Junius Spencer Morgan I (April 14, 1813 – April 8, 1890) was an American banker and financier, as well as the father of John Pierpont "J.P." Morgan and patriarch to the Morgan banking house. In 1864, he established J. S. Morgan & Co. in London as the successor to George Peabody & Co., of which he was junior partner. With his son's aid, Morgan grew his banking house into a trans-Atlantic financial empire that included firms in London, New York City, Philadelphia, and Paris. By the time of his death in 1890, the Morgan banks were dominant forces in government and railroad finance, and his was the pre-eminent American banking house. Early life Morgan was born on April 14, 1813, in Holyoke, Massachusetts to Joseph and Sarah Morgan. At the age of 13, he was enrolled at the American Literary, Scientific, and Military Academy (now Norwich University) in Middletown, Connecticut near the home of his mother's parents. After a year, he transferred to a private academy in East Windsor, Connecticut and spent summers working on his father's farm or assisting at his father's business office in Hartford. As was typical for aspiring businessmen of the time, Junius did not enroll in college, but was apprenticed to Alfred Welles, a Boston merchant banker, in 1829. He remained as a clerk for five years, gaining exposure to the banking industry, as well as a number of mercantile trades in Boston and New York. Family The Morgan name is traced to Carmarthen, Wales, with his earliest known ancestor being Hyfaidd ap Bleddri, third son of Bledri ap Cydifor of Wales. Miles Morgan, ancestor to the Morgan family in America, emigrated from Bristol, England to Boston in 1636. Junius's father Joseph was a soldier in the Revolutionary Army and farmer in West Springfield, Massachusetts. He entered business in Connecticut, operating a tavern, coffee house, and stagecoach line, and was a founding partner in the Aetna Fire Insurance Company in 1819. He made a fortune with Aetna in 1835, when Aetna covered Wall Street firms destroyed in the Great Fire of New York. Joseph personally bought the stakes of Aetna investors who hesitated to pay on the policies. These prompt payments to the banks destroyed in the fire established Aetna's reputation on Wall Street and allowed the firm to triple its premiums in later years. Early career In April 1833, Alfred Welles offered Morgan a