The Descendants of John Heywood of Concord, Massachusetts

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HARTWELL MORSE, a well-known and highly respected citizen of Binghamton, N.Y., has filled the responsible position of Cashier of the City National Bank since 1878. Mr. Morse was born at Eaton, Madison County, N.Y., April 6, 1843, and traces his ancestry in America back to 1635, when the founder of his branch of the family, Samuel Morse, with his wife Elizabeth and son Joseph, came over from England in teh ship "Increase," and settled in the eastern part of Massachusetts, at a place which was incorporated the next year under the name of Dedham, and included the present towns of Medfield, Natick, a part of Sherborn, and several others. Samuel Morse died at Medfield, Mass. in 1654. In 1796 a descendant of Samuel in the sixth generation, Joseph by name, came to New York, and took up a large tract of land in Madison County, then almost a wilderness, through which he had to cut his road. He laid out a farm, and built the first frame house in that vicinity, now the town of Eaton. Joseph Morse married Miss Eunice Bigelow in 1788 at Templeton, Mass; and Ellis, the eldest of their eight children, was the father of Hartwell.

Ellis Morse was six years old when he was brought by his parents to the town of Eaton, where he grew up. The school he attended was taught by Dr. James Pratt; and the course of study is said to have consisted of the three important branches of reading -- especially of the Bible -- writing, and spelling; but, doubtless, arithmetic was included. In those days domestic life was exceedingly primitive, being characterized by plain but wholesome fare, clothing spun, woven, and fashioned at home, and the work of the farm materially aided by the labors of the children. Ellis Morse was a general farmer and extensive cattle-dealer, and was a widely active man. He built the turnpike road from Hamilton to Skaneateles, and also conducted the largest distillery at Eaton, which he continued until 1857. Mr. Morse was twice married, his first wife being Miss Lora Ayer, who was born in Connecticut, July 2, 1792, and died at the age of thirty-nine, in 1831. His second wife and the mother of Hartwell was Miss Adeline Bagg, who was a daughter of Dr. Henry Bagg, of Princeton, Mass. Mr. Ellis Morse died in 1869, aged eighty years. Of the eleven children born to Ellis Morse, Hartwell was the youngest. He received his education in his native town and at Elmira and Homer Academies. In 1864 he entered the City National Bank of Binghamton, N.Y., at first filling the modest position of corresponding clerk. He was soon advanced to that of book-keeper, and then to teller in 1870, and Assistant Cashier in 1872, finally reaching his present office of Cashier in 1878, where he has remained fifteen years continuously. For the past twenty-nine years Mr. Morse has given his entire attention to the banking business, and ranks as one of the most experienced and reliable in his profession in the city of Binghamton.

The City National Bank in which he is engaged is a successor of the old Bank of Binghamton, a State bank which was started December 2, 1852. The organizers were: Ammi Doubleday, President; Charles W. Sanford, Vice-President; and William R. Osborn, Cashier. The capital stock was two hundred thousand dollars. They built and occupied in 1856 the building on the corner of Court and Washington Streets, which was then considered as one of the handsomest and most substantial blocks in the city of Binghamton. It continued as a State bank until 1865, when it became a national one, and is now known as the City National Bank. Mr. Doubleday, the first President, dying July 23, 1867, Charles W. Sanford was elected to his position; H. S. Griswold, Vice-President; William R. Osborn still continuing as Cashier. In 1878 Mr. Osborn was elected to the Presidency, and Mr. Morse was appointed Cashier. In 1893 Mr. Harris G. Rodgers became President of the bank, Charles F. Sisson filling the place of Mr. Rodgers as First Vice-President. The capital stock at the bank remains the same as when started, with a surplus of forty thousand dollars. For the past twenty-five years Mr. Morse has taken a deep interest in the excellent and efficient Fire Department of Binghamton, especially in Hook and Ladder Company, No. 1, of which he is Treasurer.

Two of the brothers of Mr. Morse were brave and distinguished soldiers in the late Civil War. They were Henry and Alfred. Henry went into the field as Captain of Company D, New York Volunteer Infantry, Regiment One Hundred and Fourteen, was promoted to Colonel, and, when the war closed was brevetted Major-General. He was at one time a prominent Judge in Arkansas. He died at the old homestead at Eaton, N.Y., June 20, 1874. Alfred was a theological student in Hamilton College, but at the call of his country enlisted in Company D, One Hundred and Fourteenth Regiment, New York Volunteers, and was wounded at the battle of Cedar Creek in October, 1864, and died a month later, at the age of twenty-four.

September 16, 1869, Mr. Hartwell Morse married Miss Kate K. Johnson, daughter of Samuel Johnson, one of the oldest settlers of the city of Binghamton. Four children have been born to them, three sons and one daughter. The daughter died while quite young. The sons are living at home; and two bear the family names -- namely Walter H. and Ellis G. The second son is named William Osborn. Walter and William are both clerical workers in the City National Bank of Binghamton, the former a teller, the latter correspondence clerk. Ellis G. is in the city high school.

The family reside in a comfortable home at No. 153 Chapin Street, which is the attractive centre of a refined and cultivated circle of friends. They occupy a high social position; and both in business and church affairs Mr. Morse is regarded with universal respect and esteem. Mr. and Mrs. Morse attend the First Presbyterian Church of Binghamton, of which Mrs. Morse is a member. Politically, Mr. Morse is a staunch Republican.

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HARTWELL MORSE - A record of fifty-nine years of activity with one financial institution is one rarely equalled in any city, but this is the record of Hartwell Morse, who is now rounding out his sixth decade of service with the City National Bank of Binghamton, New York, and although he has recently celebrated his eightieth birthday, he is still alert, active, and daily at his desk. His long usefulness in the business world of Binghamton, and his large ability as a man of affairs, have given him a very high place in the esteem and confidence of his fellow-citizens, and the name of Hartwell Morse bears the closest significance to every branch of community endeavor. He is a member of a family long identified with the progress of this State, and is a son of Ellis and Adalina (Bagg) Morse, lifelong residents of Madison county, both descended from pioneer families of that section, who came from Dedham and Princeton, Massachusetts.

Hartwell Morse was born in the town of Eaton, Madison county, New York, April 6, 1843. He was reared on the homestead farm of the Morse family, which his father owned until his death, and his early training in the surroundings of farm life, close to nature and to nature's God, undoubtedly gave him the sane outlook upon life and the wholesome spirit which have remained with him throughout his long and useful career. His education was begun in the local district schools, then, after one winter at the Elmira (New York) High School, he took a course at the Corland Academy, at Homer, New York. As a young man Mr. Morse remained with his father until he was almost of age, bearing a share in the work of the farm. He then entered the employ of the institution of which he is now the president, then known as the Bank of Binghamton, and operated as a State bank. He first filled the duties of messenger, taking up his work on January 7, 1864. His strict attention to his work, and the spirit of responsibility with which he met even the most unimportant details, won him the confidence of his superiors in office, and he was advance steadily, filling the various positions of clerk, chief clerk, bookkeeper, assistant cashier, and eventually cashier. To this last-named office he was appointed in January, 1877, and for thirty-seven consecutive years he filled this largely responsible position. On January 13, 1914, Mr. Morse was elected president of this institution, and although he has now reached an age when few men are even capable of filling any regular duties, he is still the keen-minded man of business, and his slender, dignified figure is that of the man scarcely past the prime of life, still efficient in achievement and able to endure the stress of the day's work. The City National Bank of Binghamton has been an incorporated institution since July 1, 1865, and has a capital stock of $200,000. Mr. Morse has always devoted his time almost wholly to his duties as an employee and an official of this institutuion, and has few other interests. His chief pleasure is walking, and since his youth he has kept fit through this exercise.

A Republican by political faith, he has supported the party consistently, but has preferred to leave leadership to others. Mr. Morse was tendered an appreciation of his long service with the City National Bank on the occasion of his eightieth birthday, on April 6, 1923, when the thirty-four employees and officials of the institution gave an informal dinner in his honor in the gold room of the Arlington Hotel, in Binghamton. All offered their most cordial felicitations, and the occasion was one which will long be remembered by those present.

Hartwell Morse married Kate K. Johnson, who was born in Schuylerville, New York, and who died November 29, 1910. She was a daughter of Samuel and Lucretia (Gray) Johnson, the family coming to Binghamton when Mrs. Morse was a child. Mr. Johnson was an artist of more than local note, his landscapes having been considered among the finest of his day. Mr. and Mrs. Morse were the parents of three sons: Walter H., William Osborn, and Ellis G., all of further mention below.

Walter H. Morse was born at Binghamton, New York, November 6, 1870. Educated in the local schools, he entered the employ of the City National Bank under his father at an early age, and has also spent his entire career in this institution. He rose through the various grades of responsibility, was appointed teller in 1888, then, three years later, was made assistant cashier, eventually, in 1914, succeeding his father as the cashier. Mr. Morse is a Republican by political affiliation, and one of the influential and really significant men of the city. He married Louise Powell, and they are the parents of two sons: Hartwell P., who was born November 1, 1898, and is a veteran of the World War; and Stewart Wells, born March 17, 1900.

William Osborn Morse was born November 21,1 873, was educated in the local schools, and is now manager for the American Linseed Oil Company at their offices in Kansas City, Missouri. He married Mary Squier, and they are the parents of two children, twins: Osborn and Esther, born February 23, 1908.

Ellis G. Morse was born July 31, 1877, and was educated in the schools of Binghamton, and is now salesmanager for the Powell Coal Company, of this city. He married Elizabeth Hall, and they have one son, Richard H., born July 10, 1906. The family has always been prominently identified with the First Presbyterian Church of Binghamton.