Early life
John Pierpont Morgan Jr. was born on September 7 1867 in Irvington, New York, as the second child (and first son) of banker John Pierpont Morgan, better known as J. P. Morgan, and his second wife, Frances Louise Tracy.
Growing up, J. P. Morgan Jr. was often known as “Jack” to his friends and family and was particularly close with his father, J. P. Morgan, and grandfather, Junius Spencer Morgan, the latter of whom was the founder and patriarch of the Morgan banking family.
Though the Morgan family had not yet achieved the wealth and splendor is later would, the family was still quite rich, allowing a young Jack and his three siblings to live quite comfortably – more so than many other children their age could.
Indeed, the Morgan children often split their time between the family’s city home in the affluent village of Irvington, New York and their country estate in Highland Falls, New York.
Being the eldest son of a prominent family and heir to a vast fortune, J. P. Morgan Jr. was given the best education money could buy at the time.
From ninth to twelfth grade, J. P. Morgan Jr. attended the prestigious St Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire (whose alumni included members of both the Vanderbilt and Astor families) and graduated in 1884 – in the same class as his cousin, Junius Spencer Morgan II.
Upon graduation from St. Paul’s School, Jack Morgan enrolled at Harvard and went on to become a member of the Delta Phi fraternity before graduating in 1886.
A Start in Banking
After graduation, J. P. Morgan Jr. went to work for J. S. Morgan & Co., the London-based merchant bank ran by his grandfather, who spent the next four years teaching him everything there is to know about international finance.
The 1890 death of his grandfather devastated Jack Morgan, who’d grown even closer to his grandfather whilst working for him in London. His death, however, allowed Jack’s father to assume control of J. S. Morgan & Co. and finish off his education.
Two years later, in 1892, Jack Morgan returned to the US and became a partner at Drexel, Morgan & Co., the bank his father co-founded with Pittsburgh banker Anthony Drexel.
Following Drexel’s death in 1893, Jack Morgan helped his father reorganize the company and rename it J. P. Morgan & Co., a name the company bears to this day!
