Morgan Gardner Bulkeley | |
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54th Governor of Connecticut | |
In office January 10, 1889 – January 4, 1893 |
|
Lieutenant | Samuel E. Merwin |
Preceded by | Phineas C. Lounsbury |
Succeeded by | Luzon B. Morris |
United States Senator from Connecticut |
|
In office March 4, 1905 – March 3, 1911 |
|
Preceded by | Joseph R. Hawley |
Succeeded by | George P. McLean |
Personal details | |
Born |
East Haddam, Connecticut |
December 26, 1837
Died | November 6, 1922 Hartford, Connecticut |
(aged 84)
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Fannie Bulkeley |
Military service | |
Service/branch | Union Army |
Rank | Private |
Unit | 13th New York Volunteers |
Battles/wars | American Civil War |
Morgan Gardner Bulkeley (December 26, 1837 – November 6, 1922) was an American politician as well as business and sports executive. Bulkeley, a Republican, served in the American Civil War, was a Hartford city councilman and bank president, was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame as the first president of the National League, and became a four-term mayor of Hartford, the 54th Governor of Connecticut for two terms and a United States Senator while serving as the third president of the Aetna Life Insurance Company for 43 years.
Bulkeley was born in East Haddam, Connecticut to an old local family. His father, State Senator Eliphalet Adams Bulkeley, was a descendant of the Reverend Peter Bulkeley, 8 generations removed. Peter Bulkeley was the founder of Concord Massachusetts and sailed to this country from England on the ship Susan & Ellen in May 1635. Morgan Bulkeley's mother Lydia-Smith Morgan descended from passengers of the Mayflower more than 200 years prior.
The Bulkeleys had called nearby Colchester, Connecticut their home and until Morgan's death always believed it as such. He was also related to the well known Morgan family through his mother. He was educated at Bacon Academy in Colchester just like his father and his cousins on both sides. In 1846, the Bulkeley family moved to Hartford, Connecticut. Morgan's father, Eliphalet Adams Bulkeley, was prominent in the Connecticut Republican Party and helped found the Aetna Life Insurance Company, becoming its first president in 1853. He was also a descendant of the third President of Harvard University, Charles Chauncy. Morgan Bulkeley attended Hartford Public High School and, at age 14, started working at the Aetna sweeping floors for a dollar a day along with his brother, Charles.