The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-06-12


 old, and settled in Calhoun county. He
 read law in the office of William P. Chil-
 ton and was admitted to the bar in 1s45.
 In 1855 he moved to Dallas county, To-
 cated first in Selma, then In Cahaba. He formed a partnership with William M
 Byrd, and maintained this connection un- til the latter was raised to the supreme
 court bench.
 In 1860 he was named as one of the
 electors at large on the Breckenridge Lane electoral ticket, ticket that car ried in Alabama. In his canvass as an elector he laid the foundation of his reputation as orator of the first rank.
 In 1861 he was elected delegate from Dallas county to the state convention
 that passed the ordinance of secession,
 and still further increased his fame
 among Alabamians as debater, by his speeches in that body. He joined the Confederate army in May, 1861. as pri-
 vate in Company 1, Cahaba Rifles, and when that company was assigned to the Fifth Alabama regiment. under Col. ROD ert E. Rodes, he was elected maJor, ana , was afterward lieutenant colonel of that regiment. He was commissioned in lS62 as a colonel and raised the Fifty-hrst Alabama regiment. He was appointed | brigad.er general in 1S63 and assigned to | brigade in Virginia. He resigned, how | ever, to rejoin the regiment he had as- | sisted in raising, it's colonel having in
 the meantime been killed in battle. In
 1865 he waI again appointed brigadier | general and was then assigned to an | Alabama brigade that included his regi- l ment He returned to Selma after the l war and resumed the work of his pro- | fession and at once entered upon large 1 practice Being nominated as a presi- | dential elector at large In lSi6 he asah 1 canvassed the state and renewed the | hn haH at | teen years before As a result of his 1 splendid canvass he was elected the en- | suing winter a member of the United States Senate, defeating George $. Hous- | ton, who was then governor of the state
 He served continuously as senator rom | Alabama until his death.
 In the Senate General Morgan was 1 confessedlv a leader, and an eminent | one. He was a great student and an in- | defatigable worker, and had the power 1 or argument and statement that was | fairly amazing If he had any weakness l 1t was the readiness with which he poured l out the wealth of ideas on all the lead 1 ing subjects mooted in the Senate. In | the matter of the Behring Sea dispute | wi,h England he spoke for four days i and there Is probably not in the annals ! of Congress a finer example than this 1 speech of sustained, untring application | of mind to a master subject. He recalled | by his readiness and cOpiOuSneSS the | great lights of the Senate in older times, | and exceeded them all as any great Sen | ator of today, in the wider knowledge | and broader scope of vision necessary ! to fairly weigh and judge the immense | and multiform national interests of the | onited States.
 | Senator Morgan was nominated for his fifth term not only by caucus of the | democratic party. but also by meeting | of ths republican and populist parties | who differed with him politically, and in | November, 1900. was chosen by unan- | imous vote of the state senate and house <, Or representatives for his fifth term. In | 1907 he was reelected unanimously to | serve a sixth term.