Person:Curtis Morgan (1)

Curtis Morgan, son of George and Tacy Knipe Morgan was born at Willoughby, Butler County, Iowa on March 21, 1869. That spring he traveled with his parents to reside temporarily with George's sister, Mary Thomas in Spirit Lake, Iowa. In the spring of 1870 they left Spirit Lake to take up residence in the newly prepared sod home on the homestead in Jackson county, Minnesota. There he grew up on the prairie herding cattle and attending school as the short terms were offered in that day. Very early in life he learned to twist slough hay to heat the home and help with various chores so vital for existence in the area so devoid of conveniences. In 1880, at the age of 11, he worked all summer leading a team of oxen to and from Worthington, hauling lumber for construction of the Roche place, commonly called "Roche's Roost.". At age 21, he went to work for Mr. Roche under the foreman, Mr. Mitchell. He worked there until he was married. Mr. Roche had buildings erected on the eighty acres just north east of Round Lake on the north side of the road.

It is difficult to comprenhend that in the sod house and early log cabin era, Spirit Lake was the nearest town for supplies. When the railroad went through Worthington there was a stage coach with a run from spirit Lake to Worthington carrying mail and passengers. A small entry at the east end of the Morgan log cabin used for storage was often used as a sleeping place for the folks following the trail from Spirit Lake to Worthington. A pike of hay placed on the dirt floor with horse blankets thrown over it served as a bed. In 1870 it was said by the settlers that only one white family, a woman and her three sons, lived west between the Round Lake settlers and Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Curtis Morgan as written by Edith Morgan Willardson

Curtis was born in Butler County, Iowa on March 21, 1869. In May of 1870 he was brought by his parents to the homestead farm in Jackson County, Round Lake Township, Section 6, three miles North of Round Lake on the county line road, now known as County Highway 264, in a covered wagon with a team of horses.

They lived in a dug out made of logs and dirt with a dirt floor. For heat, they used twisted hay. To the West, a neighbor lady and three son’s lived, to the East was Jackson. Curtis walked to Jackson many times.

In the spring of 1881, Curtis hauled lumber for Mr. O. H. Roche, when he was only 11 years old traveling from Worthington with the oxen to build what became known as the Roche Farm. He received a dollar a day for his work.

He also helped build the Round Lake First Presbyterian Church and helped raise the bell.

Just a short way from the house, the stagecoach passed going from Worthington to Spirit Lake. The first stop was for dinner at a place known as the Tommy Tuffered place.

Curtis plowed and marked out the Round Lake Cemetery for which he received a new plow for his labor.

There was a great deal of trapping done. Some of the sloughs looked like fields of cocked hay since there were so many muskrat houses in those days. There were no sloughs drained then. Curtis caught as many as 40 muskrats a day and sold the hides for 4 cents each. When he caught mink, the hides were worth 35 cents. He often sold furs to men passing by in the stagecoach. Fishing was very good. It took only a short time to catch many fish on the North Shore of Round Lake. Also, a great deal of fishing was done through the ice during the winter.

Curtis saw many prairie fires, always hard to keep a good fire break since many were burned out because of the grassy prairie. Curtis also saw the James Brothers with their beautiful horses often as they passed Curtis and Elise's place.

After Curtis married Caroline Elizabeth (Elise) Antritter, they settled on a farm in the Round Lake vicinity, farming until November 1941 when they moved to Round Lake. Curtis and Elise were the parents of Frieda, Clara, Florence, Paul, and William. Curtis died February 20, 1960. He was blind from Glaucoma.

Curtis Morgan as taken from the Biographical History Book

Curtis Morgan was born in Butler County, Iowa, on March 21, 1869. A year later, he was brought by his parents to their homestead in Round Lake township. The trip was made by covered wagon to their first home, a dugout made of logs, with a dirt floor.

Mr. Morgan, as an early pioneer, saw many firsts. He watched the survey of the railroad from Worthington to Round Lake. He saw the railroad built to the town, and he saw the first house built in Round Lake. He helped build the First Presbyterian Church. The stagecoach from Worthington to Spirit Lake came just a short distance from their home with a dinner stop at the Tom Tufffered place.

In the spring of 1881, Mr. Morgan hauled lumber for O. H. Roche when he built his home on the shores of Round Lake. For this work, Curtis then 11 years old, received one dollar per day. He was given a new plow for helping lay out the Round Lake cemetery. His grandfather, Richard Morgan, was the second person buried there.

Like other pioneers, Curtis and his family trapped muskrats and other small animals to supplement their income, catching as many as forty muskrats a day. Many of the buyers were stagecoach passengers.

Curtis married Caroline Elizabeth (Elise) Antritter and the couple farmed until November of 1941 when they moved to Round Lake. He died February 20, 1960.

Children of the couple were Frieda, Clara, Florence, Paul, and William.

Morgan is both a given name and a surname, as well as the name of many places. The word is an anglicized form of the traditional Welsh name, Morcant. Morcant was a traditional boys given name in Wales, but Morgan is used only for girls.[1] The surname Morgan traces its origin from the powerful Welsh family established c. 1330 by Morgan ap Llewelyn, (son of Llewelyn ap Ifor, Lord of St. Clere, and Angharad, daughter and heiress of Sir Morgan ap Maredudd (Meredith), Lord of Tredegar) and is of Welsh origin, meaning either "borne from the sea" or "great circle". However, Morgan traces back even further than 1330 in Ireland, it was a combination of Moore and Mongan.[citation needed] It is a popular family name in Wales, as well as there being a group of Morgans from "Morgund". It is possible that the name was Celtic from the Cornovii Tribe who lived in the North of Scotland and in the Severn Valley near the Wrekin in Shropshire. The County of Glamorgan is named after the Princes of South Wales named Morgan, a group, part of which developed into the name Leyshon. The term for water sprites in Welsh is morgans.

At the time of the British Census of 1881 [1], the frequency of the surname Morgan was highest in Brecknockshire (over 16 times the national average), followed by Monmouthshire, Glamorgan, Carmarthenshire, Radnorshire, Montgomeryshire, Cardiganshire, Pembrokeshire, Herefordshire and Shropshire.

The Morgan Society[2] was formed in 1994 to help Morgans trace their history, genealogy and emigration. Many Welsh families emigrated to Australia, Canada and the USA, thus many founding families in those countries carried the surname Morgan, which is reflected in a number of place names. The name "Morgen" is also prevalent in Germany and France deriving from the German for the amount of land that could be ploughed in a morning. Morgon wine is produced in the Beaujolais region of France. Morgan le Fay is the half-sister of King Arthur.