a person who could sue on a contract, despite not being an active party * Third-party insurance, such as a veh ...

nominee). Morgan was the youngest member of the Assembly during that session. He was assigned to the

standing committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

s on the

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and on contingent expenditures. After the legislature was

redistricted Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census. The U.S. Constitution in Art ...

, most of the old 3rd Winnebago County district was assigned to a new 4th District, which would be represented in 1872 by Republican Alson Wood. Black Wolf and Omro remained in a drastically revised 3rd District, which would go to Democrat Nelson Beckwith. Morgan was not a candidate for either district.

Personal life and family

Frederic A. Morgan was the fourth of seven children born to Henry Culver Morgan and his wife Lurancy (' Swift). Henry C. Morgan came to Black Wolf, Wisconsin, with his brother, Charles, and had a successful lumber mill operating until the

Panic of 1857 The Panic of 1857 was a financial crisis in the United States caused by the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. Because of the invention of the telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission ...

. Charles Morgan served several years on the Winnebago County board and was twice an unsuccessful candidate for state legislature. Frederic's eldest brother was

Charles Henry Morgan Charles Henry Morgan (July 5, 1842 – January 4, 1912) was an American lawyer and politician from Missouri. He represented Missouri in the United States House of Representatives for five terms spread across four decades. He also served as a ...

, who served as an officer in the

21st Wisconsin Infantry Regiment The 21st Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was a volunteer infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. They were assigned for their entire war service to XIV Corps, operating in the western theater of the war. S ...

. After the war, Charles moved to

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

and was subsequently elected to five terms in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (1870)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 8, 1870

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Frederic A. 1846 births 1925 deaths People from Winnebago County, Wisconsin Farmers from Wisconsin Wisconsin city council members People of Wisconsin in the American Civil War Union army soldiers Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly 19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature