William Morgan manufactured and sold ladies' shoes in Alexandria beginning in 1815. Although Morgan sold shoes in Alexandria and Washington for many years, his advertisements in the Alexandria Gazette reflect the instability faced by shop owners in the difficult years after the War of 1812. In his first two years of business, Morgan dissolved two partnerships and moved from five locations.

The first shop was on the 100 block of North Royal Street on Market Square. Later that year his "shoe factory" moved one block away to Fairfax Street. Seven months later he dissolved a partnership with Thomas Neill and opened a new shop on King Street, around the corner from his first shop. He moved a few doors away less than five months later. He was at that location only 16 days before moving again, across the street from his first shop.

Morgan's business problems stemmed, at least in part, from difficulty in collecting outstanding accounts. This was a common complaint of many Alexandria shopkeepers. Morgan attempted to alleviate this problem in 1816 by advertising sales on a cash only basis. Morgan, however, was not without customers. In this same advertisement Morgan mentioned that his time was principally occupied in "bespoke work" -- i.e., he was filling back orders.

In 1817 Morgan moved to Washington, D.C. in front of the theater on Pennsylvania Avenue. His measure book was alphabetically arranged, to easily fill mail orders from his Alexandria customers.

By 1822, when Morgan next moved, Alexandria's economy was much improved. His advertisements began to stress the quality of his goods rather than his business problems. Morgan returned to Alexandria by 1834 and remained in business into the 1840's.

Shoe soles and scraps of leather were recovered from a privy behind Morgan's fifth shop (on Royal Street, earlier used by the comb-maker Thomas Mount), which he occupied from November 1816 to September 1817.