Searching for 2GGF Jacob Coleman Morgan
It all began with a black and white
photograph of J. Coleman's son, William Thomas Morgan. The image
shows William standing next to another man with a typed caption that
reads “William T. Morgam & Alf Star---”. The crumpled
label obscures the man's last name. He and my great grandfather
William stand against a cloth backdrop; both are dressed in suits;
William wears a tie and Alf sports a button on his lapel. Although
William holds his hands behind his back, they are undoubtedly as
work-worn as his companion's. Farmers. They both sport bushy
mustaches that are greying; my great grandfather's looks almost
white.
But who was Alf? And why were they
posed together? I'd have to guess that the photo was taken around
the turn of the last century; they appear to be in their early fifties. My curiosity was piqued by the fact that my family tree of
over seventy-four hundred people did not include a single surname
beginning “Star---”. Until now.
My search for information on my
great-great grandfather, Jacob Coleman Morgan has been curiously
limited by a scarcity of records. I have an 1850 U.S. Census that
lists him as a 17-year old son of James and Athela Morgan. By the 1860 Census, he was listed in Doddridge County as 25 year old husband of L.J. and father of four children. I also
found his Civil War draft registration. By the time of the 1870 Census, Jacob's wife had remarried, merging five of their six Morgan children** into the Swiger household. And, although I have acquired
other records, they are probably not for “our” Jacob. (There are
at least six Jacob Morgan's in our family tree alone but he seems to
be the only Jacob C., and was known as “Coleman.”)
Although my “pre-internet” family
tree (based on my father's excellent memory) records Jacob Coleman's
death in 1869, modern technology now provides huge archives of
information to aid in the refinement of facts that were originally
passed down as inter-generational oral history. Data now suggests
that my great-great grandfather most likely died sometime between the
autumn of 1862 (when his youngest child was conceived) and
the autumn of 1865 (when his widow Louisa Jane remarried widower
Absalom “Abb” Swiger). And, although it appears that he died
during the time of the Civil War, I have not been able to find any verifiable record of
military service for Jacob C. Morgan. Or, for that matter, any
family stories about him.
My great grandfather William Thomas
Morgan would have known his father's story. He may even have passed
it on to his grandson, my father Thomas Morgan Glover. But family
oral history is often silent on stories difficult to tell. Some family stories were destined to be passed
on, others were not. Jacob Coleman's story may have been one of the
latter.
While searching for information on
Jacob Coleman, I found what appeared to be an unrelated story of
three young soldiers named Starkey. There was no mention of J.
Coleman, but their story was intriguing ...especially by the fact
that their surname started with “Star---” as in the photograph.
I still don't know why their Civil War story emerged during this
specific search for my great-great grandfather, but it provided the
lead to expand my Morgan family line a little more in search of any
Starkey connections within it. And there were.
The Morgan-Starkey Connections:
The Morgans are related to the Starkeys
through the family of LEVI, SR. and MARY REBECCA (MERRICK) STARKEY.
Three of their sons, Samuel, Levi W. F., and Charles were, in turn,
the fathers of the three Starkey cousins of the Civil
War story I found. (Just to keep family gatherings interesting, all
three men also had sons named Samuel, Levi, and Charles.) Our
Morgan/Williams family connects through two of LEVI, SR.'s sons:
- Samuel (born 1791), whose daughter Matilda married Isaac Williams -the uncle of Louisa Jane, wife of Jacob Coleman Morgan. Matilda's brother John T. Starkey was one of the three Starkey Civil War cousins. This means that John T. was the brother of Louisa Jane's aunt.
- Levi W. F. (born 1806), who married J. Coleman's aunt, Sarah Jane (Price), sister of his mother Athela (Price) Morgan. His son Levi W. was a first cousin to J. Coleman and the second of the three Starkey Civil War cousins.
- [The third brother, Charles (born 1803) was the father of the third cousin, Curtis Merrick Starkey.]
The Civil War story of these three
Starkey cousins is detailed in an excellent online essay entitled
“The Blood of Farmers” written in 1997 by Randy Starkey.
This carefully researched and tragic story is well worth reading in
its entirety at: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wvwetzel/Starkey.htm
.
According to Mr. Starkey's research,
“Private
Curtis M. Starkey, wounded in the wilderness, died of his
wounds, in a Washington D.C. hospital on June 10, 1864. His body is
buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Section 27, Grave #533 in
Arlington, Virginia.Private Levi W. Starkey was treated and later released to return to his home in Marion County, West Virginia. He lived in that county for twenty five more years and later served as school commissioner in Mannington. He moved to Steubenville, Ohio in 1889 and died near there in 1903. It was reported he ultimately died from his battle wound. He is buried in Steubenville.
Private John T. Starkey was treated in a hospital in Washington D.C. He was granted a recuperative furlough in June 1864, to return in July 1864. He went home to his farm in Wetzel County, West Virginia. He failed to return from furlough. His official statement was that he had been too ill to return as required since he was being treated for pneumonia. The army, desperate for troops and unsympathetic, tracked him down. He was arrested at his farm on January 9, 1865, by Deputy United States Marshal Jesse T. Snodgrass. He was taken first to Wheeling, West Virginia, and then to Cumberland, Maryland, on January 12th. He was tried by General Court Martial, for desertion, on February 27, 1865, and found guilty. He was sentenced to be returned to his unit, under guard; to make up all time lost; and to forfeit ten dollars per month, of his private’s pay of thirteen dollars, for a period of twelve months.” (from “The Blood of Farmers,” Randy Starkey, 1997)
NOTE: John T. Starkey was
also the father of Alpheus “Alf Star---” Starkey pictured in the
photograph with William T. Morgan, “almost” second cousins. Both
men were born around 1858 -Alf in Wetzel County, William in
neighboring Doddridge County, in soon-to-be West Virginia. Both were
eldest sons of farmers and would become farmers themselves. They
both would have known their fathers' stories.
We may never know the full story of
William T.'s father, J. Coleman Morgan. In a nation where our liberties were
once defended in the farmers' fields, the hero's story has always
been the one we yearn to hear. But the bloody realities of the Civil
War yielded more heartaches than heroics for the men who had to lay
down the plow and shoulder the rifle, leaving behind their young
families and unplanted crops to defend a fractious national unity
with the "Blood of Farmers.”
**[NOTE: after publishing this post I was able to look back in the Doddridge County census records to find more Jacob C. and Louisa J. Morgan family information.
In 1860, Jacob and Louisa were both listed as age 25 with the following children: J.A. (male, age 5), S.A. (female, age 4), M.A. (female, age 3), and W.J. (male, age 2).
By the 1870 census, widowed Louisa Jane had married Absalom Swiger and the Morgan children in their household were: Sarah A., 14; Martha A., 13; William T., 11; Mary J., 9; and Caroline M. 6. -aka Amanda C.]
**[NOTE: after publishing this post I was able to look back in the Doddridge County census records to find more Jacob C. and Louisa J. Morgan family information.
In 1860, Jacob and Louisa were both listed as age 25 with the following children: J.A. (male, age 5), S.A. (female, age 4), M.A. (female, age 3), and W.J. (male, age 2).
By the 1870 census, widowed Louisa Jane had married Absalom Swiger and the Morgan children in their household were: Sarah A., 14; Martha A., 13; William T., 11; Mary J., 9; and Caroline M. 6. -aka Amanda C.]
