San Diego-San Francisco County CA Archives Biographies.....Morse, Philip 1845 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 21, 2006, 2:37 pm

Author: Theodore S. Van Dyke

PHILIP MORSE.

   PHILIP MORSE was born in Fayette, Maine, May 23, 1845. His boyhood days were
passed in the village, where he attended the district school. Later on he was a
pupil in the Lewiston Falls Academy, where he prepared to enter Bowdoin College
in the class of 1865. Failing health, however, compelled him to give up all
thought of entering college, and he decided to come to California. Arriving in
San Francisco in September of that year he secured a position as salesman in the
lumber yard of Glidden & Colman, pier 20, Steuart Street, where he remained
until March, 1869, when he accepted a position with McDonald & Co., to come to
San Diego to take charge of their lumber business here. He arrived March 9, and
has been identified with the interests of the city ever since. He was absent
from San Diego from 1879 to 1883, in Arizona, where he had a mill and
manufactured lumber for the mines. He was associated with Mr. Jacob Gruendike in
this venture. Upon his return to San Diego in 1883, he went into business with
his father-in-law, G. W. B. McDonald, under the firm name of McDonald & Morse.
The firm continued in existence for one year, and then, in conjunction with
several San Francisco capitalists, Mr. Morse organized the San Diego Lumber
Company, of which he was elected general manager. The capital stock of the
company was fixed at $75,000. The sales for the past year amounted to over
$750,000. He is also a stockholder in, and was one of the organizers and first
superintendents of, the West Coast Redwood Company of San Francisco. He is
President of the San Diego Manufacturing Company, which is engaged in the
manufacture of doors, sash, blinds, etc.

   Although Mr. Morse is not a politician in the ordinary acceptance of the
term, he has always taken a deep interest in municipal affairs, and for nearly
three years he held the office of City Treasurer. He has been twice elected a
member of the City Board of Education, and is now President of that body. He is
Vice-President of the V. M. C. A., and one of the leading members of the San
Diego Natural History Society.

   In giving this brief sketch of Philip Morse, really but one side of his
character has been exposed to view. We have seen how he has risen, through the
exercise of exceptionally good business qualities, from a clerkship to a
position of affluence and recognized prominence in the community. We have seen
him successful in his business ventures, and honored and trusted by his
fellow-citizens. But there is another phase of his character, which is seldom
found combined with business acumen or financial ability. In the exercise of a
wise economy nature but rarely endows the same mind with more than one of what
may be called her cardinal gifts. Occasionally, however, when in a lavish mood,
she departs from this general rule. The character of Philip Morse is an instance
of this. Added to his ability as a business man he has a fine literary taste,
and a talent for poetry, which has borne fruit in the production of some stanzas
which will live in the annals of American verse. As a writer of descriptive
prose, also, he has been quite successful. His sense of observation is keen and
he writes of what he sees, in a bright, pleasant style that is both agreeable
and instructive to the reader. One of the best of Mr. Morse's poetical efforts
is entitled "Milking Time." It was first published in Scribner's for August,
1878, and besides being widely copied by the newspaper press has been included
in a publication entitled, "Best Things by the Best Authors," and also in a
collection known as "Perfect Jewels," illustrated. It is indeed a poetical
jewel, and as the work of one of San Diego's best-known citizens, it is not
inappropriate to find a place for it in this volume:—

MILKING TIME.
"I tell you, Kate, that Lovejoy cow 
     Is worth her weight in gold; 
She gives a good eight quarts o' milk,
     And isn't yet five year old.

"I see young White a-comin' now;
     He wants her, I know that. 
Be careful, girl, you're spillin' it!
     An' save some for the cat.

"Good-evenin', Richard, step right in."
     "I guess I couldn't, sir, 
I've just come down"—" I know it, Dick,
     You've took a shine to her.

"She's kind an' gentle as a lamb,
     Jest where I go she follers; 
And though it's cheap I'll let her go,
     She's your'n for thirty dollars.

"You'll know her clear across the farm,
     By them two milk-white stars; 
You needn't drive her home at night,
     But jest le' down the bars.

"Then when you've owned her, say a month,
     And learnt her, as it were, 
I'll bet—why, what's the matter, Dick ?"
     "'Tain't her I want—it's her!"

"What? not the girl!  Well, I'll be blessed!
     There, Kate, don't drop that pan. 
You've took me mightily aback,
     But then a man's a man.

"She's your'n, my boy, but one word more:
     Kate's gentle as a dove. 
She'll foller you the whole world round,
     For nothing else but love.

"But never try to drive the lass;
     Her nature's like her ma's. 
I've allus found it worked the best
     To jest le' down the bars."

   Mr. Morse was married May 23, 1870, to Miss Sarah McDonald, daughter of G. W.
B. McDonald, one of San Diego's most prominent citizens, and one of the first
Supervisors. The fruit of this union has been three children, of which one, a
son, is living. The residence of Mr. Morse, which is situated at the corner of
Twelfth and E Streets, is one of the finest in the city. The finish of the
interior is especially attractive, being done in the choicest of curly redwood.


Additional Comments:
From:

THE
CITY AND COUNTY
OF
SAN DIEGO.
ILLUSTRATED,
AND CONTAINING
BI0GRAPHICAL SKETCHES
OF
PROMINENT MEN AND PIONEERS.

SAN DIEGO, CAL.
LEBERTHON & TAYLOR
1888


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