Ebenezer Morse Family from Walpole As It Was and As It Is (1880)

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Surname: MORSE
Source: Walpole As It Was and As It Is by George Aldrich, 
        The Claremont Manufacturing Co., Claremont, N.H., 1880, pages 337-341

MORSE, EBENEZER. It is said that the surrounding scenery where people are born and brought up 
has a tendency, in no small degree, to mould and modify their character. If such is the case, the subject 
of this sketch is no exception. Born in Dublin, N.H., in 1785, near its placid lake, and cradled in view of 
the firm and towering old Monadnock, his character seems to have been a strange compound of the 
serene and gentle aspect of the one, and of the firm and rugged appearance of the other; at one time full 
of pleasant and laughable stories, at another wearing a forbidding, unapproachable countenance. 
However, his appearance was not a true index of what was within. He was graduated at Dartmouth, 
1810, and, after studying the medical profession, came to this town and rented an office room in the 
north-east corner of the old Johnson tavern, now the residence of Fred A. Wier. At that time (1813) a 
tumble-down wall ran north from his office, near which stood a sapling elm, "about the size," as he said; 
"of a whip stock," which has since grown to its present dimensions. The Dr. had some taste for 
literature, and occasionally, in his leisure hours; courted the muses; but it is thought the courtship was not 
very satisfactory to him. He was a very interesting prose writer, and will long be remembered as 
rescuing from oblivion not a little of the early history of his adopted town. He had an extended practice 
for many years, competing with Drs. Johnson, Sparhawk, Holland, and the Kittredges. In the later years 
of his practice, his hobbies were good nursing and bread pills, which he thought quite as efficacious as 
blue pills and jalap. When the war of the rebellion broke out, the fire of his youth seemed to burn afresh, 
and his counsels were much heeded by his townsmen, in its incipient stages. In stature the Dr. was tall, 
being six feet and three inches when erect. His head was noticeably round, with a face of harmonious 
features. Being frugal in his own expenditures he was always at war with prodigality; and being 
conservative in his views, he hated innovation. The foolish customs and frivolities of the age he never 
failed to sarcastically rebuke. He was often heard to say of some foolish custom, "O, that’s genteel," in 
a manner that had more meaning than the words. By many families in town he will be long remembered 
as a man whose judgment they could rely. In 1816 he married Esther, the only daughter of John Crafts, 
by whom he had the following children.
I. John Crafts, b. Apr. 4, 1818; m. Joanna Paige Emmons, Jan. 2, 1851: has had five children, 
four of whom are living. He is a merchant in Boston.
II. Charles Orlando, b. Oct. 25, 1819. He went to Egypt a short time previous to his death, to try 
the effect of the dry climate on his health, but returned without receiving any benefit. He died of 
consumption, Mar. 9, 1845.
III. George Mason, b. Aug. 27, l821. He is a physician, in Clinton, Mass., where he went soon 
after completing his medical studies, about 1847-8. He m., first, May 6, 1846, Eleanor Carlisle, 
dau. of Carlton Chase, first bishop of New Hampshire, residing at Claremont, where he 
commenced practicing his profession, and they had 7 children, of whom only one is living. His 
wife died, and he married Jan. 15, 1863, Mary Frances Stearns, by whom he has 2 ch.
IV. Edward Everett, b. Sep. 26, 1824; d. May 9, 1827.
V. Esther Crafts, b. Mar. 19, 1830; m. John White Hayward, June 2, 1851. Has 3 ch. (See Ap.)
VI. Henry Lewis, b. Oct. 1, 1832; m. Mary Tarbell Homer, Sep. 24, 1867--2 ch. He resides in 
Boston.
VII. Frank, b. July 23, 1828; d. Sep. 4, 1840.
Ebenezer Morse d. Dec. 30, 1863, his wife d. June 11, 1879, in her 88th year. Subjoined are some 
specimens of the Dr.’s poetic musings. They were written for the occasion of the Centennial celebration 
of the town of Dublin, N. H., in 1852, in response to a toast that was prepared for him. After making 
some happy preliminary remarks he introduced the following lines:
 
There’s a ‘witching enchantment in that little grove,
Where we children and lambs in the shade loved to rove,
Till "old crazy Stanford" wits seen there one day,
Which spoiled all our innocent frolic and play.
The rocks in the fields, where we labored, can show
The marks of the harrow, plough, shovel and hoe.
I can see all the brooks where the trout used to play,
The meadows and ponds where we fished and made hay,
Can hear the shrill notes of the loon, which, so fond,
Is calling her mate from a neighboring pond.
That primitive church, alas! where is it now?
Where our fathers and mothers in faith used to bow.
By the side of Beech Mountain for years it had stood,
Recording the prayers of the pious and good.
I remember the pews, with their pretty turned slats,
And the posts where the men used to hang up their hats.
These last were a happy resort for the head,
And lengthened the naps when long sermons were read,
But the music every one used to admire,
When they heard Ensign Twichell lead off in the quire!
The christening font very seldom was dry
Where Christ, with his blessings on children, was nigh.
Here Sprague taught the truths which religion adorn,
And left all his treasures for children unborn.
That bright crystal spring never dried,
Where the boys used to eat bread and cheese by its side.
Here were spent the long noonings of which we were fond,
And picked the sweet berries that grew round the pond."
 
Then he made allusion to a sonnet he addressed to a lady, with whom he was enamored, but which she 
never received,--the lady being present on the occasion; two lines which he remembered were as 
follows:
 
"With merry heart, I saw her twist off
The magic thread from her pine distaff."
 
After some further remarks, he alluded to the old spinning wheel, thus:
 
"The boys dressed the flax, the girls spun the tow,
And the music of mother’s foot-wheel was not slow.
The flax on the beaded pine distaff was spread,
With squash shell of water to moisten the thread.
Such were the pianos our mother’s would keep,
Which they played on while spinning their children to sleep.
My mother’s I’m sure, must have borne off the medal,
For she always was placing her foot on the pedal.
The warp and the filling were piled in the room,
Till the web was completed and fit for the loom.
Then labor was pleasure, and industry smiled,
While the wheel and the loom every trouble beguiled;
And here at the distaff, the good wives were made,
Where Solomon’s precepts were fully obeyed."
 
Speaking of pleasure carriages, the only ones in use till 1813, he alludes to a couplet of Dr. Caustic, 
(Thomas Green Fessenden) who, writing more than seventy-five years ago, describing a fancy ball, 
says:
 
"My girl, the prettiest of a million,
Shall ride behind me on a pillion."