My 64 ~ Researching My 4th Great Grandparents : Enoch Morse and Eunice Russell

My 4th great grandfather, Enoch Morse, was born on July 3, 1772, in Gray, Maine. He was the second son born to John Morse and Sarah Sanders. John is the DAR Patriot from whom I descend; I became a Daughter on March 5th this year.

In 1794, Enoch married Eunice Russell, with whom he had 10 children. Not much is known about Eunice Russell, and that made my DAR application quite challenging. Most researchers of the Russell Family assume that she is the daughter of James Russell and Lydia Mitchell. Most convincing for me was the marriage between Enoch's sister Sarah and James' son Nathaniel.


For all of their married life, Enoch and Eunice lived in New Gloucester, Maine, where Enoch was a farmer and blacksmith, and where all their children were born.

Mark, b. 1795

Enoch, Jr., b. 1799

Stephen, b. 1803

Susan F., b. 1804

Mary, b. 1806

Happia, b. 1808

Benjamin, b. 1809

Cynthia, b. 1811^*

Hannah, b. 1815

and 

Margaret, b. 1820

*My 3rd great grandmother

It was daughter Hannah's death record which gave me Eunice's maiden name:

Eunice died in New Gloucester on December 24, 1825, according to this death record, but I have not yet found her grave.

Following her death, Enoch married Eleanor Bradbury, of Minot, Maine, the daughter of Benjamin Bradbury and Eleanor Fellowes, on May 27, 1826. With Eleanor, Enoch had three children:

Russell B., b. 1827

Alfred J., b. 1828

Apphia Jane, b. 1829

At the age of 80, Enoch Morse passed away on August 16, 1852, in New Gloucester. He is buried in Webber Cemetery there.

Sources:

Ancestry.com, 1810 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), Ancestry.com, Year: 1810; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: 11; Page: 272; Image: 00274; Family History Library Film: 0218682.

Ancestry.com, 1820 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), Ancestry.com, 1820 U S Census; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Page: 283; NARA Roll: M33_33; Image: 155.

Ancestry.com, 1830 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), Ancestry.com, 1830; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Series: M19; Roll: 46; Page: 149; Family History Library Film: 0009700.

Ancestry.com, 1840 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), Ancestry.com, Year: 1840; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: 138; Page: 313; Image: 556; Family History Library Film: 0009702.

Ancestry.com, 1850 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009), Ancestry.com, Year: 1850; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: M432_250; Page: 79A; Image: 350.

Ancestry.com, Maine, Death Records, 1617-1922 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), Ancestry.com, Maine State Archives; Cultural Building, 84 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0084; Pre 1892 Delayed Returns; Roll #: 78.

Ancestry.com. Maine, Marriage Records, 1713-1937 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Ancestry.com, Web: Maine, Find A Grave Index, 1700-2012 (Provo, UT. USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012), Ancestry.com.

Gray, Ruth, editor. Maine families in 1790 (Camden, Maine, Picton Press, 1990), p.202.

"Maine Deaths and Burials, 1841-1910," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4ZV-XMJ : accessed 6 October 2015), Eunice Morse, 24 Dec 1825; citing reference yr 1745-1858 p 477; FHL microfilm 11,587.

Morse, J. Howard and Emily W. Leavitt, Morse genealogy, comprising the descendants of Samuel, Anthony, William, and Joseph Morse and John Moss, being a revision of the Memorial of the Morses, published by Rev. Abner Morse in 1850 (New York, New York, The Morse Society, 1903.

52 Ancestors: #2 Stephen Morse (1803-1886)

Stephen Morse's Grave
Along With Both Wives and Son, Marshall

Webber Cemetery

New Gloucester, Maine

Stephen Morse, my 3d great grand uncle, was born in New Gloucester, Maine on this date in 1803, the third child of ten born to Enoch Morse and his first wife, Eunice (Russell) Morse. He is enumerated (as a tic mark) in the 1810 (age 7), 1820 (age 17), and 1830 (age 27) New Gloucester Census as being part of his father Enoch's household.

In 1832, at the age of 29, he married Joanna Merrill, 11 years his junior, in New Gloucester, on October 13th. In the 1840 New Gloucester Census, Joanna is enumerated with Stephen. A son, Osgood, soon followed in 1833. Subsequent children were: Marshall in 1835, Nancy in 1838, Lucinda in 1841, Elvira in 1848, and Alice in 1850. Aside from Marshall and Alice, I haven't been able to trace any records of the children of this marriage. Joanna died in 1857.

Stephen married for a second time Orintha Additon, on June 21, 1858, in Lewiston, Maine. Orintha was 19 years younger than Stephen, and had been married before to a Stephen Bliffin. She was from Greene, just up the road from Lewiston. 

Together, Stephen and Orintha Morse had one child, a daughter Flora, in 1861.

Stephen Morse lived and farmed in New Gloucester his whole life. He died, preceding Orintha by just 3 years, on October 24, 1886, at the age of 83.

Stephen's father, John Morse, is the DAR Patriot I hope to prove my lineage to in 2014!

This is the second in a series, "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks," coordinated by Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small.

You might also enjoy:

52 Ancestors #1: William Brackley, Jr. (1788-1873)

View New Gloucester, ME 04260 in a larger map

Sources:

"Maine, Births and Christenings, 1739-1900," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FW19-8VC : accessed 31 Aug 2013), Stephen Morse, 15 Jan 1803.

1810 U S Census; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: 11; Page: 272; Image: 0218682.

1820 U S Census; Census Place: Cumberland, Maine; Page: 282; NARA Roll: M33_33; Image: 155.

1830 U S Census; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Roll Number: 46; Page: 149.

1840 U S Census; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: 138; Page: 313; Image: 556.

1850 U S Census; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: M432_250; Page: 79A; Image: 350.

1860 U S Census; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: M653_437; Page: 16; Image: 579.

1870 U S Census; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: M593_540; Page: 389A; Image: 252.

1880 U S Census; Census Place: New Gloucester, Cumberland, Maine; Roll: 478; Page: 394D; Image: 0179.

"Maine, Marriages, 1771-1907," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F48P-YJD : accessed 11 Jan 2014), Stephen Morse and Joanna Merrill, 13 Oct 1832.

"Maine, Marriages, 1771-1907," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F46V-W8X : accessed 11 Jan 2014), Stephen Morse and Orinthia Blithen, 21 Jun 1858.

Ancestry.com. Maine, Death Records, 1617-1922 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Find A Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com : accessed 12 January 2014), memorial page for Stephen Morse (1803–1886), Find A Grave Memorial no. 33612164, citing Webber Cemetery, New Gloucester, Maine.