John Morse (1791-1861)
Roxa Fuller Morse (1794-1844)
Maria Bullen Morse (1816-1886)
John Morse (1819-1819)
Caroline A. Ellis Morse (1825-1847)
Mary N. Morse (1824-1854)
Edwin Morse (1853-1855)
John Morse was born on October 2, 1791. His father and namesake, John Morse (1753-1825), was a Revolutionary War veteran. His mother was Mary Lewis Morse (1761-1832). Both are interred in this same family plot.
On February 22, 1817, John Morse married Roxa Fuller. Her parents were Eliphalet Fuller and Elenor Ellis Fuller (lot 38). The couple had a child, John, born in 1819 who lived only 17 days. They subsequently had three more children: Francis Morse (1821-1885), John Edwin Morse (1824-1893), and Maria Morse (1830-1906).
Roxa Fuller Morse died on December 25, 1844 of dropsy.
John Morse remarried on July 21, 1846. His second wife was Maria Bullen. They had no children.
John Morse died on April 21, 1861. His death was attributed to paralysis. His widow, Maria Bullen Morse died on April 2, 1886, of liver disease.
Also named on this side of the Morse Family gravestone are:
Caroline A. Ellis Morse (1825-1847), the first wife of John Morse’s son, John Edwin Morse. She died of consumption on June 21, 1847.
Mary N. Snow Morse (1824-1854), the first wife of John Morse’s son, Francis Morse. Mary Snow Morse died on March 17, 1854 due to a bowel infection.
And, Edwin Morse (1853-1855), the son of John Edwin Morse and his second wife, Hannah Weatherbee Morse. This child succumbed to dysentery at the age of 2 on July 26, 1855.
The Morse family was one of the most prolific in South Dedham. Branches of the family resided in the area as farmers and millers. Once the Norfolk and Bristol turnpike opened (on today’s Washington Street) around 1812, the family established an express service using their barns to house teams of horses. Along with his own sons, John Edwin Morse operated the Morse Express until his death in 1893. He is buried at Highland Cemetery. Son Francis Morse became a miller; he and his family were interred in Old Parish Cemetery in this family lot.
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