Owen Alfred Morgan was born on a farm in Hamilton County on August 21, 1876 to Phillip W. Morgan and Harriet Jerusha Damron. He was found in the 1880 federal census at the age of 4 living with his father Phillip 40 and mother Harriet 37 and five siblings on their farm in Hamilton County.
In 1897 Owen married Addie Belle Grigg, daughter of Abner Monroe and Phebe Grigg. When the 1900 census was taken Owen 23 and Addie B. 20 were living in Dahlgren, Illinois in Hamilton County and they had one child, a son named Carlos aged 1. They were living in a home Owen declared to be free of mortgage and he was working as a dry goods salesman. The couple noted that they had birthed one child and one lived.
By the 1910 census, the young couple had moved into Marion and were living in a rental home at 415 E. Marion Street. Owen had secured a job working as a manager at Howard-Casey Wholesale Grocers located at 515 W. Main Street (currently occupied by Byassee Keyboard in 2024). Owen was 33 and Addie was 30, they had three children Carlos 11, Thelma 9 and Cecil aged 4.
The booklet, “Marion, Opportunity City” published in 1913 listed Owen as a director on the Marion Board of Trades. In 1915 and again in 1916, Owen was elected as city alderman under Mayor Dausa D. Hartwell.
When Owen filled out his WWI draft card in 1917 he listed his residence as 204 E. Main St. and was working at Howard-Casey Wholesale Grocers at 515 W. Main St. He was described as medium height, stout build, with grey eyes and dark hair. An article in the book “Williamson County in WWI” noted that Owen had been manager at Howard-Casey for 15 years which means he must have started around 1902 or so.
An article in the Marion Daily Republican noted that in November 1919 that O.A. and his wife had moved to E. Thorn St. Not sure if it’s the same house or not, but in February of 1920 O.A and his wife bought 601 E. Thorn Street from Dr. Dausa D. & Rita Hartwell. The home had been built originally as a gentleman’s club and later became a hospital. In April of 1922 the Morgan’s sold the home to F.E. Parks, a local druggist.
A Marion Daily Republican article in March 1924 indicated that Owen and Ezra Cash, a local undertaker, had been charged with possession of liquor, remembering that this is during prohibition. An article from the next year, 1925, related that Owen’s mother, Harriet, had died and that Owen was working with Ezra Cash Undertaking Parlor.
It couldn’t have been long after 1925 that the family left Marion because Owen and his wife were found living in Champaign, Illinois in 1927 at 422 Nevada Street.
When the 1930 census was taken. Owen 54 and Addie 50 were living in a rental home at 312 Washington Boulevard in Oak Park, Illinois. Owen was working as a glassware salesman and the children living in the home were Lewis O. 19 and Phyllis aged 6.
By 1935, the Morgan family had returned to their roots and were living back in Hamilton County in Dahlgren, Illinois in a home they owned and valued at $1,500. Owen listed himself in the 1940 census as a salesman doing specialty work. They had one daughter left in the home, Phyliss, who was 17 and in her 2nd year of high school. Owen stated that he and Addie’s level of education were both to the 8th grade.
Shortly after the 1940 census was taken the family relocated to live with their son Lewis in Huntington, W. Virginia which is where Owen passed away on June 6, 1941. In the 1950 census, Addie is still living in the home of their son Lewis along with his wife Audrey at 3115 Brandon Road.
Addie passed away in 1961, she had been born in 1880. Both Owen and Addie were returned home to Dahlgren, Illinois for burial in the Odd Fellows Cemetery.
Notes on Children:
Carlos Morgan, born January 17, 1899, served in the Navy in WWI, worked at Howard-Casey while young. Died July 14, 1939 in Shields, Illinois.
Cecil Morgan, born abt 1906
Lewis Owen Morgan, born December 28, 1910, served in U.S. Marines, married Avarey Harbour, died February 27, 1983 in Holiday, Florida
Thelma Morgan Fortune, born abt 1901, married James Fortune in 1919
Phyliss Morgan Cates Dawson, born August 11, 1923 in Marion, 1st married Judson G. Cates in August 1943, he died in 1976. 2nd married to William L. Dawson May 5, 1993 and he died in May 2001, she died on March 11, 2008.
(Sources: Federal census records, FindaGrave.com, Marion Street Directories, Williamson County Sesquicentennial History, W. Virginia Death records, the Southern Illinoisan, Marion Daily Republican, Marion Opportunity City, Williamson County in WWI, WWI Draft records, Social Security death records. Compiled by Sam Lattuca on 4/20/2024)