Morgan is often remembered as one of the first European settlers in what is now West Virginia. Around 1729, he and his family moved to Virginia. In 1735, he officially received 1,000 acres of land near present-day Bunker Hill in Berkeley County, where he had already been living since about 1731.

In 1735, he became captain of the local militia. This military unit has been active ever since then, making it possibly the oldest one of its kind in the country.

By 1740, he helped start Christ Episcopal Church with other settlers. He also built a log home that still stands today (pictured) and was restored in 1976.

Though not the very first settler in West Virginia, Morgan was one of the earliest.