Junius Spencer Morgan I (April 14, 1813 – April 8, 1890) was an American bank

Bank

A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...

er and financier

Financier

Financier is a term for a person who handles typically large sums of money, usually involving money lending, financing projects, large-scale investing, or large-scale money management. The term is French, and derives from finance or payment...

 and the father of J.P. Morgan. He founded J. S. Morgan & Co.

Biography

Junius Spencer Morgan was born on April 14, 1813 in Holyoke, Massachusetts

Holyoke, Massachusetts

Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range of mountains. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 39,880...

. The Morgan name is traced to Carmarthen

Carmarthen

Carmarthen is a community in, and the county town of, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is sited on the River Towy north of its mouth at Carmarthen Bay. In 2001, the population was 14,648....

, Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

, and the first known Morgan family ancestral is Bleddri, third son of Demetae

Demetae

The Demetae were a Celtic people of Iron Age Britain who inhabited modern Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire in south-west Wales, and gave their name to the county of Dyfed.-Classical mention:...

 chieftain Cadivor-fawr and his wife Elen. Miles Morgan

Miles Morgan

Miles Morgan was an English colonist of America, a pioneer settler of what was to become Springfield, Massachusetts...

, son of William Morgan

William Morgan

-Australia:* William Morgan , Premier of South Australia, 1878–1881-England:* William Morgan , town clerk in Birmingham, England...

 and Mary Morgan

Mary Morgan

Mary Morgan was a young servant in the early 19th century in Presteigne, Radnorshire, Wales, convicted and hanged for killing her newborn child.While Morgan was from Glasbury, her story has been associated with Presteigne since her execution in 1805...

 and ancestor to the Morgan family in America, emigrated from Bristol, England to Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

 in 1636.

Morgan began his business career in 1829 by entering the employ of Alfred Welles of Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

. He had inherited wealth from his father, Joseph Morgan

Joseph Morgan

Joseph Morgan or Joe Morgan may refer to:* Joseph Morgan , television actor* Joseph Morgan , Ulster Unionist politician representing Belfast Cromac, 1953–1962...

 and showed great business ability. He was soon invited to become a partner in the house of J. M. Beebe & Co., one of the largest retail stores in Boston and one of the largest dry goods importing and jobbing house in the country. He was in the dry goods

Good (economics and accounting)

In economics, a good is something that is intended to satisfy some wants or needs of a consumer and thus has economic utility. It is normally used in the plural form—goods—to denote tangible commodities such as products and materials....

 business from about 1836 to 1853.

After some years, he met George Peabody

George Peabody

George Peabody was an American-British entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the Peabody Trust in Britain and the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, and was responsible for many other charitable initiatives.-Biography:...

, the well-known London banker. Shortly after the meeting, in 1854, Morgan entered Peabody's prosperous firm, George Peabody & Co. as a partner. Ten years later, in 1864, Morgan succeeded Peabody as head of the firm and changed its name to J. S. Morgan & Co.  During the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 the firm was appointed the financial representatives in England of the United States government.

In 1836, Morgan married Juliet Pierpont (1816–1884). He contributed money to his church and to Trinity College

Trinity College (Connecticut)

Trinity College is a private, liberal arts college in Hartford, Connecticut. Founded in 1823, it is the second-oldest college in the state of Connecticut after Yale University. The college enrolls 2,300 students and has been coeducational since 1969. Trinity offers 38 majors and 26 minors, and has...

, Hartford

Hartford, Connecticut

Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...

.

He died on April 8, 1890. At his death, he left a fortune estimated at about $10,000,000. He was survived by his son, J.P. Morgan.