William Morse (1674 - 1749)

Born 23 Jan 1674 in Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Merrill) Morse — married 12 May 1696 in Newbury, Essex, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Descendants

Died 10 May 1749 at age 75 in Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts Bay

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Note: Sarah Merrill-444, b 1679, daughter of Abraham, married Joseph Morse, and Sarah Merrill-139, b1677, daughter of Daniel, married William Morse, are cousins.

Biography

Deacon William Morse, son of Benjamin and Ruth (Sawyer) Morse, born in Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British America, 23 January 1673/4; died in Newbury, 10 May 1749, age 75; buried in the Bridge Street Cemetery, Newbury (today West Newbury), Essex County, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British America; married in Newbury, 12 May 1696, Sarah Merrill, eleven children.

Timeline

1673/4, January 23. Birth of William Morse in Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British America.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]}

1691. The charter for the Province of Massachusetts Bay was issued which combined the Massachusetts Bay territories with those of the Plymouth Colony and proprietary holdings on Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard (along with present day Maine). | Wikipedia.

1696, May 12. Marriage of William Morse and Sarah Merrill in Newbury.^[1][2][5][8]

1697, April 26. Birth of son Daniel Morse in Newbury.

1699, March 4. Birth of daughter Ruth Morse.

1701, October 5. Birth of son Peter Morse.

1703, August 8. Birth of son Benjamin Morse.

1704, October 17. Birth of son William Morse.

1706, October 1. Birth of daughter Sarah Morse.

1708, February 14. Birth of daughter Martha Morse.

1711, April 13. Birth of daughter Anne Morse.

1713, March 17. Birth of son Moses Morse.

1716, October 28. Birth of daughter Merriam Morse.

1719. Birth of daughter Hannah Morse.

1744, August 15. William Morse made his last will and testament.^[1]

1749, May 10. Death of William Morse in Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British America. William was buried in the Bridge Street Cemetery in Newbury (today West Newbury), Essex County, Massachusetts Bay Colony.^{[1][2][4][5][9][10]}

Research Notes

Some researchers confuse this William Morse with his grandfather Anthony's brother William Morse. It was the older William Morse who had the witchcraft incident with his wife Elizabeth.^[11]

For further information on the witchcraft incidents surrounding the older William and his wife Elizabeth see the following:

The Blue Laws (Case, Tiffany & Co., Hartford, 1838)

Page 309: "In the third year, 1679, the House of William Morse, at Newbury, was infested with demons after a most horrid manner,..."

Page 311: "A little Boy belonging to the family, was a principal sufferer in these molestations..."

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Lord, Henry Dutch. Memorial of the Family of Morse, Compiled from the Original Records for the Hon. Asa Porter Morse. Cambridgeport, MA: Harvard Printing Co., 1896. Family of Anthony Morse, pp 9, 26. [Digital copy available from FamilySearch.]
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Merrill, Samuel. Merrill Memorial, An Account of the Descendants of Nathaniel Merrill, An Early Settler of Newbury, Massachusetts. Cambridge, MA, 1928. p 169. [Digital copy available at Family Search]
3. ↑ The Essex Institute. Vital Records of Newbury, Massachusette to the End of the Year 1849. Volume I, Births. Salem, MA: Newcomb & Gauss, 1911. p 346. [Digital copy available at Internet Archive.]
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, database online, p 89 (image 3094 of 4542), Handwritten record. Original data: Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook), Ancestry.com.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700, database online, Torrey, Clarence Almon. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2004 (7th printing), p 522, Ancestry.com.
6. ↑ Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692 on the Basis of Farmer's Register. Volume III, p 237. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1861. [Digital copy available at Internet Archive].
7. ↑ "Massachusetts, Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FHL2-92Y : accessed 07 Jul 2014), W... Morse, 23 Jan 1673; citing Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts, 30; FHL microfilm 877468.
8. ↑ The Essex Institute. Vital Records of Newbury, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849, Volume II, Marriages and Deaths. Salem, MA: Newcomb & Gauss, 1911. pp 326, 346. [Digital copy available at Internet Archive.]
9. ↑ The Essex Institute. Vital Records of Newbury, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849, Volume II, Marriages and Deaths. Salem, MA: Newcomb & Gauss, 1911. p 669. [Digital copy available at Internet Archive.]
10. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #92719004
11. ↑ Lord, Henry Dutch. Memorial of the Family of Morse, Compiled from the Original Records for the Hon. Asa Porter Morse. Cambridgeport, MA: Harvard Printing Co., 1896. Family of Anthony Morse, pp 94-111. [Digital copy available from FamilySearch.]

See also:

• Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England (Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1862)