John W. Morse
John W. Morse, now a wellknown resident of the township of Novi, was born in Virgil, Cortland county, New York, February 28, 1826. In the fall of 1834, when he was in his ninth year, he removed with his parents to Michigan, where they settled in the township and county of Oakland. He continued with them here for eighteen years, at the end of which time he removed to the farm on which he now resides, in Novi. This farm embraces three hundred and sixty acres, of which twenty acres is in orchard. Mr. Morse's specialties in agriculture are fruit, stock, and grain, and it is safe to say that there are few better farms than his in Oakland County. On another page may be seen a representation of his fine farm residence, an establishment which in an unusual degree combines utility with beauty. The basement of his house is so constructed as to permit the entrance of teams, to facilitate the process of storage of fruits and vegetables, for which purpose it is especially arranged.Mr. Morse has been twice married ; first, in the year 1852, to Eliza M. Rollin, from which union was born a son, whose portrait is given with the farm view. Mrs. Morse died September 2, 1855. His second marriage was with Miss Laura Sandford, his present wife, November 17, 1859. Her family was among the list of those of Novi's earliest pioneers.Mr. Morse is Republican in politics, and is a member of the Baptist church. He has held the office of justice of the peace for six years, but never sought that nor any other office, and has no aspirations as a politician, preferring rather to live on happily and independently in the exercise of his chosen vocation of husbandry, and in healthful and honest labor upon his magnificent farm. His father, Mr. John Morse, a New England man by birth, and a soldier of the War of 1812, is still residing in Novi, near his son. He is eighty-six years of age.
Source: History of Oakland County, by Samuel W. Durant, 1877