Representative John Jordan Morgan

John Jordan Morgan (1770 – July 29, 1849) was an American politician from New York who served in both the New York State Assembly and the United States House of Representatives during the early nineteenth century. He was born in 1770 in Queens County, New York, where he attended the public schools. Little is recorded about his immediate family background or early occupations, but his subsequent public career indicates that he became an established figure in New York political and civic life in the years following the American Revolution.

Morgan’s early political activity is first documented in state office. He was elected a member of the New York State Assembly from New York County in 1819, entering public service at a time when New York was rapidly growing in population and political influence. His legislative work in Albany helped establish his standing within the Democratic-Republican Party and connected him with leading political figures of the state. His personal life also intersected with prominent New York families; in 1826 his adopted daughter Catherine, who was a niece of his first wife, married John Adams Dix. Morgan then hired Dix to manage his land holdings in Cooperstown. Dix would later become a United States Senator, a Union Army general during the Civil War, and Governor of New York, underscoring the extent to which Morgan’s household was linked to the broader political elite of the state.

Morgan advanced to national office in the 1820s. He was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the Seventeenth Congress and re-elected as a Jacksonian Democratic-Republican to the Eighteenth Congress, serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from December 3, 1821, to March 3, 1825. Representing New York, he participated in the legislative process during a significant period in American history marked by debates over internal improvements, the evolving party system, and the transition from the “Era of Good Feelings” to the rise of Jacksonian democracy. As a member of the Jackson Party representing New York, John Jordan Morgan contributed to the democratic process and represented the interests of his constituents over three terms in office, including his later brief service, and aligned himself with the emerging Jacksonian movement that emphasized expanded political participation and opposition to entrenched economic privilege.

After a period away from Congress, Morgan returned to the national legislature in the mid-1830s. He was elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-third Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Representative Cornelius Van Wyck Lawrence. In this capacity he served from December 1, 1834, to March 3, 1835. This brief second tenure in the House occurred during the presidency of Andrew Jackson, when issues such as the Bank War, federal revenue policy, and the role of the executive branch were at the forefront of national politics. Morgan’s service during this era placed him among those New York representatives who supported the Jacksonian program and helped consolidate the party’s influence in the state.

In addition to his congressional service, Morgan remained active in state politics. He again served as a member of the New York State Assembly in 1836 and 1840, returning to Albany to participate in legislative deliberations during a time of economic turbulence following the Panic of 1837 and ongoing debates over banking, internal improvements, and state constitutional questions. His repeated elections to the Assembly reflected continued confidence in his leadership and experience within New York’s Democratic ranks.

Morgan’s later public career included a significant federal appointment connected to the nation’s principal commercial gateway. In February 1841, President Martin Van Buren appointed him Collector of the Port of New York, one of the most important federal patronage positions in the country, to replace Jesse Hoyt, who had been implicated in the Swartwout-Hoyt customs scandal involving mismanagement and defalcations in the customs service. Morgan’s appointment placed him at the center of efforts to restore integrity and public confidence in the administration of customs revenues. However, his tenure was short-lived. Following Van Buren’s defeat in the 1840 presidential election, the incoming Whig president, William Henry Harrison, removed Morgan from the post in March 1841 as part of a broader reorganization of federal offices.

John Jordan Morgan spent his remaining years in New York. He died on July 29, 1849, in Port Chester, Westchester County, New York. He was buried in Trinity Churchyard in New York City, a historic cemetery that is the resting place of many of the city’s and the nation’s early leaders. His career, spanning service in the New York State Assembly, multiple terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, and a brief but notable appointment as Collector of the Port of New York, reflected the political transformations of the early republic and the rise of Jacksonian democracy in both New York and the United States.