Morse, James M.

Born: 1807-02-04 Newburyport, Massachusetts

Died: 1899-12-16 Springfield, Illinois

James M. Morse married Sarah C. Sawyer in 1831, with whom he had six children. Morse moved to Vandalia, Illinois, that same year where he secured a job working for the state secretary of state. In 1839, he moved to Springfield along with the rest of the state government. He remained in the office of the secretary of state until 1846, when he became assessor and treasurer of Sangamon County. A Whig, Morse remained in that county office until 1852 and also served as the county's public administrator for fifteen years. Sarah died in 1848 and he married Emma M. Holton in 1850, with whom he had four children.

John Carroll Power and S. A. Power, History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois (Springfield, IL: Edwin A. Wilson, 1876), 534-35; Gravestone, Oak Ride Cemetery, Springfield, IL.