Colonel Morgan Morgan (November 1, 1688 — November 17, 1766) was an American pioneer. He was thought to have founded the first permanent settlement in present-day West Virginia at Cool Spring Farm .
22-544: Little direct evidence of Morgan's early life and education has survived. His birth date seems to have been November 1st, 1688 because Morgans Chapel at Bunker Hill , which he helped to found, recorded the following upon his death: "Colonel Morgan died November 17, 1766 aged 78 years November 1st." No British records have been found of where he was born or when or how he came to America, but according to American records he seems to have been born in Glamorganshire , Wales during
44-534: A Bicentennial project in 1976, using many of its original logs. Now a historically furnished museum, it also serves as headquarters of the Morgan Cabin Committee. The state of West Virginia erected several monuments to Morgan nearby. Near the town center and a bridge over Mill Creek is Morgan Park , which has a large monument erected to honor the first settler in 1924, as well as two historic markers. Both Morgan and George Washington are also remembered at
66-638: A merchant, he was also a magistrate. He has been claimed to have been an ordained Church of England clergyman , and one who established a church in Westminster County in 1727, but there is no evidence to support this. Morgan is often incorrectly cited as having arrived at present-day West Virginia in 1727, although he was still living in Delaware at that time, acting as the coroner of New Castle County . His first land transaction on record dates from November 20, 1723, when he bought 245 acres (0.99 km) for
88-688: A residence in the 1930s, and only the millrace remains of the Gray Mill. The Bunker Hill Mill, a gristmill that contains 19th and 20th centuries milling equipment, is the only one still in operating condition. That mill constructed in 1738 was rebuilt in 1890 and is now the only mill in the state featuring dual water wheels. A small Civil War skirmish between the Union Army and the Confederate Army occurred near Bunker Hill on July 17, 1861. Also Confederate General J. Johnston Pettigrew of North Carolina
110-401: Is R-M269. A project donor who traced his paternal line to Lewis Morgan of Rhea County, Tennessee also has the haplogroup R-M269. The donor is a descendant of Mary Morgan, a widow who brought her children Lewis, John, George Washington, Willis, and likely a daughter named Mary Morgan from South Carolina to Rhea County Tennessee c. 1800 . No primary source records stating or implying
132-458: Is the oldest Episcopal church congregation in West Virginia. In 1741 Morgan Morgan , one of West Virginia's earliest settlers, built the original log church on this site, about halfway between his cabin and the mill. Soon a cemetery was established. The current Greek Revival building was constructed in 1851. Morgan Morgan I, II, III, and IV are all buried in the church cemetery, although
154-741: The American Civil War , both Union and Confederate troops encamped nearby and some in the chapel, as shown by recently uncovered graffiti. The diocese is currently seeking funds for further restoration. The closest local Episcopal parish is now Grace Episcopal Church in Middleway, West Virginia , several miles eastward on the Middleway Pike. Until recently, that parish had used this chapel for at least one worship service each year (in September); other denominations and special events occasionally used it until
176-766: The Morgan Chapel and Graveyard less than 2 miles from the town center, en route to the Morgan cabin. Near the Virginia state line, Payne's Chapel United Methodist Church was founded in 1762, rebuilt in brick and dedicated in 1851, but burned down of unknown causes in 1902, only to be rebuilt and rededicated three years later. Several other historic United Methodist churches still stand along Route 11(the Winchester Highway) beginning with Bunker Hill United Methodist Church in town, then Inwood and Darkesville United Methodist churches to
198-480: The confluence of Torytown Run and Mill Creek , a tributary of Opequon Creek which flows into Winchester, Virginia . According to the 2000 census , the Bunker Hill community has a population of 5,319. At Bunker Hill in 1726, Colonel Morgan Morgan (1687-1766) founded the first permanent settlement of record in the part of Virginia that became West Virginia during the American Civil War , although that cabin
220-462: The Civil War. Bunker Hill's Mill Creek Historic District includes Morgan Park and structures abutting Mill Creek for about five miles, and so includes the town's and Berkeley County's earliest industrial center, three bridges (including the county's first railroad bridge), four mills, and several old residences (including former log cabins and stone structures, some in ruins). The Sherrard Mill became
242-722: The Peace', meaning that he was a magistrate . He probably received a Patent for 1,000 acres (4.0 km) '[i]n the Forks of the Rappahannock River & Westwood of Sherrando River' on December 12, 1734. The long-standing claim that he was the first permanent resident there is, however, doubtful. In fact, the area now known as Shepherdstown, West Virginia , was probably settled by German-speaking immigrants as early as 1727. Morgan died at Bunker Hill , Berkeley County, now in West Virginia , and
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#1732887213744264-560: The historic marker for Morgan Morgan is over a mile away near the town center and mill. Morgan Morgan's descendants later founded Morgantown, West Virginia . Also buried in the graveyard is noted American portrait artist John Drinker (1760–1826), a Quaker who may have been a conductor on the Underground Railroad along with his wife Elizabeth and whose former house is also on the National Register of Historic Places. During
286-568: The identity of the patriarch of the family have been found. The maiden name of his wife Mary is also unproven. Autosomal DNA matches suggest that the Rhea County descendants could be among the "lost tribe" descendants of Charles Morgan or Henry Morgan. Morgans Chapel at Bunker Hill Morgan Chapel and Graveyard – also known as Christ Episcopal Church-Bunker Hill – is a historic church in Bunker Hill , Berkeley County, West Virginia . It
308-520: The price of 70 pounds . Almost the whole of this land was cultivable. In 1924, a committee appointed by the Governor of West Virginia determined that the first crude shelter erected by William G. Morgan Great Grandson of Morgan Morgan was built on the Morgan Acres property. Morgan Morgan arrived in what is now West Virginia in 1731. In January 1734, he, among others, was appointed to the 'Commission of
330-458: The reign of William III . Morgan Morgan emigrated to the America as a single man at the age of 24, probably during the last years of the reign of Queen Anne . Arriving in Delaware in about 1712 or 1713, he soon afterward got married, but no record of the date has been found. Morgan commenced business as a merchant at the place now known as Christiana . Some Quaker records record that Morgan Morgan
352-525: The restoration commenced. Morgan Chapel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, Bunker Hill, West Virginia Bunker Hill is an unincorporated community in Berkeley County , West Virginia , United States, located in the lower Shenandoah Valley on Winchester Pike ( U.S. Route 11 ) at its junction with County Route 26 south of Martinsburg . It is the site of
374-464: The west. Another of the three churches in the historic district, Bunker Hill Presbyterian Church, was built in 1854, rebuilt after heavy damage in the Civil War, and rededicated in 1879. The historic Mt. Tabor Baptist Church, founded in the 1780s slightly outside the modern town (now in Lewisburg, West Virginia ), transferred from a white congregation to a black congregation, with judicial permission, after
396-572: Was appointed as executor of the will of the Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania. At that time what we now know as Delaware was a part of Pennsylvania. Since the trade guilds were very strong in England, one wonders if he learned the tailoring trade in London, from his father, or if he bypassed the law in the new country and started a combined mercantile and tailoring business. As well as working there as
418-559: Was buried in the Morgan Chapel Graveyard . Morgan Morgan held military and civil positions in colonial Virginia which entitled his female descendants to membership in the Colonial Dames of America . Col. Morgan and his wife Catherine Garretson had the following issues: The MORGAN Surname Y-DNA Project has among the donor test subjects, a man with the surname Morgan who traced his paternal line to Morgan Morgan. His haplogroup
440-516: Was destroyed in the French and Indian War . Morgan's kinfolk rebuilt the cabin before the American Revolutionary War , and Tory sympathizers killed Morgan's grandson James Morgan near the cabin on what became known as Torytown Creek about four miles outside the Bunker Hill town center, on Runnymeade Street (a/k/a County Route 26 west of town). That cabin (now a small state park) was restored as
462-421: Was educated at Cambridge University and went to Delaware as Crown Council. In 1713, Morgan married Catherine Garretson in what is now New Castle County, Delaware. Their first child, James, was born in the fall of 1715, and this is recorded in the church register. Morgan evidently arrived with some money and had a very respectable social standing, for the early records list him as a merchant and tailor, and in 1717 he
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#1732887213744484-512: Was mortally wounded during his army's retreat to Virginia a few days after the Battle of Gettysburg while redirecting troops from the flooded crossing at Falling Waters, West Virginia , and died at Edgewood Manor in Bunker Hill on July 17, 1863. Bunker Hill has its own post office, which uses the 25413 ZIP code . Its location between Martinsburg and Winchester , Virginia along Interstate 81 and U.S. Route 11 led to residential growth beginning in
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