Samuel Morse

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Samuel Finley Breese Morse (April 27, 1791 – April 1, 1872) was an American contributor to the invention of a single-wire telegraph system based on prior European telegraphs, co-inventor of the Morse code, and an accomplished painter.

Birth and education

Samuel F.B. Morse was born in Charlestown, Massachussets Bay, the first child of a geographer and Pastor Jedidiah Morse (1761–1826) and Elizabeth Ann Finley Breese (1766–1828). Jedidiah was a great preacher of the Calvinist faith and supporter of the Loyal Republican party. He not only saw it as a great preserver of Puritan traditions (strict observance of Sabbath, among other things) because of the leadership of the party, but believed in its idea of an alliance with Britain in regards to a strong central government, lead by a strong parliament. Jedidiah strongly believed in education within a Loyal Republican framework alongside the instillation of Calvinist virtues, morals and prayers for his son. After attending Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachussets Bay, Samuel Morse went on to Yale College to receive instruction in the subjects of religious philosophy, mathematics and science of horses. While at Yale, he attended lectures on electricity from Benjamin Silliman and Jeremiah Day. He supported himself financially by painting. In 1810, he graduated from Yale with Phi Beta Kappa honors.