Godfrey Morse (May 19, 1846 – June 20, 1911) was a Jewish-American lawyer from Massachusetts.

Life

Morse was born on May 19, 1846, in

Wachenheim Wachenheim an der Weinstraße (formerly called ''Wachenheim im Speyergau'') is a small town in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, roughly 1 km south of Bad Dürkheim and 20 km west of Ludwigshafen. It is known ...

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingd ...

, the son of Jacob Maas Morse and Charlotte Mehlinger. His brother was American Congressman

Leopold Morse Leopold Morse (August 15, 1831 – December 15, 1892) was a United States representative from Massachusetts. Biography Morse was born in Wachenheim, Bavaria, in the German Confederation, the son of Charlotte (Mehlinger) and Jacob Morse. H ...

. Morse immigrated to America when he was eight and lived in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. He attended the Brimmer Grammar School, the Boston English High School, and the

Boston Latin School The Boston Latin School is a Magnet school, magnet Latin schools, Latin Grammar schools, grammar State school, state school in Boston, Massachusetts. It has been in continuous operation since it was established on April 23, 1635. It is the old ...

. He entered

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

in 1867, and while there he was editor of ''

The Harvard Advocate ''The Harvard Advocate'', the art and literary magazine of Harvard College, is the oldest continuously published college art and literary magazine in the United States. The magazine (published then in newspaper format) was founded by Charles ...

'' and manager of the first Harvard crew to be taken abroad and row against

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. He graduated from Harvard in 1870 with an A.B., the first Jew from Boston to graduate from Harvard. He then went to

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

, graduating from there in 1872. After graduating, he studied law in the office of law firm Brooks & Ball. He also taught English literature and arithmetic in the Boston Evening High School in the winter of 1872. He was admitted to the bar in 1873. He practiced law in Boston for the rest of his life, and his later became associated with Lee M. Friedman and Percy A. Atherton. Morse was a member of the Boston School Committee from 1876 to 1878. He served on the Boston Common Council from 1882 to 1883 and was elected its president in 1883. From 1882 to 1884, he was assistant counsel of the United States in the Court of Commissioners of

Alabama Claims The ''Alabama'' Claims were a series of demands for damages sought by the government of the United States from the United Kingdom in 1869, for the attacks upon Union merchant ships by Confederate Navy commerce raiders built in British shipyard ...

. In 1887, he was elected a trustee of the

Boston Dental College Tufts University School of Dental Medicine (TUSDM) is a private, American dental school located in the Chinatown, Boston, Chinatown neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, and is connected to Tufts Medical Center. It is one of the 8 graduate sch ...

. In 1890, he received an honorary M.A. degree from

Tufts College Tufts University is a Private university, private research university in Medford, Massachusetts, Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, Massachusetts, Grafton, as well as Talloire ...

. He was a delegate to the 1896 National Democratic Party Convention in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, and from 1897 to 1898 he was chairman of the Massachusetts State Committee and the Boston City Committee of the National Democratic Party. By 1904, he was vice-president of the Boston Home for Incurables and the Elysium Club, president of the Purim Association, the Leopold Morse Home for Infirm Hebrews and Orphanage, the Boston Federation of Jewish Charities, and the Boston Branch of the

Alliance Israélite Universelle The Alliance israélite universelle (AIU; ; ) is a Paris-based international Jewish organization founded in 1860 with the purpose of safeguarding human rights for Jews around the world. It promotes the ideals of Jewish self-defense and self-suffi ...

, and a member and trustee of various charitable and semi-public organizations. Morse was a director of the Allouez Mining Company, a trustee of the American Surety Company of New York, Master of the local

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

lodge, and a member of the University Club of Boston, the

Boston Athletic Association The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) is a non-profit dedicated to organized sports, with a focus on running, in the Greater Boston area. The B.A.A. hosts such events as the Boston Marathon, the B.A.A. 5K, the B.A.A. 10K, the B.A.A. Half Mar ...

, the Criterion Club, and the Manhattan Club. In 1907, he married Janet Rosenthal Conrad. Morse died in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

while visiting there with his wife on June 20, 1911. His body was returned to America on the SS ''Kaiser Wilhelm II''. Rabbi Charles Fleischer conducted the funeral service at the Forest Hills Cemetery chapel, and it was attended by a number of people associated with him in the legal profession, politics, and various institutions and organizations. He was buried in

Forest Hills Cemetery Forest Hills Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery, greenspace, arboretum, and sculpture garden in the Forest Hills section of Jamaica Plain, a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The cemetery was established in 1848 as a pu ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morse, Godfrey 1846 births 1911 deaths People from the Palatinate (region) 19th-century German Jews American people of German-Jewish descent Bavarian emigrants to the United States Lawyers from Boston 19th-century American Jews 20th-century American Jews American lawyers Boston Latin School alumni Harvard Advocate alumni Harvard Crimson rowers Harvard College alumni Harvard Law School alumni 19th-century American lawyers 20th-century American lawyers National Democratic Party (United States) politicians Boston City Council members Boston School Committee members American Freemasons Burials at Forest Hills Cemetery (Boston)