Charles Fessenden Morse

Not to be confused with Charles E. Morse.

Charles Fessenden Morse
Photo and signature of Charles Fessenden Morse
Born	September 22, 1839(1839-09-22) Boston, Massachusetts
Died	December 11, 1926(1926-12-11) (aged 87)
Buried at	Oak Grove Cemetery, Falmouth, Massachusetts[1]
Allegiance	United States of America Union
Service/branch	Union Army
Years of service	1861 – 1865
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel
Unit	2nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry
Commands held	2nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry
Battles/wars	Battle of Gettysburg
Other work	Letters written during the Civil War, 1861-1865

Charles Fessenden Morse (September 22, 1839 – December 11, 1926) was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War and, afterward, an influential businessman and civic leader in Kansas City, Missouri.^[2]

Early life

Morse was born in Boston and spent his childhood there. He attended Harvard University, graduating in 1858 with an S.B. degree.^[3]

Civil War

Business career

In 1878, Morse left his post as general manager of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in Topeka, Kansas at the suggestion of his friend, Charles Francis Adams, Jr., and relocated to Kansas City, where he served first as general manager and eventually president of the Kansas City Stockyards. Morse also served for several years as president of the Kansas City Metropolitan Street Railway company. He was one of the first residents of the city's exclusive Hyde Park district, a gated suburb established outside the city limits near the frontier town of Westport in 1882. During the 1880s and 1890s, Col. Morse helped establish several elite civic institutions, including The Barstow School and the Kansas City Country Club. Morse maintained a summer residence in Falmouth, Massachusetts, to which he retired in 1913.^[4]

In popular culture

A young Captain Morse was portrayed by Donovan Leitch, Jr. in the 1989 film Glory. This appearance was fictionalized - Morse was a close friend and associate of Robert Gould Shaw, with whom he served in the 2nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. The two maintained near daily-correspondence until the latter's death in the Battle of Fort Wagner in July 1863, and their battlefield letters served as primary sources for the books that inspired the film.^[5]

See also

• Robert Gould Shaw

	Biography portal
	United States Army portal
	American Civil War portal

References

1. ^ Gregory Speciale (2006-01-17). "Col Charles Fessenden Morse". Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=13045800. Retrieved 2008-11-22. 
2. ^ Conrads, David (1999). "Charles F. Morse". Missouri Valley Special Collections. Kansas City Public Library. http://www.kchistory.org/u?/Biographies,264. Retrieved 2008-11-24. 
3. ^ "Morse, Charles F. (Charles Fessenden), 1839-1926. Charles Fessenden Morse addresses on the Civil War, etc.: Guide.". Houghton Library, Harvard College Library. December 22, 2009. http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~hou00194. Retrieved June 9, 2011. 
4. ^ A sketch of my life written for my children and A buffalo hunt in Nebraska in 1871 (Cambridge : Privately printed at the Riverside Press, 1927).
5. ^ Lawson, Brenda M. (1990). The Letters of Robert Gould Shaw at the Massachusetts Historical Society.. Massachusetts Historical Society. 

External links

• Find-A-Grave profile for Charles Fessenden Morse

Persondata
Name	Morse, Charles F.
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 22, 1839
Place of birth	Boston, Massachusetts
Date of death	December 11, 1926
Place of death