If you have ever looked into the history of the state of West Virginia you probably recall the name Morgan Morgan, but might not remember why.
That’s understandable.
His name is hard to forget. His first and last name are the same. Morgan Morgan’s name is an example of a tautonym.
A tautonym is a name or a proper noun where the same word is used for both parts of the name. A tautonym is most commonly used in biology, it can also refer to people or places, too.
Today is the anniversary in 1735 of Morgan Morgan being commissioned as a Captain of Militia for the region that would become West Virginia. Morgan’s company evolved into the 201st Field Artillery, which is recognized as the oldest continuously active military unit in America.
Morgan is best known as West Virginia’s first permanent settler, but that’s only part of the story.
Morgan was born in Wales and had already been educated at Cambridge when he arrived in America at the age of 24 in 1712. Within a year of living in Delaware, Morgan had a wife and the first of eight kids, a son named James, was born a year later. Morgan set up shop as a merchant and as a tailor.
The West Virginia portion of Morgan’s story begins in the early 1730’s.
At that time, the land that would become West Virginia was a rugged, isolated frontier on the western edge of the British Colony of Virginia.
Most people who settled here were not English aristocrats but of German, Scotch-Irish, and Welsh descent, moving south from Pennsylvania rather than west from the Virginia coast.
The Colonial Government encouraged settlement in the Shenandoah Valley, including the Eastern Panhandle to create a buffer zone between the established plantations and the potential threats from French expansion and, of course, the Indians.
Bunker Hill in Berkeley County was one of the few spots with permanent cabins by 1735. The claim that Morgan was the actual first white settler is debatable, but he was clearly among the first and certainly the most memorable.
Morgan was a magistrate. He was also the state’s first licensed tavern keeper and a key figure in building the area’s first public road. In 1740, he helped establish Christ Episcopal Church, we know it today as Morgan’s Chapel in Bunker Hill, the first church in what is now West Virginia. Morgan was described as a pious man who integrating his spiritual life with his leadership roles.
Morgan died in 1766, but his influence on West Virginia remains to this day. His sons and grandsons fought in the Revolutionary War. His son Zackquill helped establish the city of Morgantown and had a homestead set up on what is now University Avenue in 1772.
Morgan Morgan, more than just an odd name, a significant figure in West Virginia history.