Ezra Morse Jr. (1671-1760)
Mary Lovett Morse (1679-1746)
Ezra Morse was born on January 28, 1671 in Dedham. He was the eldest child of Ezra Morse (1643-1697) and Joanna Hoar Morse (1649-1691) who married in Dedham on February 18, 1670.
At some time during the late 1670s, the family moved to South Dedham where Ezra Morse opened a saw mill.
Ezra Morse, the younger, married Mary Lovett (1679-1746) of Essex, Massachusetts in 1692. They had four children: Ezra, John, Joseph, and Mary.
Morse operated a saw mill on the Neponset River, land that became part of the town of Walpole when that town was set off in 1724, and Morse became one of the first selectmen of that town. Morse was also a Captain in the militia during the Colonial Wars.
In 1736, Morse became one of the founders of the Christ Church of Dedham, Second Parish (now the First Congregational Church), and was one of three original Deacons chosen in 1736. In 1738, at his request, by an act of the General Court, Ezra Morse’s estate was set off from Walpole and annexed to the Second Precinct of Dedham.
Mary Lovett Morse died on October 17, 1746 in her 77th year. [Note: her gravestone spells the name Mors] Ezra Morse died on October 17, 1760 in his 90th year, having been a Deacon of the Church for about 24 years. His gravestone was carved by George Allen, Jr. The tympanum (or central arch) on each stone is decorated with effigies of winged skulls (Mary’s even has crossbones), symbols meant to remind of mortality (skulls and bones) as well as spiritual regeneration (wings).
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