By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
APRIL 7, 2020 | Gwinnett and the City of Buford lost a distinguished citizen recently, as Hansel Morgan Sr. , 98, died, a member of the Greatest Generation. He served our country as a member of the U.S. Army during World War II. He was part of the forces that took part in the invasion of North Africa and went to Algeria, Tunisia, and later to Rome, Paris and Germany. He was in the Army for 37 months, including 24 months overseas. He was in the Quartermaster Corps, handling weapons for troops. He trained at Camp Lee, Va. And Vancouver Barracks, Wash.
Brack, dressed for Covid-19
He may be best remembered as the author of a book about the City of Buford, commissioned by the Buford City Commission.
Phillip Beard, chairman of the Buford City Commission, said the Morgan family “…have been pillars of the community for years. Hansel spent hours compiling our city’s history. He enjoyed getting this history organized.”
Mr. Morgan’s life was made up of a series of accomplishments. When at Buford High School, he participated in all its sports teams. Mr. Morgan is a graduate of Piedmont College, and later earned a master’s degree from the University of Georgia, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.
Hansel Morgan became a teacher in Buford. While teaching, he went to night school at John Marshall Law School and became a member of the Georgia Bar Association in 1950, and set up his law practice in Buford.
Besides his legal work, he was the first director of the Buford Housing Authority, and supervised the construction of public housing projects in Buford. He also directed construction of public housing projects in Sugar Hill, Duluth and Flowery Branch.
Morgan
From 1959 to 1965, he served as one of two Gwinnett legislators to the Georgia General Assembly. While there, he was a co-sponsor of and wrote the legislation to create the Gwinnett Judicial Circuit. This was carved out of the Piedmont Judicial Circuit which included Jackson, Barrow and Banks Counties. This measure gave Gwinnett its own circuit, which has grown today to include 31 full time judges in Gwinnett, plus 15 part-time magistrate and senior judges.
Mr. Morgan was judge from 1965 to 1970 of the City Court of Buford, which later became the State Court of Gwinnett. Additionally, with the growth of Gwinnett, it became entitled to its own separate Juvenile Court. Starting in 1971, Mr. Morgan was the first Gwinnett Juvenile judge. He continued to serve in that role until 1991, when he retired after 20 years of service.
Retirement did not slow Mr. Morgan down. The City of Buford had named him as the city historian in 1987, and he began assembling information. In 1993 he published Historic Buford, which soon sold out and was republished. The book contained many images of events and leaders of the city. With his interest in Buford history, Mr. Morgan was instrumental in helping establish the Buford City Museum.
A central point in Judge Morgan’s life has been his membership in the Buford First United Methodist Church. He was a member since 1931, and had been involved in many positions, including the Church Board, District trustee, and delegate to the Annual Conference. He was a member of the Chancel Choir, and taught the Fellowship Sunday School class for more than 40 years.
His second book was a history of the Buford Methodist Church, published in 1996, The Buford First Church, United Methodist, a History. Later on, in 2008, Judge Morgan published a collection of his Sunday School lessons, The Measure You Give.
Hansel Grady Morgan Sr. (1921-2020): May you rest in peace.
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