Charles Morgan - Clinton, CT
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 41° 16.660 W 072° 31.260
18T E 707618 N 4572545
A monument honoring railroad and shipping magnate Charles Morgan is located along US Route 1 near the Abraham Pierson School at 75 East Main Street, Clinton, CT.
Waymark Code: WMVN23
Location: Connecticut, United States
Date Posted: 05/07/2017
Views: 1
A 6 x 2 x 2 ft bronze statue of Charles Morgan depicts the 19th century businessman and founder of the Morgan School standing on top of a 6.5' by 2.5' by 2' granite base. He is wearing a business suit with bow tie and a long, double-breasted coat. His right arm is by his side and his left hand is on his hip.
The sculpture was created by Launt Thompson and cast at the Robert Wood & Co. Foundry of Philadelphia, PA. The monument was erected in 1876. The front of the base is inscribed:
CHARLES MORGAN
FOUNDER OF THE MORGAN SCHOOL
1871
ERECTED 1876
Charles Morgan was born on April 21, 1795 in Clinton, CT. He became a successful businessman in the import business by invested in a steamship line which traded in the West Indies. In the 1850s the New Orleans, Opelousas and Great Western Railroad ( N.O.O. & G.W.R.R. ) began construction. Because New Orleans was a major port for Morgan's steamship and he invested $2,050,000 in the railroad, seeing the benefit of moving his goods to the market in Texas. After the Civil War he purchased the railroad and renamed it the Morgan's Louisiana and Texas Railroad and Steamship Company.
Charles Morgan died on May 8, 1878 and is interred in a tomb in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY. Both the Morgan School in Clinton, CT, which he founded, and Morgan City, LA are named in his honor.