Isaac Edward Morse (May 22, 1809 – February 11, 1866) was a
United States Congressman
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
from
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
and
Attorney General of Louisiana. He was born in
Attakapas, Louisiana.
Biography
Morse attended school in
Elizabethtown, New Jersey Elizabeth Township, also called Elizabethtown, was a township that existed in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, from 1664 until 1855.
The area was initially part of the Elizabethtown Tract, purchased from the Lenape on October 28, 16 ...
, and the Norwich Military Academy in
Norwich, Vermont
Norwich is a town in Windsor County, in the U.S. state of Vermont. The population was 3,612 at the 2020 census. Home to some of the state of Vermont's wealthiest residents, the municipality is a commuter town for nearby Hanover, New Hampshir ...
. He graduated from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
in 1829. He studied law and was admitted to the bar and practiced in
, and
St. Martinville, Louisiana, from 1835 to 1842. In 1842, he was elected to the
Louisiana State Senate, serving through 1844. He was then elected to the United States Congress as a
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
to fill the vacancy created by the death of
Peter E. Bossier. He was reelected to the Twenty-ninth, Thirtieth, and Thirty-first Congresses and served from December 2, 1844, to March 3, 1851. He was the chairman, Committee on Private Land Claims during the Thirty-first Congress. He also served as a delegate to the
1848 Democratic National Convention. In 1850, he was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection, defeated by John Moore (Whig).
In 1854, he became the
attorney general
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
of Louisiana, serving in that capacity through 1856. He was appointed by President
Franklin Pierce
Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. He was a northern Democrat who believed that the abolitionist movement was a fundamental threat to the nation's unity ...
on December 2, 1856, as one of two special commissioners to
New Granada to negotiate concerning the transit of citizens, officers, soldiers, and seamen of the United States across the Isthmus of Panama. He died in New Orleans, Louisiana, on February 11, 1866. He is buried in Washington Cemetery.
References
1809 births
1866 deaths
Harvard University alumni
Louisiana Attorneys General
Democratic Party Louisiana state senators
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana
19th-century American politicians
People from Elizabeth, New Jersey
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