Charles Morgan: podcast appearances and interviews

Charles Morgan was an American industrialist born on April 21, 1795. He was a prominent figure in the development of transportation and commerce in the Southern United States during the 19th century. Morgan began his career in New York City at age 14, managing various wholesale and retail businesses before focusing on marine shipping. In 1819, he invested in sailing vessels and managed all aspects of his shipping operations from his office at the New York City wharf. He established his first partnership for a packet company in 1831 and expanded his investments to include shipping routes to Kingston, Jamaica, Charleston, South Carolina, and between New Orleans and Galveston, Texas. During the late 1830s, he shifted focus from sailing ships to steamships and withdrew from the Atlantic trade as his Louisiana–Texas packet services grew successful. Throughout the 1840s and 1850s, Morgan expanded his shipping operations along the Gulf of Mexico, providing services to Mexico and Florida and supporting Texas's statehood and the Mexican-American War by shipping mail, troops, and war materials. He ceased sailing vessel operations by 1846 and responded to the California Gold Rush by offering passenger service from New York to San Francisco via Panama. His business activities included interactions and rivalries with notable figures like Cornelius Vanderbilt. Morgan's enterprises also included railroad ventures, notably in Louisiana, and he co-founded the Southern Steamship Company in 1855. During the Civil War, Morgan faced losses due to seizures by both the Union and Confederacy but remained financially successful, particularly through his shipbuilding business, Morgan Iron Works. He continued expanding his interests into railroads after the war, acquiring his first railroad in 1869 and additional lines in the subsequent decade. Morgan died on May 8, 1878, in New York City, shortly after incorporating and distributing shares of the Morgan's Louisiana and Texas Railroad and Steamship Company.