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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
MORGAN, John Pierpont,
Master Financier.
Celtic in origin, the name Morgan, in
the principality of Wales, is older than
the advent of the Saxon race or language.
The derivation has not heen conclusively
determined, hut Dixon, an English author-
ity on surnames, says that it means by
sea, or by the sea, which is probably as
nearly accurate as any explanation may
be. The name is allied to the Scotch
ccann mor, meaning big head, or perhaps
headland. Another possible derivation is
from the Welsh more can, meaning sea
burn, which is not essentially different
from the former interpretation, by the sea.
The name was common at the time of the
Conquest, and appears in the Domesday
Book and in the Battle Abbey Roll.
In the latter part of the sixteenth cen-
tury the family from which were derived
the ancestors of the American branch
moved from Wales to Bristol, England.
The immediate family of Miles Morgan,
who came to Massachusetts, was of Glamorganshire,
Wales, and there is reason
to believe that his father was William
Morgan. Among the early families of the
American pioneers there was tradition of
a little book owned by James Morgan, the
brother of Miles Morgan, dated before
1600, and inscribed with the name of Wil-
liam Morgan, of Llandaff. Other evidence
in the shape of antique gold sleeve buttons
stamped "W. M.," in the possession of
James Morgan, pointed in the same conclusion,
and these were said to have been
an heirloom from William Morgan, of
Llandaff.
.Inns—Or, a griffin segreant sable.
('rest—A reindeer's head couped or, attired
gules.
Motto—Onward and Upward.
(I) Miles Morgan, who founded the
family of his name in New England, was
born probably in Llandaff, Glamorganshire,
Wales, about 1615. Accompanying
his older brother, James Morgan, who
settled in New London, Connecticut, and
John Morgan, who went to Virginia, he
sailed from Bristol, England, and arrived
in Boston in April, 1636. His first resi-
dence was in Roxbury, and there it is be-
lieved he remained some years. Subse-
quently he joined the company which, led
by Sir William Pynchon, had founded
Agawam (Springfield) on the Connecti-
cut river. It is not a historical certainty
that he was with the first company which
went inland from Boston, or that he was
one of the founders of Agawam. That
place was established in 1636, and the
name of Miles Morgan appears on the
records in 1643, showing that he was
there before that time, but how long before
is not known.
He became one of the leading men of
Agawam. He acquired an extensive tract
of land, and was also a trader, sailing a
vessel up and down the river. One of the
few fortified houses in Agawam belonged
to him, and he was one of the leaders of
the militia, having the rank of sergeant.
In all the fighting in which the little
settlement was engaged to protect itself
from the attack of the surrounding sav-
ages, he was much depended upon for his
valor and his skill as a soldier. When,
during King Philip's War, in 1675, tne