Ancestry of Miles Morgan (1616-98/9)
Panshin
In checking out the ancestry of Miles Morgan of
Springfield, MA on the Web, I found a claimed royal
pedigree that seemed too sloppy in a number of ways
to be believable. But a recent posting to this
newsgroup about a different Morgan line received an
answer suggesting that _some_ Morgans did have royal
ancestors. This has made me wonder if there might
be something to the Miles Morgan claims after all.
The crucial connection involves a marriage between
Thomas Morgan (c. 1482-1538) and Elizabeth Vaughan
(b. 1486). Elizabeth's parents are universally given
as Roger Vaughan and Jane Whitney. On some websites,
Roger and Jane are said to have been born in 1460 and
1462, which seems reasonable enough.
The problems come with the sites that try to identify
their parents. Sometimes it is stated that Roger and
Jane were born c. 1436 and c. 1439 and that Roger was
the son of Roger Vaughan (b.c. 1410). This seems to
make them too old to be the parents of Elizabeth.
More often it is claimed that Jane was the daughter of
Robert Whitney and Constance Touchet. But sites that
are not involved with the Morgan line say instead that
Robert and Constance had a daughter Joan or Jean
(b.c. 1469) who married Thomas Vaughn.
So, is there some magic wand to turn Joan who married
Thomas into Jane who married Roger? Or was my first
impulse to dismiss it as a hopeless mess the right one?
Cory Panshin
Reedpcgen
The real problem with this line is in the parentage of the immigrants. There
were three brothers (yes, the old story):
1. James Morgan, b. 1607, m. Margery Hill of Roxbury, d. 1685, Groton, CT, aged
78.
2. John Morgan, who is supposed to have gone to Virginia.
3. Miles Morgan, said to be born 1615/16, of Springfield, MA, m. (1) Prudence
Gilbert, m. (2) Elizabeth Bliss.
These three are given as children of William Morgan and his wife, Elizabeth
Morgan. William is supposed to have been a merchant of Divern, and to have
gone to Bristol, Gloucs., in 1616. He is supposed to have died in 1648 and be
buried at Bristol. His wife, Elizabeth Morgan, is supposed to have died in
1638 and also be buried at Bristol. But this is all traditional. I have not
seen any original documentation to prove the allegations.
Where the royal line breaks is in the next generation. Elizabeth Morgan is
supposed to be the tenth child of Sir William Morgan of Tredegar, co. Monmouth,
by his first wife, Elizabeth Winter. Of this there is no evidence whatsoever.
The documents I have seen indicates the connection to Joseph and Miles is false
(there is no use in arguing over the earlier ancestry until we get a connection
into the Morgan family that stands up to scrutiny).
There was a Miles Morgan in the Tredegar family, so the name does occur there.
His will was proved in 1581 (PCC 48 Darcy).
The following would seem to be disproof of the alleged connection:
There is a pedigree of the Morgan family of Tredegar dated 1794. Sir William
Morgan of Tredegar left a will dated 15 Jan. 1650 and proved 13 Sep. 1653. By
his wife, Elizabeth Wintour, of Lindley, Gloucs., to whom he was married by
1598, he did have a daughter named Elizabeth, who married a William Morgan.
William was of Dderrow, or Thurrow, co. Brecon, called Esq. in 1633, and left a
will dated 27 May and proved 14 Nov. 1649. His wife, Elizabeth Morgan, was
buried at Shottesbrooke, co. Berks, 28 June 1638. They had a son named William
who was under 17 in 1649, but died without issue. His only sibling was named
Blanch Morgan. She was eventual heir of her parents, and was married to
William Morgan of Tredegar, son of Thomas Morgan of Machen and Tredegar (d.
1664). Blanch was mother of many children, died 23 March 1673, and was buried
in the church at Machen. This is also shown in Clark's Genealogies of Morgan
and Glamorgan, pp. 311-312.
I am a descendant of this line several times over, as is Rockefeller, J. P.
Morgan, and many other prominent New England people. I would like nothing more
than for this line to be correct, but it is not.
Do you have a different alleged ancestry than I have outline above? A woman
had claimed to have found evidence of descent from another branch of the
Tredegar Morgans, which she claimed to have found in manuscripts in Wales or
England, but I am not aware that anyone has ever seen what she claimed to have
found.
pcr
Panshin
Reedpcgen wrote:
>
> I am a descendant of this line several times over, as is Rockefeller, J. P.
> Morgan, and many other prominent New England people. I would like nothing more
> than for this line to be correct, but it is not.
>
> Do you have a different alleged ancestry than I have outline above? A woman
> had claimed to have found evidence of descent from another branch of the
> Tredegar Morgans, which she claimed to have found in manuscripts in Wales or
> England, but I am not aware that anyone has ever seen what she claimed to have
> found.
Thank you for your thoughtful answer. It does sound like one more to
cross
off the list.
Cory Panshin
Richard Ledyard
I have that "In March, 1636, James, John and Miles sailed together from
Bristol, England, and arrived in Boston, Mass. in April. James was born in
Llandell, Gla Morgan, Wales, in 1607. There is a tradition that his father
was named William"
This statement is from a copy of a genealogical write up that was
originally done about 1860, and cites as sources:
Public Records of the Colony of Conn.
Morgan Genealogy
The latter is likely an earlier version of the work you cited.
Wish I could help you more,
Dick Ledyard
UTZ
In a message dated 98-03-05 17:18:37 EST, 7560...@compuserve.com writes:
<<
I have that "In March, 1636, James, John and Miles sailed together from
Bristol, England, and arrived in Boston, Mass. in April. James was born in
Llandell, Gla Morgan, Wales, in 1607. There is a tradition that his father
was named William"
>>
I have the following notes for MORGAN:
In 1636, in March, James Morgan and two younger brothers, John and Miles,
sailed from Bristol and arrived in Boston in April following.
John Morgan was a high churchman and disliked the austerity of the
Puritans. He moved to Virginia.
Miles Morgan moved to Springfield, MA, and became the progenitor of the
Morgan family represented by J. P. Morgan of Morgan and Company, International
Bankers.
I have as their parents William MORGAN [1585, Llandaff, Wales-1642, Bristol,
ENG] and Elizabeth MORGAN of Tredegar, Monmouth, Wales. Williams parents were
William MORGAN [1556-1600] and Gwaladia ?? Elizabeth's parents were Sir
William MORGAN abt 1560-1653] and Elizabeth WINTER??
A recent post from pcr, however, sheds much doubt on this lineage:
The royal descent published for the Morgan brothers through the Morgan and
Winter families is false. They are tacked onto a couple who did not have a
son named William. So unless there has been a very recent unpublished
discovery tracing the Bristol Morgans into a branch of the ancient family,
there is no descent from William Longespee.
Perhaps someone could illuminate us as to which William is the phony.
Always optimistic--Dave