Morse Society Ipswich Convention

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1996 Ipswich Massachusetts

MS Newsletter Issue No. 86

   Minutes of the 8th Northeast Region Morse Society Reunion meeting, convened Saturday, October 19, 1996 at the 1640 Hart House, Ipswich MA. Attendees 36 members, spouses, and guests, for a total of 65.

Chairman Howard Gilson opened the meeting at 10:30 am by introducing President Arnold "Arnie" A. Morse, Sr., V.P. John R. Morse, Treasurer Eric Morse, Newsletter Editor and Publisher Salle M. Byers and the members of the reunion committee: V.P. John R. Morse, Past President Lola Morse, Martha J. Mercorelli, Alicia Morse, Arthur S. Morse and Jean Culver.

   Arnie Morse, who followed, stated that he was glad to have made the trip and introduced his sons Eric Michael and A. Arthur who traveled with him from Florida to the meeting. He spoke of his acquaintance with the area, living and growing up in the center of Boston and Brookline, that he and Hellen were married at Fort Devens, Ayer Mass. in 1945 and that he was the Acting Sgt Major of Fort Devens when it closed down in 1946.

   He then invited members of the audience to rise when he called the names of their forebears, Samuel, William, Robert, Anthony and Joseph Morse, and John Moss. There were someone in attendence for each of them.

   He remarked that it was nice to meet all of the members present and particularly to meet someone from his lineage "Joseph". He pointed out that his ancestors had to work hard in the fields, thereby becoming very tired and therefore did not have the lesiure time the other lines had, which therefore explained the prolific number of Samuel, William, and Anthony descendants in attendance.

   Arnie gave a brief review of decisions recently voted on by the membership: Appointments to the Morse Council, Past President Lola Morse- New Hampshire, Howard Gilson- Massachusetts, Eric Morse- Florida, Robert Morse Tappan- Wyoming, Becky Drake- Texas, Jack Morse- California and Denis Morse- Canada; Denis also was appointed Genealogist Emeritis; the increase in dues to $10.00 - effective January 1997; and the temporary suspension of life memberships.

He explained that the increase in dues and suspension of life memberships came about because he had found out during his preparation of the Corporate income tax returns for 1989 through 1995 that the Sopciety had been running a deficit throughout those years and that it was necessary to take measures to stop the deficits. A concerted effort is being made this year to reduce the cost of printing the newsletter and mailing it.

   Next, he spoke on the need to attract members of the "Boomer" years, stressing that the future of the Society depends on recruiting younger members. He also mentioned that a check issued for the Wallingford reunion meeting had never been cashed and that he planned to follow up on the matter and issue a refund check, if need be. Alicia Morse of Durham Connecticut, stated that she had been a member of that reunion committee and was not aware that a check had not been cashed. She offered to explore the matter and report back. Her offer was accepted.

   Vice President John R. Morse was next to speak. He explained a project that Colleen, Bob Tappan and he were presently developing. Colleen is culling the information from the files and forwarding it to Bob in Wyoming, who then inserts it onto computer disks.

Arnie then called on various members of the audience to speak. Some four or five of them spoke on various subjects. One of those was Robert Allen Greene of Rhode Island. Robert, a member of both the Plymouth and Mayflower Society's, gave a brief historical outline of the Mayflower Society.

A pleasant surprise was Caroline Morse, a lawyer from Virginia. Who, came to the meeting, with two aides, hoping to obtain information about her forebears. Hers is an interesting story and I regret not having more information about her. A. Arthur Morse, Jr. recommended that the lithograph of the Morse Monument be copied and offered for sale. Another suggestion was that Sweat shirts be made available and implemented if a demand for them exists. In addition, a source of supply for Morse Wool Mark pins will be undertaken.

   The President then returned the meeting to Howard Gilson who introduced the Guest Speaker Mr. John Wright, an 11th generation descendant of the same name immigrant who settled in Woburn, Mass in the 1640's. Mr. Wright is a traditionalist, living in the same house in Salem for almost fifty years. He was the assistant curator of the former Essex Institute for sixteen years, and now is the consultant to the Historical Societies of Lynn, Haverhill and Newburyport. He has a pictorial history entitled "The Marblehead Area" coming off the press in December. His topic "Morses and Horses in the Decorative Arts".

   The president announced tentative plans for a meeting in Plymouth Mass in the fall of 1998. Howard Gilson has agreed to be Chairman of the Committee.

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