Simpson Harris Morgan (1821 – December 15, 1864) was a lawyer, farmer, and railroad promoter who served in the Confederate States House of Representatives from Texas. Born in Tennessee, Morgan moved to Texas, where he eventually settled in Clarksville and practiced law. He also farmed and served as the president of the Memphis, El Paso and Pacific Railway. In 1863, he defeated incumbent

William Bacon Wright William Bacon Wright (July 4, 1830 – August 10, 1895) was a prominent Confederate politician. He was born in Muscogee County, Georgia and later moved to Texas. He represented that state in the First Confederate Congress The 1st Confederat ...

for a seat in the Confederate House of Representatives in the

Second Confederate Congress The 2nd Confederate States Congress, consisting of the Confederate States Senate and the Confederate States House of Representatives, met from May 2, 1864, to March 18, 1865, during the last year of Jefferson Davis's presidency, at the Virginia S ...

. In Congress, Morgan generally supported strengthening the Confederate central government, although he opposed certain agricultural taxes. While traveling to the second session of the Second Confederate Congress, Morgan died of pneumonia at Monticello, Arkansas.

Biography

Morgan was born in 1821 in

Rutherford County, Tennessee Rutherford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located in Middle Tennessee. As of the 2021 census, the population was 352,182, making it the fifth-most populous county in Tennessee. A study conducted by the Univers ...

, although the exact date is not known. The details of his early life are obscure, and little is known about him in general. He moved to Paris, Texas, in 1844 and then later to Clarksville, working as a lawyer. The historians Ezra J. Warner and W. Buck Yearns state that Morgan "became one of the most prominent citiznes of Clarksville and its vicinity". He was involved in the promotion of the Memphis, El Paso and Pacific Railway, and spent some time as the railroad's president, in addition to farming. On September 7, 1852, he married a sister of Rufus K. Garland and

Augustus H. Garland Augustus Hill Garland (June 11, 1832 – January 26, 1899) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician from Arkansas, who initially opposed Arkansas' secession from the United States, but later served in both houses of the Congre ...

, although she died on March 1 of the next year. Morgan remarried in 1859 to a Tennesseean named Laura. The couple had one daughter, who was reported to be one month old at the time of the 1860 United States census. In November 1863, Morgan was elected to the

, over the incumbent

. Warner and Yearns state that the election was "evidently based upon personalities rather than issues". The seat was for Texas's 6th District in the Confederate States House of Representatives. Morgan only attended the first session of the Second Confederate Congress, where he opposed certain agricultural taxes, but otherwise supported strengthening the Confederate national government's ability to continue the American Civil War. The historian Jon L. Wakelyn states that Morgan was part of the Impressment and Judiciary committees in the Confederate Congress, while Warner and Yearns only list the Judiciary committee. He generally did not engage in congressional debate. Morgan developed pneumonia while he was in en route to the next congressional session, which was to be held at

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. He died at Monticello, Arkansas, on December 15, 1864, and was buried in the family plot in Clarksville. Morgan's son-in-law was

Albert B. Fall Albert Bacon Fall (November 26, 1861November 30, 1944) was a United States senator from New Mexico and the Secretary of the Interior under President Warren G. Harding, infamous for his involvement in the Teapot Dome scandal; he was the only pers ...

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Simpson Harris 1821 births 1864 deaths People from Rutherford County, Tennessee People from Clarksville, Texas Members of the Confederate House of Representatives from Texas 19th-century American politicians Deaths from pneumonia in Arkansas