spered as a hotelkeeper in Hartford, Connecticut. He helped to organize a canal company, steamboat lines and the new railroad that connected Hartford with Springfield. Finally he became one of the founders of the Aetna Fire Insurance Company. Joseph's first son was Junius Spencer Morgan, also destined for the life of a businessman. He spent a number of years as a dry-goods merchant before moving to Boston and into the foreign trade business. Junius was invited to join the firm of George Peabody & Co. in 1854. In 1864 Junius took over the Peabody Company and changed the name to J.S. Morgan & Co. John Pierpont Morgan was born on April 17, 1837 in Hartford, Connecticut. He was nicknamed "Pip" by his childhood friends. The family prospered in Hartford until Junius moved the family to Boston where Pip began Boston English High. He did well in the prestigious high school and then in his second high school in Vevey, Switzerland. The family moved to London and John transferred to the University of Gottingen in Germany. John continued to excel in his studies and majored in mathematics. He began to become interested in business affairs as he started and investing club amongst his friends and kept strict records of his own finances. In 1857, Junius Morgan decided to broaden his son's experience by sending him to New York. The firm of Duncan, Sherman & Co. was the American representation of the George Peabody Company. He wrote to the company asking for a position for his son and advertising the fact that his son had "many admirable qualities for a worker" To the company, J.P brought an energetic and enterprising spirit, mathematical wisdom, great confidence and a useful tie with the English banking world. In less than three years Morgan went from clerk to cashier in the company. Although, he was denied a promotion when his father requested one, he did receive a promotion in the firm later in his career. In 1860 Morgan left Duncan, Sherman and fou...
