The name of Morgan descends from Revolutionary times, during which period it was represented by the famous General Daniel Morgan, who was among the distinguished officers of the first American army. Along the years of the history of America the name appears in different connections and always with credit. General John H. Morgan, the daring Confederate cavalry leader, was a kinsman of Senator John T. Morgan. The family was noted for its longevity, the father of Senator Morgan dying at the advanced age of ninety-four. Mr. Morgan pursued his legal studies under his brother-in-law, William P. Chilton. With the same assiduity with which he did all that he undertook, he addressed himself to the acquisition of the profound principles of the law. From the beginning, he was a most diligent student, a skillful pleader, and a successful advocate. His first appearance in public life was on the occasion of the Alabama convention which chose delegates to the famous Charleston convention in 1860. The state convention of that particular date was composed of the giants of the state. Morgan was then just thirty-six years old, and his ability was unknown save in the local courts in which he practiced. Sent as a delegate from Dallas County to the convention already named, he had just entered the hall when he heard his name called by the secretary as the chairman of the committee on credentials. He had heard much in the corridors of the hotels where the air was vibrant with the discussion of contesting delegations, in which discussions many of the most prominent men of the state shared. Devoted to his profession, he had never taken any active share in public questions, but was interested in the informal discussions. On hearing the announcement of his name on entering the hall, he mounted a chair, addressed the presiding officer, and was about to decline the honor of the chairmanship, when Judge George W. Stone pulled his coat and begged him not to finish his sentence as he had begun it, but to change it and call his committee together. Yielding to the judgment of his senior friend, he did as he was bidden. The work of the committee was both laborious and irksome, and many delicate and sensitive features were involved in the task committed to Mr. Morgan. There was no avoidance of a storm on its presentation. The storm followed its submission. The young advocate, all unknown to the body, mingled in the forensic fray in a manly defense of his report, and so ably was it sustained by his power of presentation of the reasons for its adoption, and so tactfully did he parry the blows of the giants who came against him in the contest, that the question was heard all around--"Who is Morgan?" The brilliancy of his oratory, and the skill which he exhibited in debate, caught the attention of the public on that occasion, and he never again sank from view till his remains were deposited in the tomb.