Jedidiah Morse papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library
Jedidiah Morse (1761-1826), a Congregational clergyman, was known as "the father of geography". His lectures on geography included Geography Made Easy (1784), the first geography publication in the U.S. Morse established the Andover Theological Seminary (1808), the New England Tract Society (1814), and the American Bible Society (1816). He started several periodicals and devoted the latter part of his life to working in behalf of American Indians and the poor. Collection consists of correspondence, sermon and journal. Correspondence, 1779-1850, is from authors, booksellers, clergy, mapmakers, and Morse family members, and concerns religious matters and geography. Journal, 1805, details his visit to the Isles of Shoals in Maine and New Hampshire.
Jedidiah Morse (1761-1826) born in Woodstock, Connecticut, was a Congregational clergyman known as the "father of geography". After his graduation from Yale College in 1783, he entered the ministry. Licensed to preach in 1785, he was ordained a year later. His strong interest in geography resulted in several publication including the lectures Geography Made Easy, the first geography publication in the United States. The success of this work led to the publication of American Geography (1789), The Elements Of Geography and The American Gazetteer. Morse established the Andover Theological Seminary (1808), the New England Tract Society (1814) and the American Bible Society (1816). As a conservative Republican, Morse founded the periodicals Mercury and the New England Palladium. After residing in Charleston, Massachusetts for thirty years, he moved to New Haven, Connecticut where he devoted the latter part of his life to Native Americans and poor whites. He married Elizabeth Ann Breeze of Shewsbury, New Jersey, the daughter of Judge Samuel Breeze in 1789. They had three children, Samuel Finley Breeze, Richard Cory and Sidney Edward.
The papers document the career and personal life of Jedidiah Morse through letters, sermons and his journal of a visit to the Isle of Shoals (August 1805). The letters concern his military discharge (1779), geography and religious matters. The correspondents include his wife and two of their three children, Richard Cory and Sidney Edward. The other correspondents are authors, booksellers, clergymen and mapmakers.
Gift of Simon Gratz; purchased from American Art Association (1932); Swann Gallery; Union Square Book Shop (1932)
Accessioned by Valerie Wingfield 1985; revised December 1992.