Morse, Samuel Finley Breese, 1791-1872

Variant names
Dates:
Birth 1791-04-27
Death 1872-04-02
Americans,
English, Italian,

Biographical notes:

Painter, inventor; New York, N.Y. and London, England.

From the description of Samuel Finley Breese Morse letter, 1845 Sept. 18. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122599940

From the description of Samuel Finley Breese Morse letter, 1845 Sept. 18. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 233007074

Author of account concerning deportation of 1100 workers and I.W.W. sympathizers from Bisbee to Columbus, N.M., July 12, 1917.

From the description of The truth about Bisbee, 1929. (University of Arizona). WorldCat record id: 31388188

Artist and inventor.

From the description of Samuel Finley Breese Morse papers, 1793-1944 (bulk 1807-1872). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70979869

American telegraph inventor.

From the description of Facsimile of an autograph letter signed : New York, to Cyrus W. Field, 1871 Dec. 4. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 547232252

American artist and inventor of the telegraph.

From the description of Letter : Charleston, to Thomas Sully, 1821 Feb 23. (Getty Research Institute). WorldCat record id: 81157302

From the description of Autograph letter signed : "Po'hkeepsie," to John Mullaly, 1857 Oct. 23. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 696642308

From the description of Autograph letter signed : London, to S.B. Guion and the Gentlemen of the Committee, 1857 July 1. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 696642242

From the description of Autograph letter signed : London, to John Mullaly, 1857 July 15. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 696642278

Before becoming famous as the inventor of the telegraph (patented in 1837), Morse had a successful career as a painter. He was a founder of the National Academy of Design and its president from 1826 to 1842.

From the description of ALS : London, to Asher B. Durand, 1838 July 24. (Rosenbach Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 122489366

Farmer and missionary.

From the description of Diary and reminiscences, 1857-1859. (Duke University Library). WorldCat record id: 23804870

Samuel Finley Breese Morse was an American artist and inventor. He studied art in Europe, and had success as a painter and sculptor. His interest in chemistry and especially electrical phenomena led to several inventions, notably the telegraph, from which he achieved wealth and lasting fame.

From the description of Samuel F.B. Morse letter to Joseph Knight, 1863 Sept. 16. (Pennsylvania State University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 54667713

American artist, inventor.

From the description of Papers, 1930-1952. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 122514993

Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872), artist and inventor, graduated from Yale in 1910. He studied painting in England from 1811-1815 and achieved some success in portrait painting particularly in Charleston, South Carolina (1818-1821). After 1832, when the idea of the telegraph obsessed him, Morse gave up painting to devote himself to inventing.

From the description of Samuel Finley Breese Morse papers, 1817-1950. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 173863257

Inventor of the telegraph, artist, founder of Vassar College.

From the description of ADS, 1843 July 10 : New York. (Copley Press, J S Copley Library). WorldCat record id: 17308621

Epithet: scientist

British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000841.0x00004c

Born in Charleston, Massachusetts, inventor and painter Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872), graduated from Yale College in 1810. Morse attended the Royal Academy of Arts in London, England and began a successful career in painting in Europe and the United States. In 1832, Morse developed the concept of the single-wire telegraph and Morse code. In 1938, Morse proposed his patent to the U.S. Government and the Republic of Texas, but failed to gain sponsorship. Morse succeeded in securing funding from the U.S. Government after a successful demonstration in 1842.

Born in Vance County, North Carolina, Memucan Hunt (1807-1856) was a planter and businessman in Mississippi before joining the Texan Army during the Texas Revolution. In 1837, Hunt became the first Minister of Texas to the United States. A year later, President Mirabeau B. Lamar appointed Hunt as Texas Secretary of the Navy.

Source: Neu, C. T. “Hunt, Memucan,” Handbook of Texas Online. Accessed on February 17, 2011. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fhu31.

From the guide to the Samuel F. B. Letters 65-171., 1839, 1860., (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin)

Portrait artist, inventor of the telegraph.

Morse purchased the Locust Grove property in 1847 and remodeled the house into a Tuscan Villa in conjunction with his architect, Alexander Jackson Davis. In 1901 his heirs sold the estate to William H. Young.

From the description of Samuel F.B. Morse collection, 1849-1980. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 155532864

Born in Charleston, Massachusetts, inventor and painter Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872), graduated from Yale College in 1810.

Morse attended the Royal Academy of Arts in London, England and began a successful career in painting in Europe and the United States. In 1832, Morse developed the concept of the single-wire telegraph and Morse code. In 1938, Morse proposed his patent to the U.S. Government and the Republic of Texas, but failed to gain sponsorship. Morse succeeded in securing funding from the U.S. Government after a successful demonstration in 1842.

From the description of Morse, Samuel F. B. Letters, 1839, 1860. (University of Texas Libraries). WorldCat record id: 707121993

Biographical Note

1791, Apr. 27 Born, Charlestown, Mass. 1799 Entered Phillips Academy,Andover, Mass. 1810 Graduated Yale College,New Haven, Conn. 1811 1815 England England Lac England England Tungland England Cemetery England Number 3 Dam England Ridge England Creek HVDC Quebec-New England - Des Cantons Grounding Electrode England Brothers Number 1 Dam England Branch England Mine New England Park Kampunglandeuh Langland Koringlandskloof Nglandean England Run Veterinary Clinic Springland Longlands Kessingland New England Hall New England Mine London, England London City of London City of London Studied art in England with Washington Allston and attended the Royal Academy of Arts,London, England 1815 Opened an art studio in Boston but spent much time traveling 1817 Patented, with brother Sidney E. Morse, a flexible piston pump for fire engines 1818 Married Lucretia Pickering Walker (died 1825) 1822 Invented a marble-cutting machine 1823 Opened an art studio in New York, N.Y. 1826 Founder and first president, National Academy of Design,New York, N.Y. 1827 1832 Began study and experiments in electricity and the telegraph 1829 1832 Traveled, studied, and painted in Europe 1832 New York, N.Y. New York City Chelsea New York Returned to New York, N.Y. New York, N.Y. New York City Chelsea New York Appointed professor of painting and sculpture, University of the City of New York,New York, N.Y. 1832 1836 Active in the Native American Party Worked on developing the telegraph 1835 Published Foreign Conspiracy Against the Liberties of the United States (New York: Leavitt, Lord, & Co. 208 pp.) 1836 Candidate for mayor of New York on Native American ticket; polled 1,500 votes 1837 Withdrew from painting to devote attention to inventing Filed for a patent for the telegraph Edited Confessions of a French Catholic Priest (New York: D. Van Nostrand. 255 pp.) 1843 Washington, D.C. Washington, D. C. District of Columbia Baltimore, Md. Baltimore Congress voted $30,000 for an experimental telegraph line from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore, Md. 1844 Sent telegraph message, “What hath God Wrought?” from the Supreme Court chamber in the United States Capitol to Baltimore, Md., on May 24 1848 Married Sarah Elizabeth Griswold 1854 Unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Congress,Poughkeepsie district, N.Y. 1857 1858 Served as an electrician for Cyrus W. Field's company in laying the transatlantic telegraph cable 1861 Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Poughkeepsie Cofounded Vassar College,Poughkeepsie, N.Y. New York, N.Y. New York City Chelsea New York President, National Academy of Design,New York, N.Y. 1869 Published Examination of the Telegraphic Apparatus and the Processes in Telegraphy (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 166 pp.) 1872, Apr. 2 Died, New York, N.Y.

From the guide to the Samuel Finley Breese Morse Papers, 1793-1944, (bulk 1807-1872), (Manuscript Division Library of Congress)

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Subjects:

  • Architecture, Domestic
  • Slavery
  • Slavery
  • Abolitionists
  • Abolitionists
  • Art, American
  • Anti
  • Architects
  • Architecture
  • Architecture
  • Architecture
  • Architecture
  • Art
  • Art
  • Art, British
  • Art, European
  • Artists
  • Art, Italian
  • Christian life
  • Copper miners
  • Copper Miners' Strike, Bisbee, Ariz., 1917
  • Drama
  • Dwellings
  • Germans
  • Germans
  • Historic buildings
  • Historic sites
  • Immigrants
  • Immigrants
  • Inventors
  • Inventors
  • Landscape architecture
  • Missionaries
  • Morse code
  • Nativism
  • Painters
  • Painting, American
  • Patents law and legislation
  • Patent suits
  • Photography
  • Portrait painting, American
  • Real property
  • Revivals
  • Strikes and lockouts
  • Telegraph
  • Telegraph
  • Telegraph
  • Telegraphers
  • Temperance and religion

Occupations:

  • Artists
  • Inventors
  • Painter

Places:

  • Great Britain (as recorded)
  • Europe--Description and travel (as recorded)
  • Poughkeepsie (N.Y.) (as recorded)
  • Hopkinton (Mass.) (as recorded)
  • United States (as recorded)
  • Maryland--Baltimore (as recorded)
  • Italy--Description and travel (as recorded)
  • Massachusetts (as recorded)
  • Europe (as recorded)
  • Arizona--Bisbee (as recorded)
  • Young-Morse Historic Site (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) (as recorded)
  • Great Britain (as recorded)
  • New York (State)--Poughkeepsie (as recorded)
  • United States (as recorded)
  • New York (State)--New York (as recorded)
  • North Carolina (as recorded)
  • Locust Grove (N.Y. : Estate) (as recorded)
  • United States (as recorded)
  • United States (as recorded)
  • United States (as recorded)
  • New York (State)--New York (as recorded)
  • Great Britain--Description and travel (as recorded)
  • Italy (as recorded)
  • Texas (as recorded)
  • Bisbee (Ariz.) (as recorded)
  • Europe (as recorded)
  • Italy (as recorded)

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