Edward S. Morse - Early Life

Early Life

Morse was born in Portland, Maine as the son of a Congregationalist preacher. His mother, who did not share her husband's religious beliefs, encouraged her son's interest in the sciences. An unruly student, Morse was expelled from every school he attended in his youth — the Portland village school, the academy at Conway, New Hampshire, in 1851, and Bridgton Academy in 1854 (for carving on desks). He preferred to explore the Atlantic coast in search of shells and snails, or go to the field to study the fauna and flora. However, despite his lack of formal education, the collections formed during adolescence soon earned him the visit of eminent scientists from Boston, Washington and even the United Kingdom. He was noted for his work with land snails, and before the age of twelve when he had discovered two new species: Helix Milium and H. astericus. As a young man, he worked as a mechanical draftsman at the Portland Locomotive Company and a wood engraver attached to a Boston company. Morse was recommended by Philip Pearsall Carpenter to Louis Agassiz (1807–1873) at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University for his intellectual qualities and talent at drawing, and served as his assistant in charge of conservation, documentation and drawing collections of mollusks and brachiopods until 1861.

During the American Civil War, Morse attempted to enlist in the United States Marine Corps, but was turned down due to a chronic tonsil infection. On June 18, 1863, Morse married Ellen (“Nellie”) Elizabeth Owen in Portland. The couple had two children, Edith Owen Morse and John Gould Morse.