Daniel Morgan Collection

170 WFCHS

Inventory created by Archives 04/1953. Last revised 04/2018.

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: Collection is open to all researchers.

USE RESTRICTIONS: Restrictions may apply concerning the use, photoduplication, or publication of items in this collection. Consult a member of the archives staff for information concerning these restrictions. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright.

EXTENT: 0.88 linear feet

DATE: 1736- 2014; bulk 1779 – 1795

SCOPE AND CONTENT: The Daniel Morgan Collection contains biographical articles, copies of legal documents, articles, a medal in a case, and correspondence about the controversy caused when the city of Cowpens, South Carolina attempted to move the remains of Revolutionary War General Daniel Morgan from Mt. Hebron Cemetery in Winchester, Virginia to Cowpens. The collection also includes items related to the cemetery monument, recordings and sheet music celebrating Morgan’s life and career, and copies of materials related to Morgan and held by the National Archives.

BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL:  General Daniel Morgan was born in 1736 in Junction, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, of Welsh ancestry. He moved to Virginia around 1754 and worked for Robert Burwell as a teamster and as foreman at a sawmill. He joined Braddock’s Army on the march to Fort Duquesne. Following Braddock’s defeat, he served in Captain Ashby’s Company in defense of the Virginia frontier against French and Indian raids. During the Revolutionary War, in 1775, Morgan led a company of Winchester riflemen to join forces with General George Washington. Morgan was distinguished for bravery at several Revolutionary War battles at Quebec, Saratoga, and Cowpens. He later participated in the Whiskey Insurrection in 1794. In 1797, he served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1797 to 1799. Daniel Morgan died in Winchester on July 6, 1802 and is buried in Mount Hebron Cemetery.

CITE AS: Daniel Morgan Collection, 170 WFCHS, Stewart Bell Jr. Archives, Handley Regional Library, Winchester, VA, USA 

ORGANIZATION:

BOX 1

"Ballad of Daniel Morgan" - cassettes, records, correspondence, 9 items, 2 audiocassettes; 3 45-RPM records; 5 leaves, typescript; 1 leaf, printed/manuscript

Biography - Biography, by Eleanor Toan, February 15, 1974, 7 leaves, typescript includes article by unknown author, ca. 1951, 17 leaves, typescript and research notes by Daisy Amick, 1 leaf, typescript

Biography - "Daniel Morgan - Able Tribute to the Most Unique Figure in the Annals of American Commonwealths" - address by Joseph T. Lawless, no date, 1 item, 22 pages, printed

Biography - "Daniel Morgan and the Southern Campaign, 1780-1781," by B. Floyd Flickinger, May 15, 1929, 61 leaves, typescript (photocopy)

Biography – “Daniel Morgan, King of Battletown,” by Peter Mowitt, The Torch, Spring 2001, vol. 74 no. 3, 5 pages, printed

Biography - "General Daniel Morgan, 1737-1802," by Bessie Harley Eagle, April 6, 1922, 1 item, 19 leaves, typescript

Biography - "General Daniel Morgan, Thunderbolt of War," by B. Floyd Flickinger, book text (partial) and notes, no date, 85 leaves, typescript (photocopy); 2 leaves, manuscript

Biography - Morgan funeral address by Reverend Hill, from The Winchester Gazette, July 21, 1802, 2 items, 3 leaves, typescript; 3 leaves, typescript (photocopy)

Book Review – Revolutionary Rangers: Daniel Morgan’s Riflemen and Their Role on the 
Northern Frontier, 1778-17832 leaves, printed 

Brochure – DAR Library

Correspondence – January 14, 1781 – January 11, 1798, includes the following:
Letter from Daniel Morgan to Gen. Greene, January 14, 1781, 2 leaves, typescript
Letter from Daniel Morgan to Gen. Zane, June 27, 1794, 1 leaf, manuscript (scanned), 1 leaf,  typescript
Letter from Daniel Morgan to Ailes Fisher, January 11, 1798, 2 leaves, manuscript (photocopy)

"Cowpens Battleground," sheet music for band arrangement, 2 items, 2 leaves, printed

Cowpens Battleground—words by Henry Russel Wilkins, music by Geoffrey O’Hara, 2 copies, printed

Cowpens South Carolina – 1981, National Battlefield, 1 page printed

DAR Application – Burrum, Annie Tayln

DAR Application – Callahan, Josephine Neville Strong

DAR Application – Clodfelter, Josephine Hood

DAR Application – McGuire, Emily Neville

DAR Application – Pearce, Mary French

DAR Application – Trust, Estelle

Homes of Daniel Morgan Tour, July 6, 2002, 2 items, printed

List of documents concerning Morgan in National Archives, 2 leaves, typescript (photocopy) Documents located in MAPCASE 1, DRAWER 7

Magazine articles, 3 items, 5 leaves, printed; 3 leaves, printed (photocopy)

Medal in case – Brig. Gen. Daniel Morgan, 1776-1976, 1 item.

Miscellaneous correspondence, July 24, 1933-August 19, 1933, 3 items, 1 postcard, 3 leaves, typescript

Monument - An Appeal to the People of Virginia [for funds for the preservation of Daniel Morgan’s grave and the construction of a monument], 1 item, pamphlet, printed

Monument - Correspondence and Contracts, April 1952, 6 items, 2 leaves typescript of printed form; 3 leaves typescript; 1 leaf typescript (photocopy)

Monument - Grave dispute - Correspondence, June 1951-September 1951, 39 items, 10 leaves, manuscript; 10 leaves, typescript; 19 leaves, typescript (photocopy)

Monument - Grave dispute - Court transcript, 19 leaves, typescript (photocopy)

Monument - Grave dispute – News Articles

BOX 2

Monument - Grave – Marked by Cannon 1921, 1 leaf, typescript, 3 leaves printed (photocopy)

Monument at Mt. Hebron – Design and Dedication, 8 items, 1 leaf typescript (photocopy); 1 sketch; 6 leaves printed

Monument - News articles

Monument - Scrapbook - Articles regarding grave dispute and new monument, 1951- 1968, original is at Mt. Hebron Cemetery, 1 item, 54 leaves, typescript (photocopy)

Monument - U. S. House of Representatives Bill - "to preserve the grave of General Daniel Morgan and erect a monument over the same," 1892, 3 leaves, printed (photocopy); 1 page, printed; 1 page, typescript

Morgan birthplace, 1 leaf, manuscript

Morgan, Gen. Daniel – An Address Before the Seventh Annual Congress of the Scotch-
Irish Society of America by Armistead C. Gordon, June 23, 1895,
10 pages, printed

Morgan, Daniel – Genealogical Data

Morgan, Daniel - Will - Excerpts and bequest to Smith children, 1801; and Clerk of the Court, re Presly Nevile, acting executor of Daniel Morgan, Dec.8, 1804; 1 leaf, typescript; 1 leaf, typescript (photocopy); 1 page manuscript on printed form

Morgan’s flag – News article

“Morgan House" - notes on home in Winchester, no author, no date, 1 leaf, typescript (photocopy)

Morgan Land sale - Morgan to Charles Houston, March 12, 1800, 3 leaves, manuscript (photocopy)

Morgan’s Mill – Newspaper article, May 13, 1971

“Morgan Portrait," Virginia Historical Society Bulletin, December 1960, pages 12-14, 1 item, 19 pages, printed

Morgan, Willoughby – Will, opinion of Will, October 1832

Morgan, Willoughby – Grave, U.S. Fort Crawford Military Cemetery, 3 photographs

Newspaper articles, 51 leaves, printed (photocopy)

Revolutionary War - (The) Dutch Mess, Revolutionary War Company commanded by Daniel Morgan, 8 leaves, typescript; 7 leaves, typescript (photocopy); 8 leaves, typescript (photocopy)

Revolutionary War - Morgan Oath of Allegiance to U. S. of America, June 10, 1778, 1 leaf, manuscript on printed form (photocopy)

Revolutionary War - Morgan’s Rifleman, March from Winchester, VA – Cambridge MA, 1775, timetable, 1 item, 1 leaf, typescript (photocopy)

Speech –“The Daniel Morgan Memorial Road” by Gabriel Edmondston, March 14, 1916, 5leaves, printed (photocopy)

USS Cowpens - Reunions, CVL Ships, Oct.15, 1983 - Dec.7, 1986, 7 items, printed

The Virginia Militia – 3 leaves, typescript

 BOX 3

Scrapbook -- “Who Was Daniel Morgan?” compiled by Jimmy Dix, 1 item 

MAPCASE 1 DRAWER 7 (Documents Concerning Daniel Morgan from the National Archives) Photostats

Papers of the Continental Congress – Record Group 11: Includes the following:
Letter from Col. Daniel Morgan to John Jay, July 18, 1779, requesting retirement Item 78, Vol. XV, folios 473-476, 4 pages manuscript (photocopy)

Report of the Board of War, June 14, 1780, recommending that Col. Daniel Morgan “be employed in the Southern Army as Gen. Gates shall direct.” Item 147, Vol. IV, folios 385-388, 3 pages, manuscript (photocopy)

Report of the Board of War, July 13, 1780, recommending the promotion of Morgan, Item 147, Vol. IV, folios 432-435, 3 leaves, manuscript (photocopy)

“Extract of a letter from Morgan dated Camp at twelve Mile Creek October 30, 1780 to Governor Jefferson, Item 71, Vol. 1, folio 531, 1 page, manuscript (photocopy)

Report of a committee of the Continental Congress recommending that Congress thank Morgan and the officers under his command for their conduct at Cowpens, Item 19, Vol. IV, folios 169-172, 3 pages

Letter from Morgan to William Greason, March 24, 1781, concerning $47,000 owed to him, Item 78, Vol. XVI, folios 147-150, 3 pages, manuscript (photocopy)

Records of the Chief Signal Officer (Record Group 111): Includes the following:

Photostats of the medal (two sides) given Morgan by the Continental Congress, 1781
Records of the Department of State (Record Group 59):

Letter from Morgan to President Washington, January 19, 1795, requesting clemency for a mail robber

Miscellaneous Letters, January-March 1795, 1 page

Copy of a letter from President Washington to Morgan, March 27, 1795, in answer to the above
Miscellaneous Letters, January-March 1795, 1 page

Letter from Charles Lee to the Secretary of State, December 21, 1797, concerning a caveat entered by Daniel Morgan against the issuance of certain land patents, manuscript (photocopy)

A photostat of a printed sketch of the Battle of Cowpens has also been included.  This sketch, made in April 1928 for the Historical Section, Army War College, was published in Army War College Historical Section, Historical Statements Concerning the Battle of Kings Mountain and the Battle of the Cowpens… (Washington, G.P.O, 1928), printed (photocopy)

George Washington Papers (includes the following):

Daniel Morgan to Gen. N. Greene, January 19, 1781, Vol.163, page 80, 1 leaf, 1 sheet, manuscript (photocopy)

Capt. Graham to Morgan, November 22, 1781, Vol. 188, page 46, 1 sheet, manuscript (photocopy)

Morgan to Washington, November 25, 1781, Vol. 188, page 57, 1 leaf, 1 sheet, manuscript (photocopy)

William Loughton Smith Papers: Morgan to Smith, April 21, 1796, Vol. 1, page 9, 1 sheet, manuscript (photocopy)

Nathanel Greene Papers (Skipwith Collection): Morgan to Green, January 25, 1781, Vol. 1, sheet number 74, manuscript (photocopy)

Letter from Daniel Morgan to James Wood, Aug. 25, 1797, manuscript, typescript-framed

Letter to unknown from Daniel Morgan, June 27, 1794, 1 item, manuscript

PHOTOGRAPHS: Photographs and other images belonging to this collection may be accessed online through http://handley.pastperfectonline.com