Biographical Sketch

Charles Fessenden Morse was born on 22 Sep. 1839 in Boston, Mass., the son of Robert McNeil Morse and Sarah (Clark) Morse. He graduated from Harvard in 1858 and, in May 1861, enlisted as a first lieutenant in the 2nd Regiment, Mass. Volunteer Infantry. In July 1862, he was promoted to captain. He fought at Cedar Mountain, Antietam, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg (the last as a major), and after Gettysburg was promoted to lieutenant colonel. He also served as provost marshal in Atlanta, Ga. during the Union occupation of that city. He was mustered out in July 1865.

After the war, Morse worked as a cotton farmer in Georgia for 5 years before traveling west in 1870 to begin a career in the railroad business. He was general manager of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad in Topeka, Kan.; general manager and then president of the Kansas City Stock Yards Co. in Kansas City, Mo.; and president of the Kansas City Metropolitan Street Railway. He was also active in many civic institutions.

Charles F. Morse married Mary Ellen Holdrege in 1874 and had the following children: Laura Morse (later Brewer), Marian Morse (later Adams), Arthur Holdrege Morse, Eleanor Holdrege Morse (later Barrows), Dorothy Morse, Charles Fessenden Morse, Jr., and Thomas Robeson Morse. In 1898, he published Letters Written During the Civil War, 1861-1865. He retired to Falmouth, Mass. in 1913, where he died on 11 Dec. 1926.