Edward P. Morse
Encyclopedia
Edward Phinley Morse was a Canadian
-American
industrialist and proprietor of the Morse Dry Dock and Repair Company, a major late 19th/early 20th century ship repair facility located in Brooklyn, New York. He later assisted in the creation of United Dry Docks, Inc., a corporation formed by the merger of six New York-based ship repair companies including his own, and at the time the largest corporation of its type in the world.
At one time, Morse's fortune was estimated at $40,000,000, but after his death in 1930, his taxable estate was appraised at considerably less.
, Nova Scotia
, Canada
in 1859. At the age of 20, he arrived in Brooklyn, New York, USA
seeking work, which he eventually obtained in a shipsmithing yard. About five years later in 1885, he opened a small shipsmithing yard of his own at the foot of 26th Street, Brooklyn, which he named the Morse Iron Works.
In 1890 a fire destroyed the Morse Works but he re-established it quickly thereafter. Over the next dozen or so years, Morse was forced to place his company into receivership several times but on each occasion was able to recover and continue to expand the business. By 1900 his repair yard, now known as the Morse Iron Works and Dry Dock Company, was not only servicing many of the great steamships of the era, but was also maintaining the yachts of many members of New York's elite business community, including those of J. P. Morgan
, Cornelius Vanderbilt III
, John Jacob Astor IV
and August Belmont, Jr.
After a brief period in receivership due to industrial action in 1903, Morse reincorporated his yard in 1904 as the Morse Dry Dock and Repair Company.
Like many other U.S. shipyards, the Morse company made lucrative profits during World War I, estimated at more than $15,000,000. In 1919, the Morse Company built the world's largest floating dry dock, capable of servicing a ship 725 feet (221 m) long and weighing 30,000 tons.
In 1929, Morse masterminded the merger of six New York ship repair yards, including his own, into a new $20,000,000 entity named United Dry Docks, Inc.— the largest company of its type in the world. Morse was named President of the new company before being appointed chairman of the board. After only a short time in this role however, Morse retired from active business and returned to his native Nova Scotia, where he died a few months later at the age of 72.
By this time Morse Jr. had become head of a rival company, the National Dry Dock and Repair Company of Staten Island
. In 1921, a private detective was caught tapping phone conversations between Morse Jr. and his lawyers. Morse Jr. apparently believed the wiretap was in relation to the case against his father's company, but as the private detective maintained ignorance of his client's identity, no-one else was charged in the crime.
Morse Jr. was eventually disinherited by his father. In May 1935, Morse Jr.'s case against his father's company was finally concluded when the Brooklyn Supreme Court ruled that the company owed him the sum of $540,283. Eighteen months later however, the Morse Dry Dock and Repair Company admitted to having overcharged the government and private clients during the war by $5,403,520, and since Morse Jr. had been a partner of the firm at the time, his award from the May 1935 case was consequently struck down.
Morse was a longtime resident of 47 Plaza Street, Brooklyn, but he also owned a 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) estate on Long Island
known as Green Gables
. According to a granddaughter, Morse was a non-smoker and teetotaller who was not overly fond of social occasions. He was however an enthusiastic horseman, maintaining his own stable, and at one time owned Theodore Roosevelt
's favorite saddle-horse, General Ruxton.
, not far from his Clementsport birthplace. On August 26, 1930, while overseeing construction of the building, Morse suffered a heart attack and died before the arrival of medical assistance. He was 72 years of age.
At the time of his death, Morse's fortune was estimated at $40,000,000, but his executors valued his estate at a relatively modest $1,645,953 net. Morse's 2,199 shares in his old company, Morse Dry Dock and Repair, were deemed worthless due to a pending $586,000 damages suit against the company by the owners of the tanker
Egremont Castle, which had been improperly insured when damaged by an explosion at the Morse yard in the 1920s.
Morse was survived by his wife Ada, his three children, Edward P. Jr., Roy and Jessie, and eight grandchildren. Apart from Edward P. Jr., all were beneficiaries of Morse's will, including Jr.'s own children. The primary beneficiary of Morse's will was his daughter Jessie, with $150,000 plus two fifths of the residuary estate, followed by his wife Ada with $80,000 and one part, Jessie's two children with one part of the residuary estate each, and Morse's son Roy with $60,000. In addition to his wife and descendants, Morse's sister Mary and a former employee named Kirsten Jensen received $5,000 each. Morse also gave $500 to St. Clement's Episcopal Church in his native town.
as Bethlehem Brooklyn 56th Street. The yard closed in 1963 after 63 years of operation. In total, Morse's various companies and their successors contributed their services to the New York waterfront for some 78 years.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
industrialist and proprietor of the Morse Dry Dock and Repair Company, a major late 19th/early 20th century ship repair facility located in Brooklyn, New York. He later assisted in the creation of United Dry Docks, Inc., a corporation formed by the merger of six New York-based ship repair companies including his own, and at the time the largest corporation of its type in the world.
At one time, Morse's fortune was estimated at $40,000,000, but after his death in 1930, his taxable estate was appraised at considerably less.
Life and career
Morse was born in ClementsportClementsport, Nova Scotia
Clementsport is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in Annapolis County.Clementsport is situated on the Annapolis Basin, and along the Moose River. The small town has pizzeria - Jody's Gourmet Pizza, which is part of the Moose River Variety Store...
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1859. At the age of 20, he arrived in Brooklyn, New York, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
seeking work, which he eventually obtained in a shipsmithing yard. About five years later in 1885, he opened a small shipsmithing yard of his own at the foot of 26th Street, Brooklyn, which he named the Morse Iron Works.
In 1890 a fire destroyed the Morse Works but he re-established it quickly thereafter. Over the next dozen or so years, Morse was forced to place his company into receivership several times but on each occasion was able to recover and continue to expand the business. By 1900 his repair yard, now known as the Morse Iron Works and Dry Dock Company, was not only servicing many of the great steamships of the era, but was also maintaining the yachts of many members of New York's elite business community, including those of J. P. Morgan
J. P. Morgan
John Pierpont Morgan was an American financier, banker and art collector who dominated corporate finance and industrial consolidation during his time. In 1892 Morgan arranged the merger of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric...
, Cornelius Vanderbilt III
Cornelius Vanderbilt III
Cornelius Vanderbilt III was a distinguished American military officer, inventor, engineer, and yachtsman, and a member of the prominent American Vanderbilt family.-Biography:...
, John Jacob Astor IV
John Jacob Astor IV
John Jacob Astor IV was an American businessman, real estate builder, investor, inventor, writer, lieutenant colonel in the Spanish-American War and a member of the prominent Astor family...
and August Belmont, Jr.
August Belmont, Jr.
August Belmont, Jr. was an American financier, the builder of New York's Belmont Park racetrack, and a major owner/breeder of thoroughbred racehorses.-Early life:...
After a brief period in receivership due to industrial action in 1903, Morse reincorporated his yard in 1904 as the Morse Dry Dock and Repair Company.
Like many other U.S. shipyards, the Morse company made lucrative profits during World War I, estimated at more than $15,000,000. In 1919, the Morse Company built the world's largest floating dry dock, capable of servicing a ship 725 feet (221 m) long and weighing 30,000 tons.
In 1929, Morse masterminded the merger of six New York ship repair yards, including his own, into a new $20,000,000 entity named United Dry Docks, Inc.— the largest company of its type in the world. Morse was named President of the new company before being appointed chairman of the board. After only a short time in this role however, Morse retired from active business and returned to his native Nova Scotia, where he died a few months later at the age of 72.
Legal battle with son
After World War I, Morse became involved in a protracted legal dispute with his son, Edward P. Morse Jr., who had worked as a superintendent in his father's company during the war. Morse Jr. sued the company for two percent of its total wartime profits, a sum amounting to about $300,000, to which he claimed entitlement under an alleged condition of his employment contract. A jury found in his favor in 1920, but the case was appealed to the Brooklyn Supreme Court.By this time Morse Jr. had become head of a rival company, the National Dry Dock and Repair Company of Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
. In 1921, a private detective was caught tapping phone conversations between Morse Jr. and his lawyers. Morse Jr. apparently believed the wiretap was in relation to the case against his father's company, but as the private detective maintained ignorance of his client's identity, no-one else was charged in the crime.
Morse Jr. was eventually disinherited by his father. In May 1935, Morse Jr.'s case against his father's company was finally concluded when the Brooklyn Supreme Court ruled that the company owed him the sum of $540,283. Eighteen months later however, the Morse Dry Dock and Repair Company admitted to having overcharged the government and private clients during the war by $5,403,520, and since Morse Jr. had been a partner of the firm at the time, his award from the May 1935 case was consequently struck down.
Personal life
Edward P. Morse married Ada Martha Gavel on November 8, 1878, shortly before leaving his hometown of Clementsport, Nova Scotia to begin his Brooklyn career. The marriage produced three children: Jessie Elizabeth (1879–?), Edward Phinley Jr. (1882–1948) and Roy Bertram (1886–1953). Both sons followed Morse into the shipbuilding industry, Edward P. Jr. as head of a rival ship repair company, and Roy B. as head of a ship parts supply company.Morse was a longtime resident of 47 Plaza Street, Brooklyn, but he also owned a 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) estate on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
known as Green Gables
Villa Maria (Long Island)
Villa Maria is an estate in Water Mill, New York. Built as a private residence in 1887, the villa itself was extensively remodelled by Brooklyn-based architect Frank Freeman in 1919. It later became a convent and spirituality center, before recently becoming a private residence once again...
. According to a granddaughter, Morse was a non-smoker and teetotaller who was not overly fond of social occasions. He was however an enthusiastic horseman, maintaining his own stable, and at one time owned Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
's favorite saddle-horse, General Ruxton.
Death and legacy
After his retirement, Morse returned to his native Nova Scotia where he began building a $250,000 mansion at Digby NeckDigby Neck
Digby Neck is a Canadian peninsula extending into the Bay of Fundy in Digby County, Nova Scotia.Digby Neck is the western extension of the North Mountain range from the Annapolis Valley and is made of two thick lava flows. It is separated from the eastern portion of the North Mountain by a deep,...
, not far from his Clementsport birthplace. On August 26, 1930, while overseeing construction of the building, Morse suffered a heart attack and died before the arrival of medical assistance. He was 72 years of age.
At the time of his death, Morse's fortune was estimated at $40,000,000, but his executors valued his estate at a relatively modest $1,645,953 net. Morse's 2,199 shares in his old company, Morse Dry Dock and Repair, were deemed worthless due to a pending $586,000 damages suit against the company by the owners of the tanker
Oil tanker
An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers: the crude tanker and the product tanker. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries...
Egremont Castle, which had been improperly insured when damaged by an explosion at the Morse yard in the 1920s.
Morse was survived by his wife Ada, his three children, Edward P. Jr., Roy and Jessie, and eight grandchildren. Apart from Edward P. Jr., all were beneficiaries of Morse's will, including Jr.'s own children. The primary beneficiary of Morse's will was his daughter Jessie, with $150,000 plus two fifths of the residuary estate, followed by his wife Ada with $80,000 and one part, Jessie's two children with one part of the residuary estate each, and Morse's son Roy with $60,000. In addition to his wife and descendants, Morse's sister Mary and a former employee named Kirsten Jensen received $5,000 each. Morse also gave $500 to St. Clement's Episcopal Church in his native town.
Business legacy
After Morse's death, his Brooklyn ship repair yard remained in business another 33 years, first as part of the United Dry Docks/United Shipyards group, and later under the management of Bethlehem ShipbuildingBethlehem Shipbuilding
Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard was founded in 1887 as Maryland Steel in Sparrows Point, Maryland. It was acquired by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation in 1916 and renamed Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard. The shipyard was sold in 1997 to Baltimore Marine Industries Inc....
as Bethlehem Brooklyn 56th Street. The yard closed in 1963 after 63 years of operation. In total, Morse's various companies and their successors contributed their services to the New York waterfront for some 78 years.