The other day I was browsing through the United States Confederate Officers Card Index, 1861-1865 on Family Search and I came across an interesting card. It was for Colonel Charles DeMorse.
DeMorse, Charles
Texas
Colonel, 29 Texas Cavalry Regiment,
from June 1862;
wounded (left arm) at Honey Springs, Indian
Terr., July 17, 1863
The above information isn’t what caught my eye, though. It was the information provided on the back:
Leicester, Mass., January 31, 1816
October 25, 1887
Born Charles Denny Morse, his signature “Charles D. Morse” reulted in the rendering of his name as recorded and he adopted that spelling soon after his arrival in Texas.
That’s pretty neat to be able to see how his name changed. But wait! There’s more!
Charles Denny Morse was born January 31, 1816 in Leicester, Worcester County, Massachusetts to parents Aaron Morse and Mary Denny (who married May 1, 1815). He married Lodoiska G Woolridge (I am unsure of the date). Colonel Charles DeMorse died on October 25, 1887. There is a very nice obituary for him (and his picture) on Find A Grave (click here).
I always find name changes interesting. I think of my own family, and the Demonbreuns in particular. One line went from Boucher to Demonbreun (as explained in a previous Demonbreun post), and now it is rare to find any two branches from Timothy that spell the name the same is rare.
In an article from the Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas) on March 19, 1970 (p. 10):
ALTHOUGH HIS TEXAS fans had rather not admit it, Charles Denny Morse was born in Massachusetts. But at 19, he sailed from New York with a company of volunteers to help Texas gain its freedom from Mexico. Their vessel was captured by a British ship and taken to the Bahamas under suspicion of piracy.
The men were tried and exonerated, but Morse did get a new name. The officer enrolling the men before the trial wrote it down Charles DeMorse. The young adventurer like it, continued to use it in that form and eventually had it legalized by the Texas Congress.
So there you go!
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