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Samuel Finley Breese Morse (April 27, 1791 – April 2, 1872) was an American inventor and painter. After having established his reputation as a portrait painter, in his middle age Morse contributed to the invention of a single-wire
telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...
system based on European telegraphs. He was a co-developer of Morse code and helped to develop the commercial use of telegraphy.


Personal life

Samuel F. B. Morse was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, the first child of the pastor Jedidiah Morse (1761–1826), who was also a geographer, and his wife Elizabeth Ann Finley Breese (1766–1828). His father was a great preacher of the
Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John C ...
faith and supporter of the Federalist Party. He thought it helped preserve
Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...
traditions (strict observance of Sabbath, among other things), and believed in the Federalist support of an alliance with Britain and a strong central government. Morse strongly believed in education within a Federalist framework, alongside the instillation of Calvinist virtues, morals, and prayers for his first son. His first ancestor in America was Anthony Morse, of Marlborough, in Wiltshire, who had emigrated to America in 1635, and settled in Newbury, Massachusetts. After attending Phillips Academy in
Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...
, Samuel Morse went on to Yale College to study religious philosophy, mathematics, and science. While at Yale, he attended lectures on electricity from Benjamin Silliman and Jeremiah Day and was a member of the Society of Brothers in Unity. He supported himself by painting. In 1810, he graduated from Yale with
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...
honors. Morse married Lucretia Pickering Walker on September 29, 1818, in Concord, New Hampshire. She died on February 7, 1825, of a heart attack shortly after the birth of their third child. (Susan b. 1819, Charles b. 1823, James b. 1825). He married his second wife, Sarah Elizabeth Griswold on August 10, 1848, in
Utica, New York Utica () is a city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 U.S. Census. Located on the Mohawk River at the fo ...
and had four children (Samuel b. 1849, Cornelia b. 1851, William b. 1853, Edward b. 1857).


Painting

Morse expressed some of his Calvinist beliefs in his painting, ''Landing of the Pilgrims'', through the depiction of simple clothing as well as the people's austere facial features. His image captured the psychology of the Federalists; Calvinists from England brought to North America ideas of religion and government, thus linking the two countries. This work attracted the attention of the notable artist,
Washington Allston Washington Allston (November 5, 1779 – July 9, 1843) was an American painter and poet, born in Waccamaw Parish, South Carolina. Allston pioneered America's Romantic movement of landscape painting. He was well known during his lifetime for ...
. Allston wanted Morse to accompany him to England to meet the artist Benjamin West. Allston arranged—with Morse's father—a three-year stay for painting study in England. The two men set sail aboard the ''Libya'' on July 15, 1811. In England, Morse perfected his painting techniques under Allston's watchful eye; by the end of 1811, he gained admittance to the Royal Academy. At the academy, he was moved by the art of the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...
and paid close attention to the works of Michelangelo and
Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual ...
. After observing and practicing life drawing and absorbing its anatomical demands, the young artist produced his masterpiece, the ''Dying Hercules''. (He first made a sculpture as a study for the painting.) To some, the ''Dying Hercules'' seemed to represent a political statement against the British and also the American Federalists. The muscles symbolized the strength of the young and vibrant United States versus the British and British-American supporters. During Morse's time in Britain, the Americans and British were engaged in the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It be ...
. Both societies were conflicted over loyalties. Anti-Federalist Americans aligned themselves with the French, abhorred the British, and believed a strong central government to be inherently dangerous to democracy. As the war raged on, Morse's letters to his parents became more anti-Federalist in tone. In one such letter, Morse wrote:
I assert ... that the Federalists in the Northern States have done more injury to their country by their violent opposition measures than a French alliance could. Their proceedings are copied into the English papers, read before
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
, and circulated through their country, and what do they say of them ... they call them ederalistscowards, a base set, say they are traitors to their country and ought to be hanged like traitors.
Although Jedidiah Morse did not change Samuel's political views, he continued as an influence. Critics believe that the elder Morse's Calvinist ideas are integral to Morse's ''Judgment of Jupiter,'' another significant work completed in England.
Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousand ...
is shown in a cloud, accompanied by his
eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...
, with his hand spread above the parties and he is pronouncing judgment.
Marpessa In Greek mythology, Marpessa ( grc, Μάρπησσα, Márpēssa, "the robbed one" or "snatcher" or "gobbler") may refer to the following figures: * Marpessa, an Aetolian princess and daughter of Evenus. * Marpessa or Marpesia, an Amazon quee ...
, with an expression of compunction and shame, is throwing herself into the arms of her husband. Idas, who tenderly loved Marpessa, is eagerly rushing forward to receive her while
Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
stares with surprise. Critics have suggested that Jupiter represents God's omnipotence—watching every move that is made. Some call the portrait a moral teaching by Morse on infidelity. Although Marpessa fell victim, she realized that her eternal salvation was important and desisted from her wicked ways. Apollo shows no remorse for what he did but stands with a puzzled look. Many American paintings throughout the early nineteenth century had religious themes, and Morse was an early exemplar of this. ''Judgment of Jupiter'' allowed Morse to express his support of Anti-Federalism while maintaining his strong spiritual convictions. Benjamin West sought to present the ''Jupiter'' at another Royal Academy exhibition, but Morse's time had run out. He left England on August 21, 1815, to return to the United States and begin his full-time career as a painter. The decade 1815–1825 marked significant growth in Morse's work, as he sought to capture the essence of America's culture and life. He painted the Federalist former President
John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...
(1816). The Federalists and Anti-Federalists clashed over
Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...
. Morse painted portraits of Francis Brown—the college's president—and Judge Woodward (1817), who was involved in bringing the Dartmouth case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Morse also sought commissions among the elite of Charleston, South Carolina. Morse's 1818 painting of Mrs. Emma Quash symbolized the opulence of Charleston. The young artist was doing well for himself. Between 1819 and 1821, Morse went through great changes in his life, including a decline in commissions due to the Panic of 1819. Morse was commissioned to paint President James Monroe in 1820. He embodied Jeffersonian democracy by favoring the common man over the aristocrat. Morse had moved to
New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...
. His commissions for ''The House of Representatives'' (1821) and a portrait of the Marquis de Lafayette (1825) engaged his sense of democratic nationalism. ''The House of Representatives'' was designed to capitalize on the success of François Marius Granet's ''The Capuchin Chapel in Rome,'' which toured the United States extensively throughout the 1820s, attracting audiences willing to pay the 25-cent admission fee. The artist chose to paint the House of Representatives, in a similar way, with careful attention to architecture and dramatic lighting. He also wished to select a uniquely American topic that would bring glory to the young nation. His subject did just that, showing American democracy in action. He traveled to Washington D.C. to draw the architecture of the new Capitol and placed eighty individuals within the painting. He chose to portray a night scene, balancing the architecture of the Rotunda with the figures, and using lamplight to highlight the work. Pairs of people, those who stood alone, individuals bent over their desks working, were each painted simply but with faces of character. Morse chose nighttime to convey that Congress' dedication to the principles of democracy transcended day. ''The House of Representatives'' failed to draw a crowd when exhibited in New York City in 1823. By contrast, John Trumbull's ''Declaration of Independence'' had won popular acclaim a few years earlier. Viewers may have felt that the architecture of ''The House of Representatives'' overshadows the individuals, making it hard to appreciate the drama of what was happening. Morse was honored to paint the Marquis de Lafayette, the leading French supporter of the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
. He felt compelled to paint a grand portrait of the man who helped to establish a free and independent America. He features Lafayette against a magnificent sunset. He has positioned Lafayette to the right of three pedestals: one has a bust of
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading int ...
, another of
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
, and the third seems reserved for Lafayette. A peaceful woodland landscape below him symbolized American tranquility and prosperity as it approached the age of fifty. The developing friendship between Morse and Lafayette and their discussions of the Revolutionary War affected the artist after his return to New York City. In 1826, he helped found the
National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the ...
in New York City. He served as the academy's president from 1826 to 1845 and again from 1861 to 1862. From 1830 to 1832, Morse traveled and studied in Europe to improve his painting skills, visiting Italy, Switzerland, and France. During his time in Paris, he developed a friendship with the writer James Fenimore Cooper. As a project, he painted miniature copies of 38 of the
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the '' Venus de Milo''. A central ...
's famous paintings on a single canvas (6 ft. x 9 ft), which he entitled ''The Gallery of the Louvre.'' He completed the work upon his return to the United States. In 1832, after his return to the United States, Morse was appointed professor of painting and sculpture at the University of the City of New York, now New York University. On a subsequent visit to Paris in 1839, Morse met Louis Daguerre. He became interested in the latter's daguerreotype—the first practical means of
photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is emplo ...
. Morse wrote a letter to the '' New York Observer'' describing the invention, which was published widely in the American press and provided broad awareness of the new technology. Mathew Brady, one of the earliest photographers in American history, famous for his depictions of the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...
, initially studied under Morse and later took photographs of him. Some of Morse's paintings and sculptures are on display at his Locust Grove estate in
Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeeps ...
. File:1925, Morse, Samuel F.B., Captain Demaresque of Gloucester, Massachusetts.jpg, ''Captain Demaresque of Gloucester, Massachusetts'',
Princeton University Art Museum The Princeton University Art Museum (PUAM) is the Princeton University gallery of art, located in Princeton, New Jersey. With a collecting history that began in 1755, the museum was formally established in 1882, and now houses over 113,000 works ...
File:John Adams-SFBMorse.jpg, Portrait of
John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...
File:Gallery of the Louvre 1831-33 Samuel Morse.jpg, ''The Gallery of the
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the '' Venus de Milo''. A central ...
'' 1831–33 File:James Monroe White House portrait 1819.jpg, Portrait of James Monroe, 5th President of the United States (c. 1819) File:Eli Whitney by Samuel Finley Breese Morse 1822.jpeg, Eli Whitney, inventor, 1822. Yale University Art Gallery File:Chart of Colors Samuel Finley Breese Morse.jpg, ''Chart of Colors'', drawn to illustrate his palette of colors


Attributed artworks


Telegraph

While returning by ship from Europe in 1832, Morse encountered Charles Thomas Jackson of
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, a man who was well schooled in
electromagnetism In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge. It is the second-strongest of the four fundamental interactions, after the strong force, and it is the dominant force in the interactions o ...
. Witnessing various experiments with Jackson's
electromagnet An electromagnet is a type of magnet in which the magnetic field is produced by an electric current. Electromagnets usually consist of wire wound into a coil. A current through the wire creates a magnetic field which is concentrated in ...
, Morse developed the concept of a single-wire
telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...
. He set aside his painting, ''The Gallery of the Louvre''. The original Morse telegraph, submitted with his
patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...
application, is part of the collections of the National Museum of American History at the
Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Found ...
. In time, the Morse code that he developed would become the primary language of telegraphy in the world. It is still the standard for
rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular re ...
ic transmission of data. Meanwhile, William Cooke and Professor Charles Wheatstone had learned of the Wilhelm Weber and Carl Gauss electromagnetic telegraph in 1833. They had reached the stage of launching a commercial telegraph prior to Morse, despite starting later. In England, Cooke became fascinated by electrical telegraphy in 1836, four years after Morse. Aided by his greater financial resources, Cooke abandoned his primary subject of
anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having i ...
and built a small electrical telegraph within three weeks. Wheatstone also was experimenting with telegraphy and (most importantly) understood that a single large
battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...
would not carry a telegraphic signal over long distances. He theorized that numerous small batteries were far more successful and efficient in this task. (Wheatstone was building on the primary research of Joseph Henry, an American
physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...
.) Cooke and Wheatstone formed a partnership and patented the electrical telegraph in May 1837, and within a short time had provided the Great Western Railway with a stretch of telegraph. However, within a few years, Cooke and Wheatstone's multiple-wire signaling method would be overtaken by Morse's cheaper method. In an 1848 letter to a friend, Morse describes how vigorously he fought to be called the sole inventor of the electromagnetic
telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...
despite the previous inventions.


Relays

Morse encountered the problem of getting a telegraphic signal to carry over more than a few hundred yards of wire. His breakthrough came from the insights of Professor Leonard Gale, who taught chemistry at New York University (he was a personal friend of Joseph Henry). With Gale's help, Morse introduced extra circuits or
relay A relay Electromechanical relay schematic showing a control coil, four pairs of normally open and one pair of normally closed contacts An automotive-style miniature relay with the dust cover taken off A relay is an electrically operated switch ...
s at frequent intervals and was soon able to send a message through of wire. This was the great breakthrough he had been seeking. Morse and Gale were soon joined by Alfred Vail, an enthusiastic young man with excellent skills, insights, and money. At the Speedwell Ironworks in Morristown, New Jersey on January 11, 1838, Morse and Vail made the first public demonstration of the electric telegraph. Although Morse and Alfred Vail had done most of the research and development in the ironworks facilities, they chose a nearby factory house as the demonstration site. Without the repeater, Morse devised a system of electromagnetic relays. This was the key innovation, as it freed the technology from being limited by distance in sending messages.McCullough (2011), pp. 80-88. The range of the telegraph was limited to , and the inventors had pulled of wires inside the factory house through an elaborate scheme. The first public transmission, with the message, "A patient waiter is no loser", was witnessed by a mostly local crowd. Morse traveled to Washington, D.C. in 1838 seeking federal sponsorship for a telegraph line but was not successful. He went to Europe, seeking both sponsorship and patents, but in London discovered that Cooke and Wheatstone had already established priority. After his return to the US, Morse finally gained financial backing by Maine congressman Francis Ormand Jonathan Smith. This funding may be the first instance of government support to a private researcher, especially funding for applied (as opposed to basic or theoretical) research.


Federal support

Morse made his last trip to Washington, D.C., in December 1842, stringing "wires between two committee rooms in the Capitol, and sent messages back and forth" to demonstrate his telegraph system. Congress appropriated $30,000 (equal to $ today) in 1843 for construction of an experimental telegraph line between Washington, D.C., and
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
along the right-of-way of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. An impressive demonstration occurred on May 1, 1844, when news of the Whig Party's nomination of Henry Clay for U.S. president was telegraphed from the party's convention in Baltimore to the Capitol Building in Washington. On May 24, 1844, the line was officially opened as Morse sent the now-famous words, "
What hath God wrought "What hath God wrought" is a translation of a phrase from the Book of Numbers (Numbers 23:23), and may refer to: *"What hath God wrought", the official first Morse code message transmitted in the US on May 24, 1844, to officially open the Baltimor ...
," from the Supreme Court chamber in the basement of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., to the B&O's
Mount Clare Station The B&O Railroad Museum is a museum and historic railway station exhibiting historic railroad equipment in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) company originally opened the museum on July 4, 1953, with the name of the Balti ...
in Baltimore. Annie Ellsworth chose these words from the
Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...
( Numbers 23:23); her father, U.S. Patent Commissioner
Henry Leavitt Ellsworth Henry Leavitt Ellsworth (November 10, 1791 – December 27, 1858) was a Yale-educated attorney who became the first Commissioner of the U.S. Patent Office, where he encouraged innovation by inventors Samuel F.B. Morse and Samuel Colt. Ellsw ...
, had championed Morse's invention and secured early funding for it. His telegraph could transmit thirty characters per minute. In May 1845, the Magnetic Telegraph Company was formed in order to build telegraph lines from
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
toward
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
;
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
;
Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...
; and the
Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
. Telegraphic lines rapidly spread throughout the United States in the next few years, with 12,000 miles of wire laid by 1850. Morse at one time adopted Wheatstone and
Carl August von Steinheil Carl August von Steinheil (12 October 1801 – 14 September 1870) was a German physicist, inventor, engineer and astronomer. Biography Steinheil was born in Ribeauvillé, Alsace. He studied law in Erlangen since 1821. He then studied astronomy ...
's idea of broadcasting an electrical telegraph signal through a body of water or down steel railroad tracks or anything conductive. He went to great lengths to win a lawsuit for the right to be called "inventor of the telegraph" and promoted himself as being an inventor. But Alfred Vail also played an important role in the development of the Morse code, which was based on earlier codes for the electromagnetic telegraph.


Patent

Morse received a patent for the telegraph in 1847, at the old Beylerbeyi Palace (the present
Beylerbeyi Palace The Beylerbeyi Palace ( tr, Beylerbeyi Sarayı, literally meaning ''the palace of the bey of beys'') is located in the Beylerbeyi neighbourhood of Üsküdar district in Istanbul, Turkey, at the Asian side of the Bosphorus. An Imperial Ott ...
was built in 1861–1865 on the same location) in
Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...
, which was issued by
Sultan Abdülmecid Abdulmejid I ( ota, عبد المجيد اول, ʿAbdü'l-Mecîd-i evvel, tr, I. Abdülmecid; 25 April 182325 June 1861) was the 31st Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and succeeded his father Mahmud II on 2 July 1839. His reign was notable for the r ...
, who personally tested the new invention. He was elected an Associate Fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
in 1849. The original patent went to the Breese side of the family after the death of Samuel Morse. In 1856, Morse went to
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...
and visited the Thorvaldsens Museum, where the sculptor's grave is in the inner courtyard. He was received by King Frederick VII, who decorated him with the Order of the Dannebrog for the telegraph. Morse expressed his wish to donate his Thorvaldsen portrait from 1831 in Rome to the king. The Thorvaldsen portrait today belongs to Margrethe II of Denmark. The Morse telegraphic apparatus was officially adopted as the standard for European telegraphy in 1851. Only the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
(with its extensive overseas empire) kept the needle telegraph of Cooke and Wheatstone. In 1858, Morse introduced wired communication to
Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...
when he established a telegraph system in Puerto Rico, then a Spanish Colony. Morse's oldest daughter, Susan Walker Morse (1819–1885), would often visit her uncle Charles Pickering Walker, who owned the Hacienda Concordia in the town of
Guayama Guayama (, ), officially the Autonomous Municipality of Guayama ( es, Municipio Autónomo de Guayama) is a city and municipality on the Caribbean coast of Puerto Rico. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 36,614. It is the ce ...
. During one of her visits, she met Edward Lind, a Danish merchant who worked in his brother-in-law's Hacienda La Henriqueta in the town of Arroyo. They later married.NY/ Rafael Merino Cortes, "Taking the PE Out of PRT"
''NY Latino Journal'', 20 July 2006
Lind purchased the Hacienda from his sister when she became a widow. Morse, who often spent his winters at the Hacienda with his daughter and son-in-law, set a two-mile telegraph line connecting his son-in-law's Hacienda to their house in Arroyo. The line was inaugurated on March 1, 1859, in a ceremony flanked by the Spanish and American flags. The first words transmitted by Samuel Morse that day in Puerto Rico were:
Puerto Rico, beautiful jewel! When you are linked with the other jewels of the Antilles in the necklace of the world's telegraph, yours will not shine less brilliantly in the crown of your Queen!


Political views


Anti-Catholic

Morse was a leader in the anti-Catholic and anti-immigration movement of the mid-19th century. In 1836, he ran unsuccessfully for mayor of New York under the anti-immigrant Nativist Party's banner, receiving only 1,496 votes. When Morse visited
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
, he allegedly refused to take his hat off in the presence of the
Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
. Morse worked to unite Protestants against Catholic institutions (including schools), wanted to forbid Catholics from holding public office, and promoted changing immigration laws to limit immigration from Catholic countries. On this topic, he wrote, "We must first stop the leak in the ship through which muddy waters from without threaten to sink us." He wrote numerous letters to the New York ''Observer'' (his brother Sidney was the editor at the time) urging people to fight the perceived Catholic menace. These were widely reprinted in other newspapers. Among other claims, he believed that the
Austrian government The Government of Austria (german: Bundesregierung der Republik Österreich) is the executive cabinet of the Republic of Austria. It consists of the chancellor, who is the head of government, the vice chancellor and the ministers. Appoin ...
and Catholic aid organizations were subsidizing Catholic immigration to the United States in order to gain control of the country. In his ''Foreign Conspiracy Against the Liberties of the United States'', Morse wrote:
Surely American Protestants, freemen, have discernment enough to discover beneath them the cloven foot of this subtle foreign heresy. They will see that Popery is now, what it has ever been, a system of the darkest political intrigue and despotism, cloaking itself to avoid attack under the sacred name of religion. They will be deeply impressed with the truth, that Popery is a political as well as a religious system; that in this respect it differs totally from all other sects, from all other forms of religion in the country.
In the same book, published in 1835 under the name of "Brutus", in speaking of "the foreign Emissaries of Popery re-warded in their own country," said : "Where is Bishop Kelly of Richmond, Va.? He also sojourns with us until his duties to foreign masters are performed, and then is rewarded by promotion." (
Patrick Kelly Patrick or Paddy Kelly may refer to: Politicians * Patrick Kelly (Irish politician) (1875–1934), Irish soldier, farmer and politician, Teachta Dála (TD) for Clare 1927–1932 * Patrick Kelly (Canadian politician) (1846–1916), Prince Edward ...
was a native of Ireland, and the first bishop of Richmond, Virginia. When after a couple of years, differences regarding questions of jurisdiction arose between him and Ambrose Maréchal, Archbishop of Baltimore, Kelly was offered the recently vacant See of Waterford and Lismore in his homeland.)


Pro-slavery

In the 1850s, Morse became well known as a defender of
slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
, considering it to be sanctioned by God. In his treatise "An Argument on the Ethical Position of Slavery," he wrote:


Later years


Litigation over telegraph patent

In the United States, Morse held his telegraph patent for many years, but it was both ignored and contested. In 1853, '' The Telegraph Patent case – O'Reilly v. Morse'' came before the U.S. Supreme Court where, after very lengthy investigation, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney ruled that Morse had been the first to combine the
battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...
,
electromagnetism In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge. It is the second-strongest of the four fundamental interactions, after the strong force, and it is the dominant force in the interactions o ...
, the
electromagnet An electromagnet is a type of magnet in which the magnetic field is produced by an electric current. Electromagnets usually consist of wire wound into a coil. A current through the wire creates a magnetic field which is concentrated in ...
, and the correct battery configuration into a workable practical telegraph. However, in spite of this clear ruling, Morse still received no official recognition from the United States government. The Supreme Court did not accept all of Morse's claims. The ''O'Reilly v. Morse'' case has become widely known among patent lawyers because the Supreme Court explicitly denied Morse's claim 8 for any and all use of the electromagnetic force for purposes of transmitting intelligible signals to any distance. The Supreme Court sustained, however, Morse's claim to such telecommunication when effectuated by means of Morse's inventive "repeater" apparatus. This was an electrical circuit in which a cascade of many sets comprising a relay and a battery were connected in series, so that when each relay closed, it closed a circuit to cause the next battery to power the succeeding relay, as suggested in the accompanying figure. This caused Morse's signal to pass along the cascade without degrading into noise as its amplitude decreased with the distance traveled. (Each time the amplitude of the signal approaches the noise level, the repeater
n effect, a nonlinear amplifier N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...
boosts the signal amplitude well above the noise level.) This use of "repeaters" permitted a message to be sent to great distances, which was previously not feasible. The Supreme Court thus held that Morse could properly claim a patent monopoly on the system or process of transmitting signals at any distance by means of the repeater circuitry indicated above, but he could not properly claim a monopoly over any and all uses of electromagnetic force to transmit signals. The apparatus limitation in the former type of claim limited the patent monopoly to what Morse taught and gave the world. The lack of that limitation in the latter type of claim (i.e., claim 8) both gave Morse more than was commensurate with what he had contributed to society and discouraged the inventive efforts of others who might come up with different and/or better ways to send signals at a distance using the electromagnetic force. The problem that Morse faced (the deterioration of the signal with distance) and how he solved it is discussed in more detail in the article ''
O'Reilly v. Morse ''O'Reilly v. Morse'', 56 U.S. (15 How.) 62 (1853), also known as ''The Telegraph Patent Case'', is an 1854 decision of the United States Supreme Court that has been highly influential in the development of the law of patent-eligibility in regard ...
''. In summary, the solution, as the Supreme Court stated, was the repeater apparatus described in the preceding paragraphs. The importance of this legal precedent in patent law cannot be overstated, as it became the foundation of the law governing the eligibility of computer program-implemented inventions (as well as inventions implementing natural laws) to be granted patents.


Foreign recognition

Assisted by the American ambassador in Paris, the governments of Europe were approached about their long neglect of Morse while their countries were using his invention. There was a widespread recognition that something must be done, and in 1858 Morse was awarded the sum of 400,000 French francs (equivalent to about $80,000 at the time) by the governments of
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
,
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
, the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
,
Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...
,
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
,
Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...
, and the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
, each of which contributed a share according to the number of Morse instruments in use in each country. In 1858, he was also elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.


Transatlantic cable

Morse lent his support to
Cyrus West Field Cyrus West Field (November 30, 1819July 12, 1892) was an American businessman and financier who, along with other entrepreneurs, created the Atlantic Telegraph Company and laid the first telegraph cable across the Atlantic Ocean in 1858. Early ...
's ambitious plan to construct the first transoceanic telegraph line. Morse had experimented with underwater telegraph circuits since 1842. He invested $10,000 in Field's
Atlantic Telegraph Company The Atlantic Telegraph Company was a company formed on 6 November 1856 to undertake and exploit a commercial telegraph cable across the Atlantic ocean, the first such telecommunications link. History Cyrus Field, American businessman and finan ...
, took a seat on its board of directors, and was appointed honorary "Electrician". In 1856, Morse traveled to London to help Charles Tilston Bright and
Edward Whitehouse Edward Orange Wildman Whitehouse (1 October 1816 – 26 January 1890) was an English surgeon by profession and an electrical experimenter by avocation. He was recruited by entrepreneur Cyrus West Field as Chief Electrician to work on the pi ...
test a 2,000-mile-length of spooled cable. After the first two cable-laying attempts failed, Field reorganized the project, removing Morse from direct involvement. Though the cable broke three times during the third attempt, it was successfully repaired, and the first transatlantic telegraph messages were sent in 1858. The cable failed after just three months of use. Though Field had to wait out the Civil War, the cable laid in 1866 proved more durable, and the era of reliable transatlantic telegraph service had begun. In addition to the telegraph, Morse invented a marble-cutting machine that could carve
three-dimensional Three-dimensional space (also: 3D space, 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a geometric setting in which three values (called '' parameters'') are required to determine the position of an element (i.e., point). This is the inform ...
sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...
s in marble or stone. He could not patent it, however, because of an existing 1820 Thomas Blanchard design.


Last years and death

Samuel Morse gave large sums to charity. He also became interested in the relationship of science and religion and provided the funds to establish a lectureship on "the relation of the Bible to the Sciences". Though he was rarely awarded any royalties for the later uses and implementations of his inventions, he was able to live comfortably. Morsemere in Ridgefield, New Jersey takes its name from Morse, who had bought property there to build a home, but died before its completion. He died in New York City on April 2, 1872, and was interred at Green-Wood Cemetery in
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, New York. By the time of his death, his estate was valued at some $500,000 ($ today).


Honors and awards

Morse was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1815. Despite honors and financial awards received from foreign countries, there was no such recognition in the U.S. until he neared the end of his life when on June 10, 1871, a bronze statue of Samuel Morse was unveiled in
Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...
,
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. An engraved portrait of Morse appeared on the reverse side of the United States two-dollar bill
silver certificate A silver certificate is a certificate of ownership that silver owners hold instead of storing the actual silver. Several countries have issued silver certificates, including Cuba, the Netherlands, and the United States. Silver certificates have also ...
series of 1896. He was depicted along with
Robert Fulton Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the world's first commercially successful steamboat, the (also known as ''Clermont''). In 1807, that steambo ...
. An example can be seen on the website of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco's website in their "American Currency Exhibit": A blue plaque was erected to commemorate him at 141 Cleveland Street,
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, where he lived from 1812 to 1815. In 1848, Morse was elected as a member to the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
. According to his ''The New York Times'' obituary published on April 3, 1872, Morse received respectively the decoration of the Atiq Nishan-i-Iftikhar (English: Order of Glory) irst medal on wearer's right depicted in photo of Morse with medals set in diamonds, from
Sultan Abdülmecid Abdulmejid I ( ota, عبد المجيد اول, ʿAbdü'l-Mecîd-i evvel, tr, I. Abdülmecid; 25 April 182325 June 1861) was the 31st Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and succeeded his father Mahmud II on 2 July 1839. His reign was notable for the r ...
of Turkey (c.1847), a "golden snuff box containing the Prussian gold medal for scientific merit" from the King of Prussia (1851); the ''Great Gold Medal of Arts and Sciences'' from the King of Württemberg (1852); and the ''Great Golden Medal of Science and Arts'' from Emperor of Austria (1855); a cross of Chevalier in the
Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
from the Emperor of France; the ''Cross of a Knight'' of the Order of the Dannebrog from the King of Denmark (1856); the Cross of Knight Commander of the
Order of Isabella the Catholic The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...
, from the Queen of Spain, besides being elected member of innumerable scientific and art societies in this
nited States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and other countries. Other awards include Order of the Tower and Sword from the kingdom of Portugal (1860), and Italy conferred on him the insignia of chevalier of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus in 1864. Morse's telegraph was recognized as an IEEE Milestone in 1988. In 1975, Morse was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. On April 1, 2012, Google announced the release of "Gmail Tap", an April Fools' Day joke that allowed users to use Morse Code to send text from their mobile phones. Morse's great-great-grandnephew Reed Morse—a Google engineer—was instrumental in the prank, which became a real product.Introducing Gmail Tap
. Mail.google.com. Retrieved on 2013-10-06.


Patents


US Patent 1,647, Improvement in the mode of communicating information by signals by the application of electro-magnetism, June 20, 1840

US Patent 1,647 (Reissue #79), Improvement in the mode of communicating information by signals by the application of electro-magnetism, January 15, 1846

US Patent 1,647 (Reissue #117), Improvement in electro-magnetic telegraphs, June 13, 1848

US Patent 3,316, Method of introducing wire into metallic pipes, October 5, 1843

US Patent 4,453, Improvement in Electro-magnetic telegraphs, April 11, 1846

US Patent 4,453 (Reissue #118), Improvement in Electro-magnetic telegraphs, June 13, 1848

US Patent 6,420, Improvement in electric telegraphs, May 1, 1849


See also

*
Harrison Gray Dyar Harrison Gray Dyar (1805–1875) was an American chemist and inventor. Early life Dyar grew up in Concord, Massachusetts. As a young man he initially made a living as an apprentice watchmaker, working for the Concord clockmaker Lemuel Curtis ...
-contemporary inventor * Daniel Davis Jr. *
Seconds pendulum A seconds pendulum is a pendulum whose period is precisely two seconds; one second for a swing in one direction and one second for the return swing, a frequency of 0.5 Hz. Pendulum A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that ...


Notes


Citations


References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * — Produced by Carlo Traverso, Richard Prairie, and PG Distributed Proofreaders. This file was produced from images generously made available by the
Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...
(BnF/Gallica) * * * * * * * Attribution *


Further reading

* Reinhardt, Joachim
Samuel F. B. Morse
(1791–1872), Congo, 1988. * Mabee, Carleton, ''The American Leonardo: A Life of Samuel F. B. Morse'', (1943, reissued 1969); William Kloss, Samuel F. B. Morse (1988); Paul J. Staiti, Samuel F. B. Morse (1989) ( Knopf, 1944) (Pulitzer Prize winner for biography for 1944). * Samuel F. B. Morse,
Foreign Conspiracy Against the Liberties of the United States: The Numbers Under the Signature
' (
Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...
1835, 1855) * Paul J. Staiti, ''Samuel F. B. Morse'' (Cambridge 1989). * Lauretta Dimmick, ''Mythic Proportion: Bertel Thorvaldsen's Influence in America'', ''Thorvaldsen: l'ambiente, l'influsso, il mito,'' ed. P. Kragelund and M. Nykjær, Rome 1991 (Analecta Romana Instituti Danici, Supplementum 18.), pp. 169–191. *
Samuel I. Prime Samuel Irenæus Prime (1812–1885) was an American clergyman, traveler, and writer. Life He was born at Ballston, New York, Ballston, New York (state), N. Y. to Benjamin Prime, Benjamin Youngs Prime. He graduated from Williams College in 1829. ...
, ''Life of S. F. B. Morse'' (New York, 1875) * E. L. Morse (editor), his son, ''Samuel Finley Breese Morse, his Letters and Journals'' (two volumes, Boston, 1914) * * Andrew Wheen, ''DOT-DASH TO DOT.COM: How Modern Telecommunications Evolved from the Telegraph to the Internet'' (Springer, 2011) pp. 3–29 * James D. Reid, ''The Telegraph in America: Its Founders, Promoters and Noted Men'' New York: Arno Press, 1974. * Robert Luther Thompson, ''Wiring A Continent, The History of the Telegraph Industry in the United States 1832–1866'' Princeton University Press, 1947. * *


External links


''Art and the empire city: New York, 1825–1861''
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Morse (see index) *

given at the National Academy of Design, 1840, regarding the daguerreotype

by Morse regarding the early days of the daguerreotype
Samuel Finley Brown Morse Papers, 1911–1969
(call number JL016; 42.5 linear ft.) are housed in th

a
Stanford University Libraries

Locust Grove (official site)
* *
Samuel Finley Breese Morse papers
at the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Morse, Samuel F. B. 1791 births 1872 deaths People from Charlestown, Boston 19th-century American painters 19th-century male artists American male painters American Civil War industrialists American people of English descent 19th-century American inventors Artists from Boston Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery American expatriates in France Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Commanders by Number of the Order of Isabella the Catholic American proslavery activists Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the American Antiquarian Society Creators of writing systems Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Knights of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Members of the American Philosophical Society Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Recipients of the Order of the Tower and Sword New York University faculty Phillips Academy alumni Yale College alumni American conspiracy theorists Critics of the Catholic Church American portrait painters Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees Polytechnic Institute of New York University faculty