Samuel and Martha Morse Family in Illinois

In 1856, David age 11, was bound to Samuel M. and Martha Morse in Berwick, Warren County, Illinois. David lived with the Morse family for approximately twelve years. He served in the Civil War during this time. Exactly how David came to live with the Morse family is unknown.

The Morse family was a very prominent family in Warren County, Illinois. Samuel M. Morse's father, Samuel G. Morse, was born in Connecticut in 1786 and migrated to Illinois in 1811. He was elected to the Consitutional Convention in 1818 as they met in Springfield, Illinois. He was also the sheriff of Bond County and very active in politics. This environment may have had a great influence on David Lapray's political involvement in Idaho. (2)Google web page searched April 2009, http://www.usgennet.org/usa/il/county/warren/samuel_g_morse.htmHere is a link to the Morse family website

Samuel M. Morse, the man whom David lived with, was born and raised in Illinois in about 1822 making him about the same age as David's father, John. Samuel M. Morse married Martha P. Bowman of Michigan on February 2, 1854 in Warren County, Illinois. (Marriage Record found in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, film #1377920, Index to marriaages, 1831-1900; Warren County, Illinois, County Clerk).

From Scotland to America

John and his young son David came to America around 1850, but there is uncertainty as to the circumstances surrounding their arrivals. It is believed that John's wife and David's mother died in Scotland before they sailed to America.

Is there a marriage record for John and his first wife in Scotland? Is there a death record for John's wife in Scotland? Is there a record of birth or christening in Scotland?

One story said that John re-married after his wife's death, John traveled to America alone, and then David traveled to America with his step-mother. Is there a record of John's second marriage? Is there a ship record for David and his new mother? It is said the step-mother did not like it in America so she left David with his father, John and she returned to the British Isles.

Another story says David was shipped to America alone with a tag on him. Is there a ship record for David? Either way, John Lapray, a single father is in America with the responsibility of raising his young son alone. This is probably the reason David was raised by the Morse family in Illinois.

John and David Lapray may have come through the New York port between the years of 1848 and 1852. There should be a ship record in the British Isles and one in the United States of America, but neither has not been found. A search for them in the 1850 Federal Census has not been productive. Samuel Lapray said his father, David, came from Scotland in 1849 or 1850. David being a young boy may have gone to school in New York before he and his father moved to the Midwest. It is not known how long they stayed in New York before moving west. There may be school records or naturalization records for David and John Lapray.