Inventor Name
Morse Family
Repository
Yale University
Manuscripts and Archives
Sterling Memorial Library
PO Box 208240
128 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06520-8240
203-432-1735
http://www.library.yale.edu/mssa/
Physical Description
8 linear ft.
Summary
Jedidiah Morse (1761-1826): minister, educator; active in evangelism and missionary work; author of Geography Made Easy (1784), the first geography written in the United States. Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872): artist, professor of art at New York University (1832-1837); inventor. Richard Cary Morse (1795-1868): minister, editor. The principal figures in this collection are Jedidiah Morse (1761-1826) and his sons Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872) and Richard Cary Morse (1795-1868). More than half of the collection is made up of correspondence (1779-1868) among members of the family. Also included are legal and financial papers, sermons by Jedidiah and Richard Cary Morse, travel journals, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, printed matter, and photographs. Jedidiah Morse’s missionary work among the Indians and his concern for their condition is reflected in a number of letters on the subject. Samuel F. B. Morse, who had a double career as a painter and as the inventor of the telegraph, is represented by correspondence, depositions on his invention, and three drawings by a student (dated 1862). Richard Cary Morse’s papers contain a biography of Jedidiah Morse and extensive journals on travels to the Bay of Fundy in 1822; to Europe in 1837-1838 in search of a cure for his depression; and again to Europe in 1855. One of the entries in his journal of 1837-1838 is his account of the coronation procession of Queen Victoria. Correspondence with his wife, Sarah Louise, between 1838 and 1850 conveys a vivid picture of family life and many details on the sickness of children. Samuel Morse is represented by correspondence and depositions on his invention.