close

History housed on Fredericktown hilltop

By Christine Haines chaines@heraldstandard.Com 4 min read
1 / 5

Artwork including paintings of Native Americans and photos of presidents were among the items that once belonged to long-time Congressman Dr. Thomas Morgan at an estate sale at his former home in Fredericktown.

2 / 5

This photo shows both the expansive frontage of the ranch-style home and the sweeping river view from the property once owned by Dr. Thomas Morgan late of Fredericktown, who served in Congress for 32 years.

3 / 5

Amanda Steen | Herald-Standard

Historical artifacts, like this chest that says “House of Representatives” and furniture, were recently sold at an estate sale in Fredericktown at a home which once belonged to Dr. Thomas Morgan, who served 32 years as a U.S. representative.

4 / 5

A brick that reads "Original White House material, removed 1950" is now a permanent fixture at a house that once belonged to Dr. Thomas Morgan, who served 32 years as a U.S. Representative.

5 / 5

A recent estate sale at the former home of Dr. Thomas Morgan in Fredericktown offered a chance to buy a bit of history nearly 20 years after his death.

It’s been more than 19 years since Dr. Thomas Morgan, the Fredericktown man who served 32 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, passed away, but until recently, some of his possessions could still be found in his Crawford Road home.

Morgan’s daughter, Mary Ann Youngwood of Ashburn, Va., sold the ranch house overlooking the Monongahela River lock, stock and barrel eight and half years ago to a couple who owned an antique store. While Youngwood kept the most personal of her father’s mementos of 32 years in Congress, many others were left behind for the antique dealers. Some were sold over the years, but the remainder went during an estate sale held in November as the house was prepared again to be sold.

A book dealer from Houston, Pa., Wilson Warneld, stopped by hoping to find some historic volumes.

“I knew who he was and knew he was in Congress,” Warneld said of Morgan. “I figured a lot of things would be gone since this was the second sale.”

Bill Barry of Confluence snagged a framed ad featuring Morgan at Bethlehem Steel. The Morgan reference wasn’t the draw for him though.

“I’m a retired steelworker from Homestead,” Barry said.

Morgan was the longest-serving chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, having held the post for 18 years, through committee name-changes and the Vietnam War. He began his congressional service in January 1945 and served through January 1977. Those international interests were evident in some of the furnishings and collectibles still gracing his former home, including an inlaid lacquer accent table and jade flower carving pictures.

Collections of political campaign buttons from the 1950s and ’60s, as well photographs of many of the presidents he served under were evidence of his attachment to his years in Washington D.C.

“He had a whole room of photographs of presidents he had served with. He loved politics, and he was a very people-oriented person,” Youngwood said of her father. “He served from the last years of Roosevelt until Jimmy Carter.”

Morgan began his political career as an East Bethlehem Township commissioner, but when the congressman from the area went into the military, Morgan was asked to run in his place, his daughter said. Having only one lung due to a bout with tuberculosis as a child, Morgan was exempt from military service and accepted the congressional challenge, intending to hold the position for no more than four years, Youngwood said.

Youngwood recalls that her father was in Washington D.C. only two days a week in those early years, driving or flying back to his southwestern Pennsylvania home and treating patients at his medical office the other days. His medical background came in handy one day in 1954 when he entered the House of Representatives as Puerto Rican nationals opened fire from the visitors’ gallery and wounded several representatives.

“He was the only doctor there, and he took care of them,” Youngwood said. “When he retired in 1976, he would go down to his office and treat people for free and he helped women get involved in politics.”

The late former Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll was a close friend of Morgan’s, Youngwood said.

“She came when he was dying and stayed with him for a day,” Youngwood said. “He became her campaign chairman when he was in his 80s.”

The White House was completely gutted in 1950 as Pres. Harry Truman undertook a massive renovation to keep it from falling down. While Morgan’s personal belongings are now gone from the hilltop estate, bricks from the original White House continue to hold up the mantle in the Fredericktown home’s family room. Small plaques identify the pieces of history embedded in the house, ever reminding future owners of the history that lived within their walls.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $4.79/week.

Subscribe Today