Dorcas Morse

Dorcas married Benjamin Clark on 19 Nov 1665 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts. Benjamin (son of Joseph Clarke and Alice Fenn) was born on 9 Feb 1644 in Dedham, Norfolk, Massachusetts; died on 1 Dec 1724 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Edward Clark was born on 11 Nov 1679 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts; died on 3 Jul 1746 in Medway, Norfolk, Massachusetts.

Joseph married Hannah Phillips on 1 Sep 1638 in Dedham, Essex, England. Hannah died on 3 Oct 1676 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 3 Oct 1676, Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts

Notes:

Winifred Lovering Holman (citation details below) said "She may have been related to Rev. John Phillips of Dedham (1637-1641), apparently no one has ever delved into her ancestry; it seems doubtful to me if she was related to Rev. George Phillips of Watertown as has been printed." Hannah Phillips is not listed in The Great Migration Begins (volume 3, pp. 1446-50) among the children of George Phillips.

Notes:

With his wife, he migrated to New England in 1635.

Probably, but not absolutely proven as, a son of the Rev. Thomas Morse of Boxted, Essex; Hinderclay, Suffolk; and Foxearth, Essex.

Samuel Morse and Elizabeth Jasper are the most recent common ancestors of BAM and TWK. They are also ancestors of presidents William Howard Taft and Calvin Coolidge, and (probably, assuming that Nathaniel Butler, husband of Sarah Herrick, was a son of Benjamin Butler, 1727-1800, and Susanna Whiting, 1734-1775) also of the two Bush presidents.

Robert Charles Anderson, in The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume V, p. 174:

In 1929 G. Andrews Moriarty published an extensive collection of extracts from probate records and parish registers for the surname Morse in Suffolk and Essex and on that basis constructed a pedigree of the family in those counties [NEHGR 83:70-84, 278-94]. He discussed three Samuel Morses who might have been the immigrant, and concluded that the New England man was the son of the Rev. Thomas Morse of Boxted, Essex, Hinderclay, Suffolk, and Foxearth, Essex [NEHGR 83:286-89]. (This same identification had been made in 1865 by Abner Morse [NEHGR 19:264-66].)

In 1948, in the course of examining John Morse of Boston, Robert H. Montgomery analyzed Moriarty's arguments and concluded that Moriarty had not proved his case [TAG 24:147-56, at 148-49]. Less than a year later Moriarty defended his position vigorously [TAG 25:54-56]. We have accepted Moriarty’s identification as the most likely solution, with the caveat that additional evidence would be welcome.

Samuel married Elizabeth Jasper on 29 Jun 1602 in Redgrave, Suffolk, England. Elizabeth (daughter of Lancelot Jasper and Rose) was born before 30 Jan 1580; was christened on 30 Jan 1580 in Redgrave, Suffolk, England; died on 20 Jun 1655 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Between 10 Nov 1596 and 10 Mar 1597

Notes:

He was an early member of the Dedham Classis, alongside the Rev. Thomas Stoughton. Installed in 1573 as vicar of Boxted, Essex, of which the bishop of London was patron, he was, as Robert Charles Anderson says in Puritans and Pedigrees (citation details below), "repeatedly called before the church courts for the usual puritan infractions, such as not wearing the surplice, not using the Book of Common Prayer and not using the sign of the cross in baptism." He resigned his position at Boxted in 1578 and was an intinerant preacher for the next five years. He was made rector of Hinderclay in northern Suffolk, 14 Jul 1583. From 1595 to his death he was rector of Foxearth, Essex.

Thomas married Margaret King on 26 May 1573 in Boxted, Essex, England. Margaret was born before 28 Jul 1525; was christened on 28 Jul 1525 in Hinderclay, Suffolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Lancelot married Rose. Rose died before 3 Sep 1625; was buried on 3 Sep 1625 in Redgrave, Suffolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]