Q 01/05

In which Massachusetts town was Samuel Morse born in 1791?

A) Newburyport

B) Springfield

C) Gloucester

D) Charlestown

Answer · why

D) Charlestown

His first American ancestor, Anthony Morse, had emigrated from Wiltshire in 1635 and settled in Newbury, Massachusetts.

Q 02/05

Morse's father Jedidiah was a Calvinist pastor and also a noted what?

A) Composer

B) Astronomer

C) Botanist

D) Geographer

Answer · why

D) Geographer

Jedidiah Morse was a great preacher of the Calvinist faith and a supporter of the Federalist Party, and he tried hard to pass both on to his eldest so...

Q 03/05

From which college did Morse graduate with Phi Beta Kappa honors in 1810?

A) Harvard

B) Dartmouth

C) Princeton

D) Yale

Answer · why

D) Yale

He attended lectures on electricity there from Benjamin Silliman and Jeremiah Day, and supported himself by painting.

Q 04/05

Which school did Morse attend before college?

A) Boston Latin School

B) Phillips Exeter Academy

C) Deerfield Academy

D) Phillips Academy, Andover

Answer · why

D) Phillips Academy, Andover

At college he studied religious philosophy, mathematics and science and belonged to the Society of Brothers in Unity.

Q 05/05

Which American artist took Morse to England in 1811 to study painting?

A) Gilbert Stuart

B) John Trumbull

C) Washington Allston

D) Charles Willson Peale

Answer · why

C) Washington Allston

Allston had been impressed by Morse's Landing of the Pilgrims and arranged with Morse's father a three-year stay to study under Benjamin West.