Henry Dutton Morse

  General notes:

Silversmith and jeweler

  Events in his life were:

• Apprenticed about 1839 to Hazen Morse in Boston MA

• He worked in 1850 as an engraver in Boston MA
Listed in the city directory at 228 Washington Street.

• He worked from circa 1860 to 1888 as a diamond merchant and jeweler in Boston MA early in 1860, while still a partner in CROSBY & MORSE and later CROSBY, MORSE & FOSS, he constructed the first diamond cutting factory in America, The Morse Diamond Cutting Company. Working with his crew, Mr. Morse was constantly building, rebuilding and perfecting his diamond cutting machinery and also became an expert cutter and polisher in his own right. In or around 1875, Mr. Morse invented a sort of double lathe, which enabled two diamonds to cut each other by attrition produced by rapidly revolving machinery. He also invented the "Morse" gauge, an instrument for regulating all the angles to be cut on a stone. After much study, Mr. Morse discovered that the proper proportion for a diamond's profile is one-third above the girdle and two-thirds below it . The Morse-cut diamonds, with their round outline girdles and perfect profile proportions, were called "Boston Cuts". Believing in the equality of men and women, he trained the latter to cut stones, the first to do so.

• He was a partner from 1861 to 1863 with Francis Hunnewell and Samuel T. Crosby in Boston MA as CROSBY, HUNNEWELL & MORSE ⁴

• He was a partner from 1864 to 1868 with Samuel T. Crosby in Boston MA as CROSBY & MORSE, listed in the 1865 city directory at 240 Washington Street. ⁴

• He was a partner from 1869 to 1875 with Samuel T. Crosby and Charles M. Foss in Boston MA as CROSBY, MORSE & FOSS. ⁴

• Still Life, 1872
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

• He appeared on the 1880 census taken at Boston MA, listed as a diamond merchant.