Matthew Morgan was the caretaker at Collinwood in 1967 (6). He was extremely loyal to Elizabeth Collins Stoddard. Generally a gentle man, Elizabeth noted that he could get violent at times (13).
Matthew originally worked for Elizabeth's father on the boats at the Collins Fishing Fleet and Cannery (53), as well as sweeping out the stinky cannery floors, until 1949 when Elizabeth Collins Stoddard hired him on as the handyman at Collinwood, giving him his own cottage in the woods for the rest of his life. She had fired the entire staff of servants at the mansion, including maids, chauffeur, and gardener - and brought Matthew on as the sole employee to do all of the heavy work around the house (6).
In 1950, almost a year after he got hired at Collinwood, Matthew got into an accident on the hill leading down from Collinwood. His car went over the side of the steep road and he was nearly killed due to bad brakes on his car. From that day forward, he vowed that all of the cars at Collinwood would always have their brakes well maintained (13, 16).
Matthew's loyalty lay solely with Mrs. Stoddard and he never cared for the rest of the Collins family, especially Roger (16). When Roger's car was sabotaged, Matthew went along with Elizabeth's suggestion that he take the blame himself and tell everyone it was his carelessness that caused the accident, despite the fact that it would make him look like a fool (38).
Matthew often liked to bake muffins (13). He got about town driving the family's station wagon (18).
Matthew Morgan was the one who killed Bill Malloy, believing he was going to cause trouble for Mrs Stoddard. When Victoria Winters found out he was responsible for the murder, he held her hostage in a secret room in the Old House (108). Still believing that Roger killed Bill, David Collins helped bring food and supplies to him until he discovered Vicki behind the bookshelf. The ghosts of the Widows and Bill Malloy frightened Matthew to death just before he tried to kill Vicki with an axe. Roger and Burke Devlin rescued Vicki and discovered Matthew dead (127). His death was ruled as a heart attack.
Notes
- Matthew Morgan was Thayer David's first role on the show.