Morgan was born August 26, 1932, the son of Ogle and Lucile Cline in Exline, Iowa. “I was a poor boy, from a poor family, in the poorest county in Iowa”, Morgan said.  His father Ogle was a coal miner and a farmer. Ogle worked at the Block Coal Company #2, just west of the family farm south of Exline. At one point, there was a cave-in at the mine, and Ogle and two other men dug out and then freed the others that were trapped.  Morgan’s mother Lucille worked at the Rosenbaum General Store in Exline.

Morgan has an older sister, Barbara Eddy, and a younger brother, Gary Cline.  Barbara helped teach Morgan how to read behind the old wood stove in their house.  She later became a teacher as her profession.

While growing up, Morgan had many friends in Exline. He remembers riding horses and fishing together.

Morgan was born in the midst of the Great Depression, and his family, like many others, didn’t have much.  Morgan spent much of his time doing chores – milking cows, cleaning the barn, and anything else that was asked of him. Hard work – hard enough to plant the seed into Morgan’s mind that there must be a better life out there – and he decided to find it.