The Morse name is believed to be of ancient origin, having developed from De Mors to Mors to Morse. A Hugo de Mors was known to have lived in England as early as 1358.

We are descended from Anthony Morse through two children, son Joseph, and daughter Sarah. Edward True, Jr., the great-great-great-great grandson of Joseph Morse, married Olive King Payson, the great-great-great-great graddaughter of Sarah Morse, bringing the two lines together.

Anthony and his brother, William, came to America from Marlborough, Wiltshire, England (no evidence of his place of residence) sailing from London on the ship James arriving in Boston, MA, 3 June 1635. Anthony settled in Newbury, MA, where he built a house in what is called "Newbury Old Town" on a slight "eminence" in a field about half a mile south of the old cemetery. I have read that it is still known as "Morse's Field."

Anthony and his brother were shoemakers. Anthony was made a "freeman" in 1636 and took the oath of allegiance in 1678. He and his wife were members of the Newbury, MA, church in 1674. It states in one of the town records that Anthony Morse, Senior, is to keep the meeting house and ring the bell and "see that the house be cleane swept, and the glasse of the windows to be carefully look't unto, if any should happen to be loosed with the wind, to be nailed close again."

I have found several different sources listing the children of Anthony Morse, none of them say by which wife, and the lists do not agree completely as to names and dates. I have not been able to research these lists of names and dates in person. Perhaps a future family historian might be able to correct any errors herein as more information is gathered, compared, and collated on computers.

Anthony Morse had at least twelve children, possibly thirteen:

• Robert, b. in England, 27 Dec. 1629; m. (1) Elizabeth -----; m. (2) in Newbury, MA, 20 Oct. 1654, Ann Lewis. He lived in New Jersey.
• Peter, place and date of birth unknown; was living in 1680; m. Mary -----. They had children and he was a proprietor of Elizabethtown, NJ.
• Joseph, b. probably in Newbury, MA, ca. 1638; m. Mary -----.
• Anthony, Jr., place and date of birth unknown; d. 25 Feb. 1677/8; m. (1) 8 May 1660, Elizabeth Knight; m. (2) 10 Nov. 1669, Mary Barnard.
• Benjamin, b. probably in Newbury, MA, 28 March 1640; m. 26 Aug. 1667, Ruth Sawyer.
• Sarah, b. in Newbury, MA, 1 May 1641; d. probably in Newbury, MA, 11 Dec. 1711; m. (1) in Newbury, MA, 24 June 1663, Amos Stickney; m. (2) in Newbury, MA, 17 Dec. 1684, Stephen Acreman of Newbury, MA.
• Anne, places and dates of birth and death unknown; m. 5 Feb. 1655, Francis Thorlo, b. Nov. 1630; d. 26 Nov. 1703, son of Richard and Jane (-----) Thorlo. They had nine children.
• Lydia, b. in Newbury, MA, May 1643; d. in Newbury, MA, 8 or 18 May 1646.
• Lydia (again), b. in Newbury, MA, 7 Oct. 1647.
• Mary, b. in Newbury, MA, 7 April 1649; d. in Newbury, MA, 14 June 1662.
• Esther, b. 3 or 8 May 1651; m. in Newbury, MA, 26 Feb. 1666/7, Robert Holmes, who died 18 Sept. 1673. They had children.
• Joshua, b. in Newbury, MA, 24 July 1653; d. in Newbury, MA, 28 May 1691/2; m. probably in Bradford, MA, ca. 1680, Joanna Kimball, place and date of birth unknown, d. in Newbury, MA 10 April 1691, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Smith) Kimball of Bradford. They had children.
• a daughter, b. in Newbury, MA, date unknown; probably living in 1680; m. ----- Smith (perhaps his name was Thomas Smith and they might have had a son, Robert, in 1680.

"Joseph was a blacksmith and land owner in Newbury and Piscataqua, MA. When his inventory at Piscataqua was taken at his decease by Richard Abbott and Thomas Barker, both of Piscataqua, it showed that he owned a house there with the adjacent land and two blacksmith's shops." When "a second inventory was given at Essex County (MA) Court by his widow, Mrs. Mary Morse, September 30, 1679, it included a smith's shop and tools at Newbury." J. Howard Morse and Miss Emily Leavitt, compilers, "Morse Genealogy" (1903), p. 11

Joseph may have lived in Piscataqua early as only the record of the birth of his last child is found in Newbury, MA.

Joseph and his wife Mary (-----) Morse had five children:

• Benjamin, III, b. ca. 1668/9; m. (1) Susanna -----; m. (2) 22 Jan. 1712/3, Mercy Bell.
• Joseph, Jr., b. 28 Oct. 1673.
• Joshua, b. ca. 1675; m. Elizabeth Doten. They settled in Plymouth, MA.
• Sarah, place and date of birth unknown; d. in Newbury, MA, 7 July 1677.
• Mary, b. in Newbury, MA, 21 Jan. 1678/9 (six days after the death of her father); d. in Newbury, MA, 5 Feb. 1678/9.

Benjamin was styled "Tertius," or third, because his uncle, Benjamin, had a son, Benjamin Jr., who was born the year before our Benjamin was born. Our Benjamin was a member of the First Church and gave a tract of land for the town and county house. Benjamin signed his will 28 February 1737/8 and it was proved 1 August 1743.

Benjamin, III and his wife Susanna Morse had ten children, all born probably in Newbury, MA:

• Joseph, b. 26 Aug. 1691; probably died before 28 Feb. 1737/8 as he was not mentioned in his father's will which was signed on that date.
• Mary, b. 29 Jan. 1693; living in 1737; m. Abner Brown, son of Ephraim and Sarah (-----) Brown.
• Hannah, b. 20 Jan. 1695/6; living in 1737; m. 6 March 1717/8, Col. Nathaniel March, b. 2 Sept. 1693. They had children.
• Joshua, b. 1 March 1697/8; d. Newbury, MA, 26 June 1699.
• Joshua (again), b. 30 March 1700; d. in Newbury, MA, 11 Aug. 1728; m. in 1727, Hannah Hazen of Boxford, MA. They had a daughter, Susannah, born in Boxford 23 Nov. 1728, after her father's death. One of my notes says that Susannah was brought up by her grandfather, Benjamin Morse, III.
• Margaret, b. 14 April 1702; was living in 1737; m. 15 July 1725, Col. Joseph Coffin, son of Nathaniel and Sarah (Buckland) Coffin. they had children.
• Benjamin, b. 2 Feb. 1704; probably died before 28 Feb. 1737/8 as he was not mentioned in his father's will.
• Elizabeth, b. in 1706; probably died before 28 Feb. 1737/8 as she was not mentioned in her father's will; m. 2 Nov. 1730, John Adams, b. in Newbury, MA, 2 Nov. 1705, d. in Falmouth, ME, between 1782 and 1787, son of Robert and Rebecca (Knight) Adams. Elizabeth and John lived in Falmouth, ME. They had children.
• Twins:
  • Sarah, b. 7 March 1709; was living in 1737; m. in 1729, Jacob Perley, b. in Boxford, MA, 19 Sept. 1700, d. in 1750, son of Jacob and Lydia (Peabody) Perley. They had children.
  • Susannah, b. 7 March 1709; was living in 1737; m. (intention of marriage filed 28 Oct. 1727, actual marriage may have been 26 March 1728), Nathaniel Piper of Ipswich, MA, who died 2 Aug. 1758. They lived in Concord, MA. They had children.

Benjamin, III and his second wife Mercy (Bell) Morse may have had one child:

• Abigail, b. ca. 1713/4. No other information. Her name was given in the Morse Memorial but was not on Newbury, MA, records, nor in the will which was signed 28 Feb. 1737/8. Hoyt, "Old Families of Salisbury & Amesbury", p. 260.