Morgan, Junius Spencer, 1813-1890

Born in 1813, Junius Spencer Morgan began his career first as a partner with the firm Morris Ketchum in New York, and then as a partner with Howe, Mather & Co. in Hartford. In 1836, he married Juliet Pierpont; the couple relocated their family to Boston in 1850 when Morgan joined the firm J.M. Beebe & Co. It is during these years that he attracted the attention of George Peabody, an American banker in London. Morgan was invited to become a partner at George Peabody & Co. in 1854. This partnership went on to form a financial dynasty that surpassed any other of its day, and their firm became the definitive representative of British funds in the United States. Following the retirement of George Peabody in 1864, the firm was renamed J.S. Morgan & Co., a name it retained even after Morgan's death in 1890.

Epithet: American banker

Born in 1813, Junius Spencer Morgan began his career first as a partner with the firm Morris Ketchum in New York, and then as a partner with Howe, Mather & Co. in Hartford. In 1836, he married Juliet Pierpont; the couple relocated their family to Boston in 1850 when Morgan joined the firm J.M. Beebe & Co. It is during these years that he attracted the attention of George Peabody, an American banker in London. Morgan was invited to become a partner at George Peabody & Co. in 1854. This partnership went on to form a financial dynasty that surpassed any other of its day, and their firm became the definitive representative of British funds in the United States.

By the late 1880s, Morgan was dividing his time between his estate in Roehampton, England and a rented estate in Monte Carlo. It was there, in April 1890, that he was involved in a carriage accident that resulted in a serious head injury. Morgan never regained consciousness, and on April 8, 1890, he died at the age of seventy-six. He was survived by his four children: John Pierpont Morgan, Sarah Spencer Morgan, Juliet Pierpont Morgan, and Mary Lyman Morgan Burns.