{"id":1335,"date":"2016-01-28T07:17:29","date_gmt":"2016-01-28T07:17:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/?page_id=1335"},"modified":"2020-07-02T06:11:05","modified_gmt":"2020-07-02T06:11:05","slug":"morgan-memories-congressman-james-morgan-jr","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/sample-page\/morgan-family\/morgan-memories-congressman-james-morgan-jr\/","title":{"rendered":"Congressman James Morgan, Jr."},"content":{"rendered":"

Morgan Memories \u2013\u00a0Congressman James Morgan, Jr.<\/h3>\n
\"United<\/a>

Looking east at the United States Capitol Building as it was circa 1811 \u2013 1814. This conjectural image was created by noted US Capitol Historian Glenn Brown in the year 1900.<\/p><\/div>\n

Less than 100 yards from my childhood bedroom is the final resting place for Major General James Morgan, Jr. \u2013 right next to his father Captain James Morgan, Sr.\u00a0 Recently I\u2019ve been trying to learn all I can about both James Morgan, Sr. and James Morgan, Jr. (alas, there are actually three James Morgans buried there!).\u00a0 They appear to have both been very interesting people who lived during and contributed to the birthing of the United States of America.\u00a0 Both fought in the American War for Independence, though James Morgan, Jr. was of a much lower rank at the time.\u00a0 It turns out that James Morgan, Jr. also had another prestigious title during his lifetime.<\/p>\n

James Morgan, Jr. was voted as a Congressman into the United States House of Representatives during the October 8 \u2013 9, 1810 general election in New Jersey. At this time, New Jersey had six (6) of the 139 congressional seats (4.3%); contrast this to 2016 where New Jersey has 14 of the 435 congressional seats (3.2%).<\/p>\n

In that October 8-9, 1810 election, there were 26 individuals from New Jersey running for the House of Representatives \u2013 a number which is kind of unheard of these days.\u00a0 New Jersey voters were to select six (6) from the 26 to represent New Jersey in the 12th<\/sup> Congress.\u00a0 The six were to be selected based on the highest number of popular votes received per individual.<\/p>\n

There were approximately 83,900 voters and the results of the election<\/a> had the top six selected by larger margins than the next highest vote recipient, i.e., the 7th<\/sup> highest vote recipient.\u00a0 The congressman elected with the highest number of votes was Adam Boyd who received 13,734 votes (16.4% of the vote).\u00a0 James Morgan, Jr. placed number six with 13,509 votes (16.1% of the vote).\u00a0 The next highest after James (i.e., the 7th<\/sup>) was a mere 524 votes (0.62%).\u00a0 All six elected individuals were part of the Democratic-Republican Party – which is not the same party as either of the present day major US political parties though historians appear to refer to it as the \u201cRepublican Party\u201d.\u00a0 This party was formed by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the late 18th<\/sup> century to counter Alexander Hamilton\u2019s Federalist Party and dominated in the early 1800s.\u00a0 After the 1820s, it pretty much faded away.<\/p>\n

James Morgan is referenced regarding the 1810 election on page 169 of the book, \u201cNew Jersey’s Jeffersonian Republicans: The Genesis of an Early Party Machine\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to Google Earth, it is 182.3 miles from James Morgan, Jr\u2019s final resting place to the portion of today\u2019s US Capitol, which was constructed in his time, and in which James Morgan, Jr. served.\u00a0 I found myself wondering what method of transportation he would have used to get from his estate in present day Morgan, NJ to Washington, DC.\u00a0 Remember, this was before there was any form of mechanically powered transportation, so it could only have been either horse drawn or by a sail boat \u2013 or a combination of both.\u00a0 It also worked out that James Morgan, Jr. was promoted to Major General of the Third Division New Jersey State Militia just two days before his first day at the new job in Washington, DC.\u00a0 The first day of the 12th<\/sup> Congress was November 4, 1811.\u00a0 James Morgan was promoted to Major General by New Jersey Governor Joseph Bloomfield (fourth Governor of NJ \u2013 Chris Christie is the 55th) and presented with a sword as a reward on November 2, 1811.\u00a0 I conclude this means he first stopped by way of Trenton on his way to Washington.<\/p>\n

I know of no records indicating where he stayed while serving in Washington though he was a wealthy man who likely did not stay in a tent! At that time, the city was very new.\u00a0 It was on August 19, 1791 \u2013 only 20 years earlier \u2013 when Pierre Charles L\u2019Enfant presented to President George Washington his plan for the city which would later be named for the first president.\u00a0 Two years later on September 18, 1793, President Washington laid the cornerstone for the US Capitol Building.\u00a0 The first portion of the Capitol building, the Senate \u201cNorth Wing\u201d was sufficiently complete enough as to allow for both the Senate and House to utilize the facility for the second session of the Sixth Congress by November 17, 1800.\u00a0 The House of Representatives\u2019 \u201cSouth Wing\u201d was available in 1811 \u2013 just in time for James Morgan, Jr.<\/p>\n

The 12th<\/sup> Congress was in office during the second half of the first term of President James Madison.\u00a0 James Madison authored the first 10 amendments to the US Constitution which are better known as the \u201cBill of Rights\u201d.\u00a0 He also co-authored \u201cThe Federalist Papers\u201d with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay.<\/p>\n

The Capitol Building Circa 1811<\/h4>\n

As of the time of this writing, the 114th<\/sup> congress is in session and does its business in the historic and quite large US Capitol building.\u00a0 In 1811, when James Morgan, Jr. served there, it was but only a small portion of what is now the present day building and predated the construction of the famous dome and the dome which preceded the current one.\u00a0 As can be seen in the image at the top of this page, there were two components making up the Capitol Building with a wooden structure connecting them.\u00a0 In the above image, the Senate portion is on the left and the House of Representatives portion is on the right. The wooden structure would later be replaced by the dome. Note that while the image shows a one story structure connecting the wings, this reference<\/a> indicates there were two levels to the connecting structure (see the \u201cView from the northeast..\u201d box in the section: \u201cImages and animations of the U.S. Capitol, exterior, 1803-1814\u201d).\u00a0 This same reference<\/a> also has interesting animations regarding the U.S. Capitol Building from that time period.\u00a0 The animation entitled \u201cAnimation dissolve from the Capitol in 2014 to the Capitol in 1814 and then to 1801.\u201d shows how the 1812 structure maps into the current one.<\/p>\n

Voting Record<\/h4>\n

This web site<\/a> provides information on how Congressman James Morgan, Jr. voted during his time in congress.<\/p>\n

According to this web site<\/a>, during his time in Congress, James Morgan participated in 253 of 314 votes (80.6%), missing 61 votes (19.4%).\u00a0 Missing this many votes was about the average for a Congressman in 1813.\u00a0 Note that the median for missed votes in the 114th<\/sup> Congress was 2.2% but we have airplanes now!<\/p>\n

Undoubtedly the most significant vote James Morgan, Jr. participated in, and voted \u2018Yea\u2019 for, was for the declaration of war against Great Britain which became known as “The War of 1812”.\u00a0 This was the first formal Declaration of War made by the young United States and the second war with its parent country within 40 years.\u00a0 The war decision was made by the House on June 4, 1812 after four days of closed door sessions followed by a vote of 79 to 49 (61% in favor).\u00a0 The Senate voted 19 to 13 (59% in favor) two weeks later on June 17.\u00a0 President Madison signed the bill the next day and the war \u201cofficially\u201d started on June 18, 1812.<\/p>\n

It is interesting to note that despite all of the conflicts the US has been involved with in the subsequent two centuries, there have been just 11 official Declarations of War made by the US Congress:<\/p>\n