The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 56
A portrait of Robert S. Morgan appears in this publication.

ROBERT S. MORGAN.

A third of a century ago Robert S. Morgan came to the Yakima valley and through
the intervening period to the time of his death, which occurred in 1909, was
closely associated with its development and progress. He secured a homestead
claim and for a long period was engaged in the raising of vegetables and in the
conduct of a commission business and took the initial step along many lines
which have led to the further development and upbuilding of this section of the
state. He was born in Camden, Pennsylvania, January 24, 1847, and acquired a
public school education. With the call of the country to arms he enlisted in
1862, although but a youth of fifteen years, joining Company E of the Tenth
Missouri Infantry, with which he served until the close of hostilities,
participating in many hotly contested engagements in which he proved his valor
and his loyalty. After the war he resumed his residence in Missouri and there
for more than two decades was actively engaged in farming. In March, 1886,
however, he severed his connection with the middle west and came to Yakima
county, where he took up a homestead claim of one hundred and sixty acres three
miles west of the city of Yakima, on the Tieton drive. Mrs. Morgan and all her
children, nine in number, also made the long and hazardous trip, arriving here
in August, 1886. The homestead was a tract of arid land, all covered with
sagebrush, and it hardly seemed possible to transform it into productive fields
and fine orchards. He located upon this farm, however, in April, 1887, and began
its development and improvement. In 1894 the Congdon canal was built and thus
water was supplied to the entire farm. The land proved to be naturally rich and
productive when water was added and even before the completion of the Corgdon
ditch Mr. Morgan had begun the raising of vegetables and entered actively into
the commission business. He shipped the first carload of alfalfa from the valley
and he built the first produce warehouse in Yakima. He was the pioneer
commission merchant of the city and the work which he instituted has set a pace
for many others whose labors along this line have constituted a valuable factor
in the development, upbuilding and prosperity of the state.

On the 25th of December, 1868, Mr. Morgan was united in marriage to Miss Minnie
M. Mason, who was born in Owen county, Indiana, September 28, 1848, a daughter
of Joseph T. and Mary (Darby) Mason, who removed to Missouri in 1851, after
which the father was there identified with farming to the time of his death, and
his wife also passed away in that locality. To Mr. and Mrs. Morgan were born the
following named: Leola M., who passed away at the age of twenty-two years;
William F., who is a ranchman of the Yakima valley and is married and has three
children; Robert H., who is married and operates a ranch near Selah; Ida M., who
is the wife of Frank Jordan, who is engaged in ranching on the Ahtanum river and
by whom she has three children; Nora A., who gave her hand in marriage to Albert
Dean, a clothing merchant of Yakima, by whom she has a daughter; Flora E., who
wedded Teunis Wayenberg, a farmer living at Moxee City, by whom she has two
children; Carrie, who is the wife of John L. Willett, a ranchman, by whom she
has one son; Harry A., who is engaged in ranching in Yakima county and who is
married and has one child; Leslie V., who is also married and has one child;
and Lydia M., who died at the age of seven years.

Mr. Morgan was a republican in his political views and an active worker in the
party but not an office seeker. His religious faith was that of the Methodist
church of which he was long an active and consistent member, and his widow holds
membership in the same church. He was one of the organizers of the first
Methodist Sunday school in Yakima and for many years served as its
superintendent. He passed away in the faith of that church August 10, 1909,
honored and respected by all who knew him. His course was ever characterized by
the highest principles of integrity and the most advanced standards of
citizenship. He was constantly extending a helping hand to the needy and his aid
and cooperation were most heartily given to any movement that was for the
benefit of the individual or for the community at large.

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Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in December 2007 by Jeffrey L. Elmer.
Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.