Thomas Whitney Morgan (1894 - 1929)

Born 14 Mar 1894 in Alabama

Ancestors

Died 6 Aug 1929 at age 35 in Chesterfield County, Virginia

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Biography

Thomas Whitney Morgan, the oldest of nine children of James W.E. Morgan and Emily Gilchrist was born March 14, 1894 in Etowah, AL.^[1] Sometime between 1914 and 1918, father James packed up his family and left Alabama and headed to Virginia.

Thomas first appeared in Richmond, Virginia when he registered for the draft on June 5, 1917.^[1] Thomas declared that he had a wife and one child, but indicated his wife and child were not entirely dependent on him, that he was not living with them and expected to divorce. No record of this marriage, or divorce, or the birth of a child has been found. Because of the timing, this marriage probably occurred before Thomas left Alabama.

Eight months later on March 31, 1918 Thomas married Ruby E. Tingle in Richmond, Virginia.^[2]In the marriage record Thomas’ status is identified as Divorced.

Thomas and Ruby were together in the 1920 census living at 2216 Perry St. in Richmond.^[3]

Thomas was shot under mysterious circumstances on February 4, 1929 and died only seven months later on August 6^[4]. Cause of death was an infection resulting from a gunshot wound to the neck. According to the newspaper article reporting the shooting, Thomas was shot by Reba Boyd[Floyd]), ^[5]the woman he had been living with for some time. The shooting occurred at the home of a Negro woman who worked in the house where Thomas and Reba Floyd had been living together. Strangely Floyd took Thomas to the hospital and was later arrested, then released, and apparently never charged. What actually happened that resulted in Thomas being shot is apparently unknown.

Thomas was buried in a Centralia Cemetery in Chester, Virginia.^[6]The search continues for Thomas' wife and only child, and their descendants.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K6ZH-KBM : 13 March 2018), Thomas Whitney Morgan, 1917-1918; citing Richmond City no 3, Virginia, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1509 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,985,112
2. ↑ "Virginia Marriages, 1785-1940," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X5BK-28N : 11 February 2018), Thos. W. Morgan and Ruby E. Tingle, 31 Mar 1918; citing Richmond, Virginia, reference ; FHL microfilm 2,048,500.
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MJV7-QJC : accessed 26 May 2019), T W Morgan, Richmond Madison Ward, Richmond (Independent City), Virginia, United States; citing ED 163, sheet 3A, line 7, family 41, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 1911; FHL microfilm 1,821,911.
4. ↑ Ancestry.com, Virginia, Death Records, 1912-2014 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015), Record for Thomas Whitney Morgan. http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=General-9278&h=276127&indiv=try.
5. ↑ There were several errors in the newspaper reports of the shooting. Reba's name was misreported as Boyd and Thomas was reported as R.W. rather than T.W. Others details in the report and the death certificate corroborate this.
6. ↑ Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 27 May 2019), memorial page for Pvt Thomas W Morgan (unknown–6 Aug 1929), Find A Grave Memorial no. 24700775, citing Centralia Cemetery, Chester, Chesterfield County, Virginia, USA ; Maintained by sassytazzy (contributor 46808807) .