Dick Thompson Morgan was a U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

.

Early life and education

Born at Prairie Creek, Indiana

Prairie Creek, Indiana

Prairie Creek is an unincorporated community in southeastern Prairie Creek Township, Vigo County, Indiana, United States. It lies at the intersection of State Roads 63 and 246 southwest of the city of Terre Haute, the county seat of Vigo County. Its elevation is 531 feet , and it is located...

, Morgan attended the country schools and the Prairie Creek High School. In 1876 he received a bachelor's degree and in 1878 a master's degree both from Union Christian College, Merom, Indiana

Merom, Indiana

Merom is a town in Gill Township, Sullivan County, Indiana, United States. The population was 294 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Terre Haute Metropolitan Statistical Area....

. He became a professor of mathematics in that college. He then graduated from Central Law School, Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...

, in 1880.

Career

Morgan was admitted to the bar in 1880 and commenced practice in Terre Haute, Indiana

Terre Haute, Indiana

Terre Haute is a city and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, near the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a population of 170,943. The city is the county seat of Vigo County and...

. Morgan served as member of the Illinois House of Representatives

Illinois House of Representatives

The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The state House of Representatives is made of 118 representatives elected from...

 in 1880 and 1881. He was appointed register of the United States land office at Woodward

Woodward, Oklahoma

Woodward is a city in and the county seat of Woodward County, Oklahoma, United States. It is the largest city in a nine-county area. The population was 12,051 at the 2010 census....

 in Oklahoma Territory

Oklahoma Territory

The Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as the State of Oklahoma.-Organization:Oklahoma Territory's...

, by President Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...

 in 1904 and served until May 1, 1908.

Morgan was elected as a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 to the Sixty-first and to the five succeeding Congresses. Beginning on March 3, 1909, he represented the 2nd district. In 1915, after redistricting due to the 1910 Census, he represented the 8th congressional district until his unexpected death in 1920. He was once known as the "father of the Federal Trade Commission

Federal Trade Commission

The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...

." Morgan introduced the first bill to establish such a commission on January 12, 1912, made the first speech on the House floor urging its adoption on February 21, 1912 and reintroduced a slightly amended version of the bill in 1913. He was a member of the Claims, Railways and Canals, Expenditures in the Treasury Department, Public Lands, and Judiciary committees. Morgan also became an expert on Rural Credits, sponsoring the 1916 rural credits law that created the federal land bank system.

Publications

• Morgan's Digest of Oklahoma Statutes and Supreme Court Decisions (1897)
• Morgan's Manual of the United States Homestead, Township, and Mining Laws (1900)
• Morgan's School Land Manual (1901)
• Land Credits: A Plea for the American Farmer (1915)
• Served as President and Treasurer of the Western Investment Co. (El Reno, Oklahoma
  El Reno, Oklahoma
  El Reno is a city in Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States, in the central part of the state. A part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area, El Reno is west of downtown Oklahoma City...
  
   1901-1904), the publisher of the periodical Oklahoma Real Estate Register.

Personal Life and Death

In 1878 he married Ora Heath. Their son, Porter Heath Morgan, was born in 1880.

On July 4, 1920, Morgan died of pneumonia in Danville, Illinois

Danville, Illinois

Danville is a city in Vermilion County, Illinois, United States. It is the principal city of the'Danville, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area' which encompasses all of Danville and Vermilion County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 32,467. It is the county seat of...

, while returning from Washington, D.C. to Oklahoma. Dick Thompson Morgan is interred in Rose Hill Cemetery

Rose Hill Cemetery

Rose Hill Cemetery may refer to:in the United States:*Rose Hill Cemetery , listed on the NRHP in Arkansas*Rose Hill Cemetery — Antioch,California* Rose Hills Memorial Park, a cemetery in Whittier, California...

 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...

.