Headstones in the Morgan Family Cemetery:
Front Row Left to Right: Elizabeth Morgan (Broken) & Charles Morgan Cemetery.
Second Row Right to Left: Ann Elizabeth Morgan (daughter), Theodore (son) and Sophronia Morgan (daughter-in-law), and Dr. Lawrence O. Morgan, M.D.

Morgan Mementos – Portraits of Charles and Elizabeth Morgan

One of the exciting aspects of writing about history are the occasional times when something significant appears out of nowhere. This is one of those instances. This website has discussed and written about ten generations of the Morgan family for nearly ten years (as of the time of this writing). While much has been learned about the individual family members, with still much to go, there are very few instances of images of any of the family members.

Until the date of this writing, we knew of two paintings of Morgan family members; one is of a husband and the other of his wife.  They have been identified as being Major General James Morgan, Jr. and his wife Catherine Van Brockle Morgan but there is controversy regarding whether they are actually paintings their grandson James Rutus Morgan and his wife Julia Hitchcock Morgan.

Thanks to the watchful gaze of our favorite New Jersey Historian, Randy Gabrielan, images of two of the Morgan family members have surfaced.  Paintings of Charles Morgan (click here), son of Major General James Morgan, Jr. and father of James Rutus Morgan, and his wife Elizabeth Blackwell Rockwell Morgan (click here) are contained within the collection of the Monmouth County Historical Association in Freehold.

Charles and Elizabeth Morgan lived in the Morgan Family residence on the Morgan family estate located somewhere in what is now present-day Morgan, NJ.  They had five children: James Rutus, Charles, Lawrence Osmar, Ann Elizabeth, and Theodore Blackwell.  The family was very well off due to the proceeds from the family clay pits and their extensive land/farm holdings. This allowed for most of the children to acquire first-class educations.  Charles the son became a lawyer and practiced in South Amboy.  Lawrence became a medical doctor who served as Assistant Surgeon for the 3^rd New Jersey Calvary during the Civil War then later as a doctor in South Amboy.

At age 19, James Rutus, the oldest child, hurriedly took over the administration of the estate from his father when Charles died at age 44.  James was at school when his father called for him shortly before Charles’ early death.  During James’ lifetime, much change was seen including the first bridge over Cheesequake Creek, the loss of the family homestead by fire, and the construction and opening of the New York and Long Branch Railroad (present-day NJ Transit North Jersey Coast Line).

The early death of Charles the father appears to have been the starting point for the decline of the family fortune leading ultimately to the 1891 Morgan v. Morgan court case and the 1893 sell-off of the majority of the estate.

How different would the Morgan / South Amboy area be if the Morgan family had not lost the estate they had held for nearly 200 years and 5 generations?

Charles and Elizabeth and all of the members of their family group, with the possible exception of their son Charles, are buried in the Morgan Family Cemetery in present-day Morgan.

Originally posted on December 09, 2018.