William Albert Morgan (born Bandon,

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, March 6, 1841; died Hutchinson,

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

, March 24, 1917) was an Irish-American newspaper publisher, politician and prominent citizen of the state of Kansas.

Early years

Morgan's father James Morgan was an Irish wool comber, farmer and stock raiser. He came to America in 1847 with his four sons after the death of his wife Katherine in 1845, settling in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. William Morgan was educated in the public schools and at thirteen entered a printing office to learn that trade. During the Civil War he served in the 23rd Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, rising to be a first lieutenant after 3 years service.

Life in Kansas

Morgan returned to the printing business and remained in Cincinnati until 1871, when he moved to Cottonwood Falls,

and started the ''Chase County Leader'' newspaper, continuing it until his retirement in 1903. He was a Republican and in 1879 he represented Chase County in the state legislature. From 1893-5 he was a

state senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

, active in promoting

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

. In 1891 he was part of a government commission which negotiated a treaty with the

Paiute Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three groups do not form a single set. The term "Pai ...

residents of the

Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Reservation is a United States reservation in northwestern Nevada, approximately northeast of Reno, in Washoe, Storey, and Lyon counties. It is governed by the federally recognized Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, whi ...

in Nevada; the treaty was never ratified by Congress. Morgan was involved with the

Grand Army of the Republic The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (U.S. Navy), and the Marines who served in the American Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Decatur, Il ...

, serving as commander of the Department of Kansas 1908-9. He was a long-time member and director of the Kansas Historical Society.''Twenty-First Biennial Report of the Board of Directors...'' (1917-1919), Kansas Historical Society, Topeka, Kansas: Imri Zumwalt, 1919, p. 18-19.

Family

Morgan married Wilhelmina Yoast (1843-1910) in 1864. She was active in many social and political organizations, working for woman suffrage and prohibition, and was elected mayor of Cottonwood Falls in 1885 on a prohibition platform. They had two children, Anna Morgan Coe (1871-1953) and

William Yoast Morgan William Yoast Morgan (April 6, 1866 – February 17, 1932) was an American newspaperman, author and politician who served as the 21st Lieutenant Governor of Kansas from 1915 to 1919 under Governor Arthur Capper. He was a member of the Republican ...

(1866-1932), lieutenant governor of Kansas from 1915-1919.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, William Albert People from Bandon, County Cork Irish emigrants to the United States People from Chase County, Kansas 19th-century American newspaper publishers (people) Republican Party members of the Kansas House of Representatives Republican Party Kansas state senators 1841 births 1917 deaths 19th-century American legislators Temperance activists from Kansas Grand Army of the Republic officials 19th-century Kansas politicians