Edwin D. Morgan

Edwin Denison Morgan III (February 16, 1921 – June 28, 2001) was an American businessman and Pioneer Fund director from 2000 to 2001.

Early life

Morgan was born on February 16, 1921, in New York City. His parents were Edwin D. Morgan Jr. (1890–1954) and Elizabeth Winthrop (née Emmet) Morgan (1897–1934). His younger brother was Temple Emmet Morgan (1922–2008), who became a monk at Saint Benedict Center in Harvard, Massachusetts. After his mother's death in February 1934, his father remarried to Fanny Taylor Baldwin Preston in July 1934.

His maternal grandparents were Christopher Temple Emmet and Alida Beekman (née Chanler) Emmet, the daughter of John Winthrop Chanler, a U.S. Representative from New York, and Margaret Astor (née Ward) Chanler of the prominent Astor family of New York. His paternal grandparents were Edwin Denison Morgan Sr., a noted yachtsman and horseman, and Elizabeth Sarah (née Archer) Morgan. Morgan's 2x-great grandfather was Edwin D. Morgan, who served as the 21st Governor of New York, a U.S. Senator, and was the longest-serving chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Career Immediately after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Morgan enlisted in the Marine Corps and his 1st Marine Division participated in the Guadalcanal, New Guinea, New Britain and Peleliu battles in August 1942. Subsequently, he fought in the battles of eastern New Guinea, New Britain and Peleliu, rising to the rank of sergeant.

Personal life

In 1949, Morgan married Nancy Marie Whitney (1926–2006), the daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney and Marie Norton Harriman (the second wife of New York governor W. Averell Harriman). Before their divorce, Edwin and Nancy were the parents of two children: Alida Morgan and Pamela Morgan. Within a year, she was divorced from Hurd and married to his older brother, Edward Augustus Hurd Jr., on July 1, 1958. She later married well known water colorist Pierre Lutz. Morgan later married Jacqueline (née Jesseris) Johnson, the former wife of Murdock Porter Johnson Jr., which also ended in divorce.