Biography - MAXWELL W. MORGAN
Maxwell W. Morgan was a native of what is now West Virginia, where he was born in Lewis county, the son of Theodore and Lydia Morgan. His father was a native of Connecticut. Mr. Morgan first came to Edwards county in 1848. The same year, November 16, he was married to Mary Ann Shurtleff, daughter of Oliver Shurtleff. Oliver Shurtleff died where he lived, in Virginia. He had married Sarah Kingsley, a native of New England. His daughter, who became Mrs. Morgan, came to Edwards county in 1831 with the family of Ansel Philips. Immediately after marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Morgan returned to Virginia, where they resided five years, returning again to Edwards county. There were born to them eight children, four of whom are living, Olive Poppele, now in Mt. Pulaski, Illinois, Jennie Ford, George Cliff, a druggist in the village of Bone Gap, and Elmer Grant. Mr. Morgan was a farmer and a justice of the peace. He entered the army in September, 1862, in Company K, 124th Regiment, Ill. Vol. In the charge made upon Vicksburg the following year he was severely wounded, necessitating his return home in November following. In 1870 he was by a handsome vote elected Sheriff of the county, a position he filled with marked ability, and to which he was re-elected in 1872 During his second term of service he died, December 21, 1873. By his faithful discharge of every duty devolving upon him, and by his recognized ability, he had endeared himself to his fellow citizens, so that his death was universally lamented. Politically, he was an active, outspoken Republican, a leader in his party. He was an earnest advocate for temperance, being for years a member of the order of Sons of Temperance. Religiously his faith was deep and abiding. In the faith of the M. E. Church he lived and died triumphantly.
Extracted 12 Aug 2017 by Norma Hass from 1883 A Combined History of Edwards, Lawrence, and Wabash Counties, Illinois, page 218.
