Levi Morgan

Levi Morgan (born 26 June 1766 in Morgantown, West Virginia) is regarded as one of the greatest frontiersmen in West Virginia history.

His Grandfather was Colonel Morgan Morgan, a Welshman who is noted for being the first white settler in the hills of West Virginia. Levi never knew his famous Grandfather but did know his Grandmother. Levi's father, Colonel Zackquill Morgan, was a very prominent man who had the friendship of George Washington as well as others. The Morgans were merchants and wealthy landowners. Levi grew up around the Delaware Indians and spoke their language, but that did not keep him from siding with the whites. He took part in many Indian wars including one in Marion County, West Virginia.

Life

Levi Morgan born 26 June 1766, in Morgantown, West Virginia was the grandson of the first white settler of West Virginia, Colonel Morgan Morgan. The Colonel was named Morgan Morgan (actually old world style: Morgan ap Morgan or Morgan of Morgan) because he was the son of two Morgan parents. The Colonel was born in Wales in 1688 and died in November 1766. Levi was born in June 1766. The assumption was that Levi never knew his grandfather, only his grandmother, Catherine Garrettson. She died in 1773 when Levi was seven years old.

Levi's father was Colonel Zackquill Morgan, a man very prominent in the history of Virginia, especially during the Revolutionary period. Colonel Zackquill was born 1735, at Bunker Hill, Virginia (now Berkley County, West Virginia) where his father (Col Morgan Morgan) was a colonial fur trader and wealthy land owner. He is said by many to be the first white settler in the West Virginia area. Col Zack's wife (and Levi's mother) was Drucilla Springer; her Prickett-Springer family was also very rich in the history of Virginia-West Virginia area. Col. Zack was an acquaintance of General George Washington, who thought of Zackquill when a County Lieutenant was needed to settle what became Morgantown, Monongalia County, West Virginia.

The Colonel owned the land with rights to sell and settle (there are many deeds found in various published books to prove this statement). His wife and children each owned portions of this area, and they were also found in the deed books of both Harrison and Monongalia Counties (found by Jae and Dr. Tom Breitweiser on trips to Virginia and West Virginia.) After many years, most of this land is not owned by family members, but there are many allied descendants living in this area. Several people have worked to find the first wife of Levi and as of this date, no avail. The wedding date is known and the person performing the marriage is also known. [The Justice of Peace William Haymonds (who married them) was with Levi in the Militia, and his son wrote in his book that "Captain Levi Morgan was married 10th July 1793 by my father."] The place was West Virginia at possibly Fort Kerns, a stockade during the Indian troubles. He was often called "Spy Man" in records.

Levi's education is unknown; however, in the Draper Manuscripts (compiled by Lymnan Draper and found by Jae Breitweiser) a letter survives which Levi wrote and signed as "an Officer of the Government." He informed the local governor of some horse thieves and the pursuit of retrieving them; this letter was well written. It was known that he, unlike the typical frontiersman, could read and write. Therefore, he had some sort of education, possibly with tutors. I-Es grandfather, Col Morgan Morgan, was educated in London, and it was obvious that all of his children could read and write. There are wills, deeds and other public records that survive this group as proof Levi (according to Draper' information) could fluently speak the Delaware (Indian) language. Levi grew up around the Delaware Indians (his parents and grandparents were from the Delaware area and this possibly was how he learned to speak their language.)

He was an Indian Fighter most of his adult life, and several of his stories (including those crediting Simon Kenton in The Frontiersman) were included in the Allan W. Eckert books about this era. Eckert also used the Draper Manuscripts as one of his primary sources, such as the story about Levi and his brother James, when their Uncle David Morgan (an Indian Fighter) came to visit their father (Col Zack). In the book The Frontiersman, Eckert adapted this story about Simon Kenton. [We have the document directly from the Draper MSS about Levi, which proves that this is the same story!] Levi participated in many great battles and was also a Captain at Fort Paw Paw in Marion County, West Virginia.

In November of 1791, Levi was with General St Clair when he was defeated by the Indians. Over 600 of the 1,400 General Harmer men were killed and 271 wounded. The frontiersman (probably including Levi) tried to tell the generals how to fight the Indians (which they had done for some time successfully) but they would not listen. The formal British lines were used and of course, the battle lines did not hold. In some cases the British soldiers panicked as the Indians came at them howling loudly with painted faces and hatchets. Many were hacked to death or beheaded and many of the woolen uniformed British soldiers ran instead of retreating as a group. The result being the greatest defeat in America at that time.

The next year (1792) Kentucky became a state, and Levi and his two sons (David and John) came to this area some time before the 1820s. It seemed that the first (and possibly a second) wife was killed or died in West Virginia, Levi's oldest son, David, was named after Colonel Zackquill's brother, David the Indian Fighter and is our ancestor who married Martha Bunch. They later lived in Jeffersonville, Clark Co. Indiana (about 1832.) During the next several years Levi was in various military or militia battles. He possibly trained under Samuel Brady and Lewis Wetzel and became a "Spy" with General Anthony Wayne, who became known as "Mad Anthony." In 1795 his father Col Zackquill Morgan died.

From both Harrison and Monongalia Counties of West Virginia, various court recorders record Levi in these areas as a bail bondsman; he owned a grist mill in Catawba. Levi also testified in many court trials as a character witness; so apparently, he was well respected in these communities. He did not move from Monongalia to Harrison County; Harrison was formed from Monongalia in 1784. One of the most interesting court cases (found by Jae and Tom is Morgan vs Stealey, OS 82, NS28) in January 1802, this was the result of the entire Morgan family (of siblings etc.) being sued by Levi to regain his Morgantown, West Virginia, property and cabin. Levi (in 1799) had "gone down the river to New Orleans" with some boats belonging to a friend, but did not return until 1802. His family and others thought he had died. He sued, but over several years of court battles, gave up the lawsuit and eventually left West Virginia.

He married Elizabeth Graham in 1815, They moved to Kentucky, but in 1813, he was in the Kentucky militia and in the Battles in Vincennes. In 1813 Levi's mother, Drucilla Springer Morgan, signed a deed in Morgantown, which was the last time a document with her signature appeared. She may have died about this time. Levi left West Virginia soon after this time. However, some documents show that he was still in West Virginia, until 1818-22. His child with Elizabeth (Melinda, her first) but often called Solinda in old records, was born in Jefferson County, Kentucky, in 1818, and the other two children (sons, Springer Newton and Elias Graham) born within several years. The last known record which concerned Levi was a marriage bond in September 1825. He signed for his niece Catherine (daughter of his favorite brother James) to marry her cousin John H. Morgan in Jefferson County, Kentucky. John is the son of James, whose father was David the Indian Fighter, Levi's cousin. A lot of the Morgans had come to the Kentucky Indiana area by that time. Many other went to Illinois, others later to Oregon.

Levi hunted and trapped most of his life and may have lived on 650 acres near the Salt River and Ohio River. This was apparently one of his hunting grounds. In 1825 (sometime after September) he was hunting in this area and an early blizzard caught him unprepared. He was found some time later "frozen to death in a favorite tree," a camp hideout. In those days, Sycamore trees were large enough inside for a person to make camp. Levi was fifty-nine when he died. His last child, Elizabeth was born nearly eight months after his death. According to our ancestor, David, in the account he gave to Lymnan Draper in 1850, "Levi was 5'9", stocky built with black hair and had seven children." In the various accounts, Levi was buried near the spot he was found dead. Jae and I think this area became a part of the "eminent domain land" in Fort Knox, Kentucky. [His actual place of burial is not known. We do know he was not buried in the Fairdale, Kentucky, churchyard where most of his wife's descendants and their family are buried.) He was always the frontiersman, hunter, government spy, militiaman and Indian Fighter; and he died the way he lived, hunting and communing with nature.

Levi was found frozen to death, in Kentucky in 1825. A sad end for an epic life. A statue to Levi Morgan stands in the mid Ohio valley town of New Martinsville, Wetzel County, West Virginia.

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