Three Men Named Ezra Morse

There are three men named Ezra Morse interred in Old Parish Cemetery. Let’s sort them out.

Ezra Morse (Jr.) (1671-1760)                                      Lot 180

First, there is the Ezra Morse who 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 elder Ezra Morse moved his family to South Dedham and opened a saw mill.

Ezra Morse, the younger, married Mary Lovett (1679-1746) of Essex, Massachusetts in 1692. They had four children: Ezra (1694-1789), 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.

Ezra Morse died on October 17, 1760 in his 90^th year, having been a Deacon of the Church for about 24 years. His gravestone was carved by George Allen, Jr.

Ezra Morse (1718-1755)                                              Lot 151

The next Ezra Morse was born on March 26, in 1717 or 1718, depending on the record, in Dedham. He was the son of Ezra Morse (1694-1789) and his wife Anna White. This Ezra Morse was, therefore, the grandson of Ezra Morse (1671-1760).

On July 3, 1740, Ezra Morse married Bethiah Lewis also of Dedham. She was the daughter of William Lewis and Bethiah Colburn Lewis. Ezra and Bethiah had five children: Ezra (1741-1807) who died in Sharon; Bethiah, Oliver, Sarah, and Priscilla.

Ezra Morse died on June 14, 1755. He was about 38 years old and died before either his father or grandfather. The South Dedham record identifies him as Ezra Morse Tertius (the third) and states only that he was “between 30 and 40 years of age.”

Ezra Morse (1791-1873)                                             Lot 103

This Ezra Morse was born on July 1, 1791, the son of Seth Morse Jr. (1753-1801) and Mary Dean Morse (1754-1842). He was the great great grandson of Ezra Morse (1671-1760).

On January 29, 1815, he married Sally Baker (1791-1880) of Dedham. The couple had seven children: Charles Edwin, Cynthia, Osborn, Sidney, Reuben, Howard, and Alvin H.. At various times Ezra worked as a farmer, yeoman, and wheelwright to support his family.

Sadly, Ezra and Sally outlived most of their own children.

Reuben died on August 27, 1828 at 3 years old of dysentery. Osborn died on April 25, 1847. He was 27 years old, single, and a farmer, when he drowned.

On June 17, 1860, Howard Morse, who had been born in 1831, died at 28 of consumption. He was single and a piano maker. Cynthia Morse died of the same disease on May 5, 1861 at 43; she too was unmarried. Finally, son Alvin H. Morse died on May 29, 1867 at the age of 31, also of consumption. He was single and a wheelwright.

Charles Edwin Morse, the couple’s eldest son, a wheelwright as well, died in 1859. His name, along with those of his two wives, is carved on the other side of the gravestone. Only Sidney outlived his parents; he is not buried in Old Parish.

Ezra Morse died on January 27, 1873 of pleurisy fever and his wife, Sally Baker Morse, died three years later on December 16, 1880 of old age.