Edwin Denison MORGAN, Congress, NY (1811-1883)

MORGAN, Edwin Denison, (cousin of Morgan Gardner Bulkeley), a Senator from New York; born in Washington, Mass., February 8, 1811; moved with his parents to Windsor County, Conn., in 1822; attended the public schools and Bacon Academy, Colchester, Conn.; moved to Hartford, Conn., in 1828 and engaged in mercantile pursuits; member, city council of Hartford 1832; moved to New York City in 1836 and engaged in the wholesale grocery business, banking and brokerage; alderman of New York City 1849; member, State senate 1850-1855; State commissioner of immigration 1855-1858; chairman of the Republican National Committee 1856-1864; Governor of New York 1859-1862; during the Civil War served as major general of Volunteers in the Union Army 1861-1863, serving as commander of the Department of New York; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1863, to March 3, 1869; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1868; chairman, Committee on the Library (Fortieth Congress); chairman of the Republican National Committee 1872-1876; unsuccessful candidate for Governor in 1876; declined the office of Secretary of the Treasury in the Cabinet of President Chester Arthur in 1881; died in New York City, February 14, 1883; interment in Cedar Hill Cemetery, Hartford, Conn.

Bibliography

Dictionary of American Biography; Rawley, James A. Edwin D. Morgan: Merchant in Politics. New York: Columbia University Press, 1955.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present