James B. Morgan
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters". James Bright Morgan (March 14, 1833 – June 18, 1892) was an American lawyer, politician, and Confederate Civil War veteran who served three terms as a U.S. Representative from Mississippi 1885 to 1891.
After leaving Congress, he returned to his legal practice but was murdered by an opposing counsel in 1892.
Early life and career
He was born near Fayetteville, Tennessee and moved with his parents to De Soto County, Mississippi in 1840, settling in Hernando. He received an academic education and studied law. Morgan was admitted to the bar in 1857, and practiced in Hernando.
In 1857 he was elected probate judge of De Soto County and he served until 1861, the outbreak of the Civil War.
Civil War
During the Civil War, Morgan enlisted in the Confederate States Army, initially as a private. He eventually received a commission and progressed through the ranks, becoming major of the Twenty-ninth Mississippi Infantry. He attained the rank of colonel before the end of the war.
After he war, he returned to his law practice and was once again elected probate judge of De Soto County.
Political career
Morgan was elected to the Mississippi State Senate in 1876, and served until 1878 when he became Chancellor of the third chancery district, a post he held until 1882.
Congress
He was then elected as a Democrat to the Forty-ninth, Fiftieth, and Fifty-first Congresses (March 4, 1885 – March 3, 1891).
Retirement and death
After retiring from his political career he resumed the practice of law. He died near Horn Lake, Mississippi on June 18, 1892, and was interred at Hernando Baptist Cemetery.
Murder and aftermath
Morgan died when he was shot while on board a train traveling to Memphis, Tennessee;Template:Sfn his assailant was attorney Henry Foster.Template:Sfn Morgan and Foster had been opposing counsel in a lawsuit shortly before Morgan's death, which led to an argument between Foster and Morgan's son;Template:Sfn Morgan responded by administering a caning to Foster.Template:Sfn Foster retaliated by shooting Morgan.Template:Sfn
Foster was convicted at his first trial.Template:Sfn After a successful appeal resulted in a retrial, he was acquitted in 1894.Template:Sfn
References
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Sources
Newspapers
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External links
- Pages with script errors
- 1833 births
- 1892 deaths
- Confederate States Army officers
- Probate court judges in the United States
- Democratic Party Mississippi state senators
- Mississippi state court judges
- Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Mississippi
- People from Hernando, Mississippi
- People from Fayetteville, Tennessee
- Deaths by firearm in Mississippi
- 19th-century American judges
- 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives
- 19th-century members of the Mississippi Legislature