John Morse (1608-1657)

John [son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Jasper) Morse] was born in Redgrave, Suffolk, England, in 1607. [Some sources give the year of birth as late as 1611.] He did not come to the Colonies with his parents but soon after his arrival, married 1636, in Dedham, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Annis Chickering [daughter of Henry and Mary (Austin) Chickering],* sister of Francis Chickering. Together they had at least ten children: Ruth, John Jr., Joseph, Samuel and Rachel (twins), Ezra, Abigail, Ephraim, Bethia, and Nathaniel.

John was admitted among the proprietors of Dedham, was assigned a lot in 1637, and became a church member in 1640, "giving good testimony unto the Church of the gracious workings of the ordinances upon his heart to the obedience of faith." Having acquired several more acres, and granted an additional 12 or 14 acres by his father, John sold his holdings on Nov. 27, 1654, and removed to Boston where he worked as a tailor.

John died 1657 in Boston; Annis died 1691 in Dedham.

[* Note: There is some uncertainty about Annis’s true parentage. The claim that she was born of Henry and Mary Chickering rests solely on the reference in John’s will to “my brother and friend Francis Chickering.” It seems quite possible that John’s use of the word “brother” might suggest something other than his brother-in-law. The debate awaits more conclusive evidence.]