Reverend John R.V. Morgan was born a Free man in Maryland. There is little information on his parents, other than they were born around the time that Maryland entered the union in 1788, and they had Morgan in 1820. Morgan was bound for religious life, he lived in multiple cities growing up. He settled down with Mary Ann Harmon with whom he had a son, Joseph H. Morgan. During that time, a call to action as a Missionary Pastor led him to Liberia, Africa.
The 1855 National Colored Convention in Philadelphia is one of the last conventions or meetings that Rev. J.R.V. Morgan attended before he set off to Liberia. While in Liberia, Mary passed away suddenly, and it was several months later that Morgan learned about the tragedy. Seeing that he was thousands of miles away the news took quite a long time to reach him which led to his son, Joseph H. Morgan to be adopted.
He came back to the United States in 1859 due to lack of support from the AME Church. This, however, did not discourage his firm advocacy for the AME that same year, he attended an AME Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, along with Bishop McNeal Turner, John Peck, and others.
Rev. Morgan’s active participation in the church kept him away from his son, and for much of their lives, the two lived in different cities. However, it is believed that they kept a close relationship, this belief is based on the fact that Joseph H. Morgan followed his fathers footsteps and eventually became a pastor for the AME Church. Much more is known about the life of his son, as he was ordained as reverend and published a book about the AME Church.
During the Civil War, Rev. J.R.V. Morgan, served in Company C, 43rd Regiment–Infantry–United Colored Troops. The quartermaster of the 43rd Regiment Sergeant John C. Brock wrote letters to the editor of The Christian Recorder, which served as a window to what it was like to be in the company of Rev. Morgan. In the time of the Civil War, the Union Bethel (Metropolitan) A.M.E. Church was organized and established in which Morgan, destined to occupy a unique figure because of this oratorical ability, became pastor for a year. After the Civil War, Rev. Morgan traveled around the Northeast, preaching in different cities. Rev. Morgan died in Denver, Colorado, in 1870.
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