Meet Your Revolutionary Neighbors
James Morgan
1734-1784
I was a militiaman whose family suffered greatly during the Revolution.
I was born near New York Harbor, in South Amboy, New Jersey, in 1734. My parents were Charles and Abigail Morgan, and I married Margaret Evertson on June 27, 1754.
Being so near New York and along the water, it was a good place for me to establish a pottery where I made stoneware and ceramic products, in the small town of Cheesequake. But during the Revolution, every man was asked to serve, and I left my business to join a company of my family, friends and neighbors, most of whom were boatmen and farmers.
My duties included reporting on the movements of British ship movements in New York Harbor, and taking custody of suspected runaway slaves. In 1777, I was in an engagement where I could have been killed or taken prisoner, but I was protected by my son James, who was badly wounded and taken prisoner for over a year. Later, in 1779, the British and other Loyalists ransacked my property.
Most horribly, my oldest son Nicholas was killed while on guard duty at the South Amboy shore in December 1782. We carried him home and he was buried with the honors of war and a great many people attending.
I lived for only a year after the end of the war, and died on February 26, 1784, at age 50.