Garrett Morgan was born in Paris, Kentucky, on March 4, 1877. He had ten brothers and sisters; he was number seven out of the eleven children. Even though Garrett Morgan was very smart, he only finished elementary school. He did earn money and pay for private tutoring so that he could improve even more. When he was fourteen years old he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio to look for a job. He became a handy man to a wealthy land owner. He later began work in sewing machine factories.