In 1875 Robert Irvine Morse, using money his mother saved for him in a sugar bowl, moved from Waterville, Maine to San Francisco, California in order to seek gainful employment. Robert was the son of Comfort Taylor Morse and Rhoda Ann (Balentine) Morse. In California Robert worked as a salesman, a streetcar conductor, and a milk delivery person. He drove a team of horses through the streets of San Francisco sixteen hours a day, making two hundred delivery stops.
In 1894, after visiting the Bellingham Bay area, Robert used three thousand dollars he made on a real estate investment to found a hardware store which became known as the Morse Hardware Company in the town of Sehome (now Bellingham), Washington. In 1984, the Morse family celebrated the company's one hundredth anniversary in business.
In 1882 Robert married Etta Fowler. They had five children: Cecil A., Roscoe Irvine, Luta Ivy, Charles Leland, and Hosea. Etta died in 1906 and Robert re-married in 1909 to Ada Margaret Chisholm. They had three sons: Robert Irvine, Jr., William Howard, and David Chisholm.
From the guide to the Morse Family Papers, 1878-2005, (Western Washington University Heritage Resources)
