The original location of Smith & Morgan’s store was soon found inadequate, and in 1854 the business was removed to McGill Street, just south of St. Joseph, now Notre Dame, in a building occupied by Latineer. In 1860 an addition was made extending to Notre Dame Street and when the old American Presbyterian church, corner of Victoria Square and St. James Street, was removed, the business was transferred to that location in more commodious quarters.
In 1852, Mr. Smith retired from the business, and that same year the firm of Henry Morgan & Company was established, Mr. James Morgan of Glasgow, Scotland, a brother, becoming a member at that time. The latter, a native of Saline, Fifeshire, Scotland, had entered the dry-goods business early in life and for a number of years was a member of the firm of Muirhead & Morgan, of Glasgow. The personnel of the firm practically remained unchanged until 1876, when James and Colin D. Morgan, nephews of Henry Morgan and the former a son of James Morgan, became members, and upon whom most of the burden of the business has fallen.
In 1891, this firm completed on St. Catherine Street, opposite Phillips Square, one of the finest business blocks in America, to which its mercantile business was transferred. This move became necessary in order to meet the requirements of a constantly growing business, and a shift in the retail section to that part of the city.
Mr. Henry Morgan, the founder of the business, died December 12, 1893, at which time the Gazette said in part: “No Montreal merchant and not many Canadian merchants could claim to be better known than Mr. Henry Morgan, who passed to his rest yesterday, after a busy, successful and well spent life of almost seventy-five years. His character was marked by many of those traits which have made men of Scottish birth so prominent a factor in the upbuilding of Montreal’s commercial prosperity. Mr. Morgan was of a somewhat retiring disposition. His store and his farm home at Maisonneuve divided his time, and though he enjoyed a very large share of public respect, he never sought to enter public life. He was unmarried. His death was due to influenza, the cause of so many deaths of prominent men lately, acting on a constitution weakened somewhat by previous illness. The funeral takes place today from St. Andrew’s church, of which he was an esteemed elder.”
The death of Mr. James Morgan had preceded that of his brother but a few months, and occurred on March 28, 1893, at which time the Gazette said in part: “By the death of Mr. James Morgan, Sr., Montreal has lost one of its oldest citizens and one who for well nigh half a century was an intelligent sharer in its commercial and industrial progress. The deceased gentleman was in his eighty-sixth year. Mr. James Morgan was a man of strong intellect, diligently cultivated, an assiduous but judicious reader until his eyesight became impaired, and his opinion on questions to which he had given thought was ever listened to with attention. With few persons was it more profitable to converse, especially on the higher themes of religion, philosophy and science. His views were broad and so was his charity. Although as a business man he had little spare time for writing, Mr. Morgan could wield an able pen and has written not only prose but poetry. He was long an esteemed member of the Church of the Messiah. But though a man of strong convictions, as he was a thorough Scotchman, neither in creed nor in nationality was he of the narrow type.”
The business of Henry Morgan & Company from its very inception, has never been at a standstill, success following the firm’s every move. In 1906 it was incorporated as a limited liability company under the present title of Henry Morgan & Company, Limited, with Mr. James Morgan, as president. The development and expansion of this firm’s interests have come to include several large factories which it owns and operates, among these being the foremost high class wood-working plant in the Dominion, which places the company in a position to build homes as well as to decorate and furnish them even to the smallest detail. In this respect the firm has become widely known throughout Canada, and its successful undertakings include decorative schemes and interior furnishings of some of the finest homes in practically every province in the Dominion.
Its business policy has always been one of absolute integrity and business honesty, and this has exerted a strong influence upon the life of a great city. The public who come in daily contact with the various branches of this great organization readily feel that spirit of industry and enterprise that has made possible the accomplishing of great things and the building of a great business dedicated to the best interests of the public whom it serves.