Joseph Morse

  The gravestone for Joseph Morse
  stands at least one plot away from
  that for Rebecca Morse at Old
  burial Hill, Marblehead. A search
  of the Marblehead vital records
  reveals that he was Rebecca's
  nephew. Perhaps he was raised
  in her house, as he was the son,
  "posthumous, of John and
  Elizabeth". Joseph's ancestry
  follows:

A. Mark/1 Morse m. (1) (____?____).According to "Memorial of the Family of Morse" by Henry Dutch Lord (1896), this Mark/1 Morse was the ancestor of our branch of the Morses, but Lord leaves open the question as to whether our branch is actually descended from the earlier Morses of Newbury. Although this is possible, this researcher has found no proof that this is so, although there was a "Joseph and Mary" Morse, who seem to disappear from the Newbury records. Mark/1 Morse remarried one Christian Hoyle, 1699, and she m. (2) John Bartoll. Rebecca and Joseph Morse are buried relatively near Capt. John Bartoll (See No. 118, Part II.), who was the son of John and Christian (Moss/Morse), bp.26 Oct. 1712, C.R.1. Mark/1 Morse had died before 1711, so his widow, Christian (Hoyle) married (2) John Bartoll, 17 Dec. 1711. Confusing the issue is the fact that Mark/1 Morse had his children by (2)Christian (Hoyle) baptized at C.R.1 (First Congregational Church) while our branch of the Morses through his grandson, Abraham/3, were baptized at C.R.3, (St. Michael's Episcopal Church). The line from Mark/1 Morse and (2) Christian Hoyle is clearly traced in the record through his sons, John, William, and Mark, and include the associated surnames of Stanley, Hooper, Breed, Larcom, Lewis, Homan, Woodbury, Bootman, Bullock, Corning, and Cook. The following through Abraham/3 Morse is per Lord.

1. Child of Mark/1 Morse and (1)(____?____):
   a.) Joseph/2 Morse, m. Mary (____?____)
2. Child of Joseph/2 and Mary (____?____) Morse:
   a. Abraham/3 Morse, bp.23 Dec. 1716, C.R.3, m. Elizabeth (____?____)

B. Abraham/3 Morse m. (1)Elizabeth (____?____), (this researcher's note, perhaps "Roundy", bp. 1716, C.R.3, dau. John and Elizabeth (Savery). (St. Michael's Church was established in 1714, so actual birthdates for Abraham and Elizabeth must have been earlier, judging from the date of birth of their first child.)

1. Children of Abraham/3 and (1)Elizabeth (?Roundy) Morse
   1. Mary, bp.1732/3, C.R.3, bur. 24 Mar. 1735/6, a.3y.,
      1 m., 11d.
   2. Abraham, b.1735, d. at 6wks., C.R.3, bur. C.R.3
   3. Joseph, b.1739; d.20 Dec. 1743, a.4y., 7m., bur. C.R.3
   4. John bp.30 Aug. 1741, C.R.3; m. Elizabeth Bartlett, 22 Dec. 1767; he d. 1779; she m. (2)Robert Nicholson, 10 May 1789 (No issue)
   5. Elizabeth, bp. 24 Feb. 1744, C.R.3, m. John Stimpson, 31 May 1768

2. Children of John/4 Morse and Elizabeth (Bartlett):
   1. Elizabeth, b.3 Oct. 1768
   2. Sarah, bp.25 Nov. 1770
   3. John, bp.6 Sept. 1772
   4. Joseph, bp.5 Sept.1779, "son posthumous, John and Elizabeth", d.8 Feb. 1805, a. 23y., 5m.

According to Lord, Abraham/3 Morse (Joseph/2, Mark/1) was the father of Abraham/4 Morse, husband of Rebecca (Clarke). There is an unexplained gap of a number of years between Abraham/3 and Abraham/4, however. A search of the Marblehead vital records revealed five marriages for Abraham/3 Morse, the last to a widow (No Issue). The only "fit" for a birth of a son Abraham/4, 8 Oct. 1762, is the marriage of Abraham/3 to (4) Mary Girdler, 31 Dec. 1761, C.R.3., dau. Francis and Elizabeth (Peach). If so, Joseph Morse was the nephew by marriage of Rebecca (Clarke) Morse, and Abraham/4 Morse, who married Rebecca (Clarke) was the half brother of John/4 Morse, Joseph's father, thus explaining the burial Of Joseph adjacent to that of Rebecca (Clarke) Morse, wife of Abraham/4 Morse.

Sources: Marblehead Vital Records; "Memorial of the Family of Morse", by Henry Dutch Lord