cwmorse

Charles W. Morse (1855?-1933), a speculator and stock promoter who was 49 years old in 1904, at the time his second marriage was annulled, as described in this New York Times article. The article describes Morse as "...the promoter of the American Ice Company and an officer of about thirty banks and other corporations in this and other cities." It also notes that he had been a widower with three sons and a daughter. Perhaps the dapper young fellows flanking him in this photo were two of his sons? Morse had a hand in the Panic of 1907, during which stocks on the New York exchange lost half their value. In 1908, Morse was convicted of misappropriating funds of the Bank of North America. He was sentenced to federal prison, though he did not begin serving his term until 1910. Early in 1912, he managed to convince physicians that he was near death, and President Taft commuted his sentence ("MORSE PARDONED IN DEATH'S SHADOW" cried the New York Times headline on January 19, 1912. After his release, Morse miraculously recovered, and went on to outlive Taft by three years (and to be depicted in this Bain photo, which appears to date from 1915.) Though Morse has no Wikipedia article, Taft's biographer Henry Pringle devoted considerable space to the Morse affair, with lots of background information about Morse himself, and this section of Pringle's 1939 book can currently be read online on this web page.

漂亮ㄉ圖...................................................................................................

7/2/18. It is so nice to find that these two houses still exist. It took some going back and forth, tab to tab, comparing architectural elements from the postcard to how the houses appear today in street view. The houses are at approximately 189 - 191 Washington Street, next to the play yard of Franklin Elementary School. Thank you for this wonderful collection of my beautiful hometown.