William McKendree Morgan

William McKendree Morgan (December 2, 1869 - October 16, 1942), was an Idaho lawyer and politician who served for two separate periods on the Idaho Supreme Court.

Born in Adams County, Illinois to John Milton Morgan and Mary (Gooding) Morgan, Morgan was educated in the country schools of Bourbon County, Kansas, later attending the Kansas Normal College at Fort Scott.[1] In 1890, when twenty years of age, he set out to win a fortune in the far west. Making his way to Idaho, he located at Moscow and secured employment on ranches in that vicinity.[1] During the winter of 1890-91 he took up the study of law, and was admitted to the bar on October 9, 1894.[1]

In the interim, he became a deputy sheriff of Latah County, Idaho, serving in that position from 1 January, 1893, until 1895, when he began practice.[1] He served as a Democrat in the Idaho House of Representatives from 1897 to 1899, and in 1897 was also appointed private secretary to Henry Heitfeld, United States senator, and continued in that position for five years or until 1902, spending most of the period in Washington, D.C.[1] While there, he pursued a course in the law department of Georgetown University of the District of Columbia, receiving an LL.M. in 1899.[1]

Morgan's brother Albert was also an Idaho lawyer, and the brothers were law partners at various times.[1] Although they were closely associated in their professional and social interests, they had opposite political views, Morgan being a Democrat and his brother being a staunch Republican.[1]

Morgan served as mayor of Moscow, Idaho, from 1906-1908.[1] He returned to the Idaho House of Representatives from 1911 to 1913, serving as the minority leader.[1] In 1914 he was elected to the Idaho Supreme Court, and by natural rotation became Chief Justice on January 1, 1919.[1] Morgan resigned from the Idaho Supreme Court in 1920, returning to private practice. However, he was returned to the Idaho Supreme Court in 1933, thereafter serving until his death in 1942.

Personal life

Morgan married to Miss Emma May Friedline of Moscow, Idaho on July 22, 1895.[1] They had two daughters, Pearl and Grace, and a son, Arthur Percival, who died at the age of seventeen months.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 History of Idaho, Gem of the Mountains (1920), p. 16-17.

Sources