Leonard and Amy Morgan were married 73 years.
Hannah Styles
hstyles@thesmokymountaintimes.com
The Morgans traveled to the Great Smoky Mountains train depot in Bryson City on Tuesday, a chilly fall morning much like their parents did exactly a decade ago.
J.L. and his wife Frances, Kermit and his wife Jacqueline, Bonnie, Linda, D.L., his wife Patricia and son Jared and several cousins and close friends all waited at the depot ready to board the train to celebrate the memory of their parents and loved ones, 100th anniversary. Two brothers: Carl and his wife Gaye, and Warren couldn’t be there because of illness.
Leonard and Amy Morgan were married September 27, 1922 at the old Bryson City Courthouse (now the Visitor’s Center) after they eloped by horse and buggy and rode the train into Bryson City from the Nantahala community.
Leonard was born March 1, 1905 in Macon County, North Carolina and worked in the logging industry. Amy was born October 17, 1904 also in Macon County. Amy took care of the couple's 13 children and worked on the farm.
“They met when they were four years old and grew up together,” their son, Kermit said. “They married when they were 17 years old.”
The family moved to High Point in 1950 when Leonard found a job in a pulpwood mill.
“They took marriage very seriously and kept God in the center of their marriage,” their daughter, Linda said.
“Dad’s oldest sister told their mother that Mom and Pops wouldn’t last three months, and they proved her wrong,” Linda said.
Proved her wrong they did. They were married 73 years before Amy passed away in 1995, Leonard in 1997.
Like many in those times, the Morgans ran their own farm and were self-sufficient, growing everything that they ate.
“The family raised cows and chickens and grew enough in the garden for family, neighbors, and everyone else,” Linda said. “People said they saw Mom working in the field with a baby in one hand and a hoe in the other,” she chuckled.
“One unusual thing is that their first born passed away at 9 years old on the same night that J.L. was born,” Linda said about her brother J.L. “Mom was grieving so badly she didn’t know that she was in labor.”
“Our mom was the toughest woman I’ve ever known, she gave birth several times without even waiting for the midwife,” their daughter Bonnie said.
“If she told you not to do something, she meant it and if she didn’t like you, you knew it,” J.L.’s wife Frances said.
Leonard helped build the railroad tracks in Nantahala and always had a fascination for the train.
“In about 1996, after Mom had passed away, Pops, our sister Mary, and I came to ride the train,” Linda said. “He really enjoyed it.”
The Morgan family continue to share fond memories of their parents and their love story and hopefully can make the train ride a tradition in future years to keep sharing this beautiful love story with generations to come.