Matinecock Point

In 1913, Jack Morgan, succeeded his father as the head of J.P. Morgan & Co., and he used his friendship with the British ambassador to the United States, Cecil Spring-Rice, to secure a deal for his firm to become the sole munitions and supplies purchaser for the British and French governments throughout World War I. In July, 1915, Morgan was entertaining Cecil Spring-Rice at Matinecock when a man forced his way past the butler and in through the front door. Morgan and Rice threw themselves on the intruder who was bearing two guns and had several sticks of dynamite inside his jacket. In the struggle, two shots went off catching Morgan in the hip and the abdomen. The would-be assassin was Eric Muenter, a former German professor at Harvard University who was already wanted in Massachusetts for the murder of his pregnant wife. He maintained he had only wanted to take Morgan's wife and children hostage until Morgan arranged the end of the war, but this didn't tally with his other actions which included exploding a bomb that destroyed a reception room at the U.S. Senate, fortunately without injury. ==After Jack Morgan's death==

By the time Jack died in 1943, the estate had been reduced to 73-acres. He left it in equal shares to his two sons, Junius and Henry. In the meantime, it sat empty when it was discovered that: "Inside the house imported velour draperies hang in tatters, damask wall coverings have been pulled off and gold leaf framing and embossed panels have been marred". The remaining land was partially developed during the 1950s and the nuns remained there until 1971. That year they placed it on the market for a million dollars, having agreed with the 80 families living on the island that they would not sell to any commercial or institutional buyers. The nuns stuck to their words, but after knocking the price down to $850,000, the buyers ran it to ruin. What remained of the land was broken and sold off piece by piece, until only the run down old mansion was left standing. Still too well-constructed to be taken down by a wrecking ball, it was brought down with dynamite. Today, the backyards of three modest suburban homes occupy the land on which Jack Morgan's mansion once stood, but the dairy complex and several cottages still stand, as Morgan's lasting legacy to the island he called home for thirty years. ==References==