Governors 
Welcome to the Morgan Family Club's History section on Morgan relatives who have served in the state governments. This section honors those Morgan relatives who have served as governors and lieutenant governors.
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The governors and lieutenant governors with links just below can be found in other government sections.
Edwin Denison Morgan Governor of New York (see US Senate)
Ephraim Franklin Morgan was born 16 Jan 1869 in on a farm in Marion County, West Virginia, a son of Mark Morgan and grandson of James Morgan Jr. and Lydia Wilson. Ephraim was a descendant of Morgan Morgan, one of the first American settlers in that part of western Virginia which became West Virginia.
He attended Fairmont State Normal School and graduated from West Virginia University Law School in 1897. He establishing a law practice in Fairmont. During the Spanish American War, Ephraim enlisted in the First West Virginia Infantry Regiment. After the war, he became City Attorney of Fairmont. He served as a judge of the Marion County Intermediate Court 1907 - 1912 and was a member of the West Virginia Public Service Commission from 1915 to 1920.
Ephraim was elected as a Republican to the office of Governor of West Virginia in 1920 and served from 1921-1925. He achieved notoriety during the so-called "West Virginia Coal Wars". At the time he became governor, a virtual state of war existed between union coal miners and coal mine owners and operators. The United Mine Workers Union was protesting for the right to organize miners in the southwestern part of the state.
Wealthy mine owners (like other wealthy industrialists in the nation at the time) were determined to prevent workers from organizing unions in order to keep wages down at poverty levels. With money and power behind them, the owners demanded that Ephraim take action against the workers. About 5,000 miners from the Kanawha Valley prepared to march on Logan County, where miners had been beaten by private "agents" and hoods hired by the owners. Governor Cornwell persuaded most of the miners to return home.
In late summer 1921, clashes at Matewan between miners and mine company goons had led to the deaths of two miners, the town mayor and seven company "detectives". The incident became known as the "Matewan Massacre". In August, about 5,000 miners who had become angry over the increasing violence from the company owners, gathered at Marmet for a protest march on Logan County. Ephraim sent in between 1,200 and 1,300 state police, deputy sheriffs, armed guards and others to stop the mine workers. They met the miners at Blair Mountain, near the Boone-Logan county line. A battle raged there for four days.
Ephraim called upon President Warren G. Harding to dispatch federal troops. The US Army sent in 2,100 federal troops. The forces included a chemical warfare unit and bombers and fighter aircraft. Once again, the US Army was used to fight against Americans seeking their constitutional rights. A motion picture was made on this massacre, pointing out the horrible violence and legal violations perpetrated by the company owners After the conflict ended, Ephraim used National Guard troops to discourage miners from again taking up arms.
Under Ephraim, the state legislature created a sinking fund to provide financial assistance to new programs, namely a new road system. He appointed a Capitol Commission to replace the old state capitol, which was destroyed by fire on 3 Jan 1921. The west wing of the present state capitol was completed in 1925.
Ephraim married Alma Bennett in 1903. One week before leaving office, Ephraim and Alma Morgan became the first residents of the present Governor's Mansion.
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