Merchant, Indian agent, and western promoter.

Apprenticed to the Philadelphia firm Baynton & Wharton (c. 1756); partner in the firm Baynton, Wharton, & Morgan (1763). Traveled to the Illinois country to supervise the firm’s frontier operations (1766-67). Indian agent for the Continental Congress at Fort Pitt (1776). Deputy commissary general for the Western District (1777-79). Settled at “Prospect,” in Princeton, New Jersey (1779); hosted Congress there (1783). Traveled to Louisiana and attempted to establish an American colony under Spanish government at New Madrid (1788-89). Later retired to his estate “Morganza” in western Pennsylvania. Member of the American Philosophical Society. Interested in scientific farming, beekeeping, and pharmacology.

Son of Evan and Joanna (Biles) Morgan of Philadelphia; brother of Dr. John Morgan. Married Mary Baynton (1764); eleven children, including John Morgan, Jr.