Morgan Gardner Bulkeley (December 26, 1837 - November 6, 1922) was an American politician, businessman, and sports executive. A Republican, he served in the American Civil War, and became a Hartford bank president before becoming the third president of the Aetna Life Insurance Company, a post he held for 43 years. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in recognition of his role as the first president of the National League. Bulkeley served on the Hartford City Council and was a four-term mayor of Hartford.

Bulkeley was born in East Haddam, Connecticut to an old local family. His father, State Senator Eliphalet Adams Bulkeley, was a descendant of the Reverend Peter Bulkeley, 8 generations removed. Peter Bulkeley was the founder of Concord Massachusetts and sailed to this country from England on the ship Susan & Ellen in May 1635. Morgan Bulkeley's mother Lydia-Smith Morgan descended from passengers of the Mayflower more than 200 years prior.  The Bulkeleys had called nearby Colchester, Connecticut their home and until Morgan's death always believed it as such. He was also related to the well known Morgan family through his mother. He was educated at Bacon Academy in Colchester just like his father and his cousins on both sides. In 1846, the Bulkeley family moved to Hartford, Connecticut. Morgan's father, Eliphalet Adams Bulkeley, was prominent in the Connecticut Republican Party and helped found the Aetna Life Insurance Company, becoming its first president in 1853. He was also a descendant of the third President of Harvard University, Charles Chauncy. Morgan Bulkeley attended Hartford Public High School and, at age 14, started working at the Aetna sweeping floors for a dollar a day along with his brother, Charles.  Bulkeley left Hartford to work for his uncle's company, H. P. Morgan & Company, in Brooklyn, New York. He was an errand boy in Brooklyn in 1852 and later worked as a salesman.  During the Civil War, Bulkeley served as a private with the 13th New York Volunteer Heavy Artillery. He served from May 28, 1862 until September 28, 1862. He served under General George B. McClellan in the Peninsula Campaign and later under General Joseph K. Mansfield. His brother, Captain Charles E. Bulkeley, was killed during the war. He became a companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States by right of inheritance from his brother, who would have been eligible for membership had he lived.  After the Civil War, Bulkeley returned to Morgan & Company. When his father died in 1872, Bulkeley returned to Hartford and helped form the United States Bank of Hartford, becoming its first president. He later served on Aetna's board of directors.

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