Junius Spencer Morgan II (June 5, 1867 – August 18, 1932) was a banker, art collector and nephew of John Pierpont Morgan, Sr.

Early life

Junius Spencer Morgan II was born on June 5, 1867 in

Irvington, New York Irvington, sometimes known as Irvington-on-Hudson,Staff (ndg"The Irvington Gazette (Irvington-On-Hudson, N.Y.) 1907-1969"Library of Congress is a suburban village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is loca ...

to George Hale Morgan (1840–1911) and Sarah Spencer Morgan (1839–1896), distant cousins. His mother and her brother,

John Pierpont Morgan John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became kno ...

, were two of the five children born to

Junius Spencer Morgan Junius Spencer Morgan I (April 14, 1813 – April 8, 1890) was an American banker and financier, as well as the father of John Pierpont "J.P." Morgan and patriarch to the Morgan banking house. In 1864, he established J. S. Morgan & Co. in L ...

(1813–1890), his grandfather, and Juliet Pierpont (1816–1884), the daughter of

John Pierpont John Pierpont (April 6, 1785 – August 27, 1866) was an American poet, who was also successively a teacher, lawyer, merchant, and Unitarian minister. His poem '' The Airs of Palestine'' made him one of the best-known poets in the U.S. in his da ...

(1785–1866). Junius II had a younger sister, Caroline Lucy Morgan (1873–1942), a philanthropist, who never married. He attended St. Paul's School in

Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2020 census the population was 43,976, making it the third largest city in New Hampshire behind Manchester and Nashua. The village of ...

, class of 1884, and graduated from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

with the class of 1888.

Career

Morgan was a banker and a partner in the firm of Cuyler, Morgan & Co. and retired in 1906.

Philanthropy

Morgan was a generous benefactor of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

in New York and gave many works to the (future) Department of Drawings and Prints from a broad range, dating mainly from the sixteenth century, including 2 woodblocks and many prints by

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer (; ; hu, Ajtósi Adalbert; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer (without an umlaut) or Due ...

in 1919. He was equally generous in his gifts to what is now the

Princeton University Art Museum The Princeton University Art Museum (PUAM) is the Princeton University gallery of art, located in Princeton, New Jersey. With a collecting history that began in 1755, the museum was formally established in 1882, and now houses over 113,000 works o ...

, many of whose strengths in collecting prints and drawings can be traced to Morgan. Some of his other graphic works were sold at Anderson Galleries, New York, February 18, 1921. Morgan was also a generous donor to his alma mater. When a student, he started collecting early editions of the Latin poet

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

, a collection he gave to the

Princeton University Library Princeton University Library is the main library system of Princeton University. With holdings of more than 7 million books, 6 million microforms, and 48,000 linear feet of manuscripts, it is among the largest libraries in the world by number of ...

in 1896, adding new volumes every year until his death in 1932. In January 1932, he was awarded the

Order of the Crown of Italy The Order of the Crown of Italy ( it, Ordine della Corona d'Italia, italic=no or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate the unification of Italy in 1861. It was awarded in five degrees for civi ...

by Signor Comandante Emanuele Grazzi, the Italian Consul General.

Personal life

Morgan was married to Josephine Adams Perry (1869–1963), the daughter of Brig. Gen. Alexander James Perry (1828–1913) and Josephine Adams (1834–1917), and the granddaughter of Nathaniel Hazard Perry (1803–1832), the brother of

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...

Oliver Hazard Perry Oliver Hazard Perry (August 23, 1785 – August 23, 1819) was an American naval commander, born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. The best-known and most prominent member of the Perry family naval dynasty, he was the son of Sarah Wallace A ...

and youngest son of

Christopher Raymond Perry Christopher Raymond Perry (December 4, 1761 – June 1, 1818) was an officer in the United States Navy who was appointed Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas for Washington County, Rhode Island, in 1780 and served until 1791. He was th ...

. From 1892 to 1897, they lived in Rye at the

Jay Estate The Jay Estate is a 23-acre park and historic site in Rye, New York, with the 1838 Peter Augustus Jay House at its center. It is the keystone of the Boston Post Road Historic District, a National Historic Landmark District (NHL) created in 1993. ...

, where their first child was born. Together, they had: * Sarah Spencer Morgan (1893–1949), who married Henry B. Gardner (1891–1932) in 1913. * Alexander Perry Morgan (1900–1968), who married Janet Croll (1901–1985) in 1921. On August 18, 1932, Morgan died of a heart attack in Valmont, Switzerland, while with his sister Caroline. His funeral was held at the American Cathedral Church of the Trinity in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, and he was buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery. The bulk of his estate was left to his two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Junius Spencer II 1867 births 1932 deaths American art collectors American bankers Burials at Cedar Hill Cemetery (Hartford, Connecticut) Morgan family People from Irvington, New York Princeton University alumni St. Paul's School (New Hampshire) alumni

Early life

Career

Philanthropy

Personal life

See also

References