Born in Kiantone, New York, Fred W. Morgan attended James-town, N.Y. high school and at age 16, became a wage earner, employed by the B.F. Goodrich Company in Akron, Ohio, learning the rubber business. Seven years later, at age 23, he formed his own company, the Morgan Rubber Works and was joined by his father-in-law, Rufus Wright, changing the name of the company to Morgan & Wright. Mr. Morgan experimented with the develop-ment, design and manufacture of pneumatic bicycle tires and the growth of business, reaching a daily production of 12,000 tires, caused the company to move to a new and larger plant in Chicago at the close of the nineteenth century. Much of the success of Morgan & Wright, in addition to its product, was the pioneer merchandising program of the company, a guaranty to replace defective tires that it produced.

In 1898, Mr. Morgan sold his company to the United States Rubber Company, which continued the Morgan & Wright name because of the firm’s reputation. Mr. Morgan continued a lifetime of interest in sailing, golfing and landscape painting, was a patron of yachting races on Lake Michigan and life member of the Chicago Art Institute. When he sought a place to spend time during his retirement, he selected the valley of Turtle Creek, purchased 1,009 acres along both sides of the creek and in the early 1900’s constructed a beautiful home which became known to Beloiters as “The Morgan Mansion” and in later years, as a restaurant, known as “The Manor.”

He became one of the founders of The Country Club of Beloit. In later years a son constructed a 9-hole golf course on the Morgan property, with its clubhouse called “The Blarney Stone,” for many years a popular supper club and located southeasterly of what is now Morgan School. Mr. Morgan became interested in the use of cement for building homes, factories and highways so when he built his home on Turtle Creek, it was constructed of solid concrete rather than limestone or other stone blocks, the thickness of the walls in places at 30 inches. In addition to numerous bedrooms and bathrooms, the house contained a pipe organ, bowling alley, shooting galley and formal gardens.

Mr. Morgan also experimented in modern farming methods by rotating crops, maintaining a herd of sheep and an outstanding dairy of Guernsey cows. In 1915 Mr. Morgan was dissatisfied with the unpaved road from the entrance of his farm into Beloit and wanted it improved, primarily for his new motor car. He negotiated with the Rock County Board and agreed to contribute 1/3rd of the cost, $2,000, to pay for the first concrete road in Rock County, a nine foot strip of road, 4/5^th of a mile long, connecting from the entrance of his farm, to the city limits of Beloit, which had a paved street out as far as East Lawn Cemetery.

The story goes that public officials and engineers complained that the paved highway wasn’t wide enough for two horses and buggies to pass each other. To this Mr. Morgan is said to have replied: “If there isn’t room for both, one will have to get off the road and wait.” Mr. Morgan believed that this first concrete road, short as it was, would encourage the County Board to build more roads and indeed, when this first step was taken, the media reported that the supervisors would soon provide a concrete road between Beloit and Janesville, which was done in 1918.

By 1935, twenty years later, Rock Cunty had approximately 200 miles of concrete and 25 miles of blacktop highway. The stately Morgan Manson, standing on the banks of Turtle Creek, remains as a monument to Fred William Morgan and his family.