Collection Guide
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Morse (Samuel F.B.) Papers
JL016
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Samuel F. B. (Samuel Finley Brown) Morse Papers
creator:
Morse, Samuel F. B. (Samuel Finley Brown)
Identifier/Call Number: JL016
Physical Description:
42.5 Linear Feet
(4 cartons + 12 volumes)
Date (inclusive): 1911-1969
Abstract: Contains personal correspondence of Samuel Morse, correspondence of the Pacific Improvement Company relating to liquidation
of the company, and a report (12 v.) prepared for the Pacific Improvement Company in 1916, titled, "Iron, Steel, Coal & Coke
on the Pacific Coast." Also includes annual reports of the Pacific Improvement Company.
| 1885 July 18 | Born in Newton, Mass. |
| 1903 | Graduated from Phillips Andover Academy. |
| 1907 | Graduated from Yale University. |
| 1907 - 1910 | Manager of a land developnent project for John Nays Haanonci in California. |
| 1910 - 1915 | Manager of Crocker-Huffman Land & Water Co., Merced, Ca. |
| 1915 - 1919 | Secretory and General. Manager of Pacific Improvement Company, liquidation proceedings dragged on and S.F.B. Morse retained this position until 1967. |
| 1919 - 1969 | Organizer, President, part owner (with Herbert Fleishacker) and later Cflairman of the Board of Del Monte Properties Co. |
| 1916 - 1956 | Senior Director of Crocker 1st National Bank. |
| 1916 - 1956 | Other Positions : Advisory Council of Crocker-Anglo National Bank, U. S. Loaning Corp., As5ociate Fellow of Morse College, Yale University. |
| 1916 - 1966 | Clubs : Links, Racquet and Tennis (New York), Pacific-Union, Burlingame Country, Cypress Point (Calif.). |
| 1966 | Awarded LL.D by University of California. |
| 1969, May 11 | Died in Pebble Beach, Calif. |
The collection (JL 16) itself consists of four large boxes of correspondence and twelve bound volumes of a report that Morse
had made for the Pacific Improvement Company just after his appointment (1915-1916). The report is entitled: "Iron, Steel,
Coal and Coke on the Pacific Coast." The first two boxes of correspondence are Morse's own personal files for the years 1923
(Box #1) and 1927 (Box #2). The last box contains Morse's copies of Pacific Improvement Company correspondence (1930-1969)
relating to the final liquidation of the Company, of which Stanford University became a quarter-owner by inheritance. Other
owners were the University of California at Berkeley (50%) and the Crocker Estate (25%).
S.F.B. Morse (1886-1969) was the great grandson and namesake of the inventor of the telegraph. Though his family was from
Boston, he moved out to San Francisco, almost immediately after his graduation from Yale (where he was captain of the football
team) in 1907. He became associated with the Crockers and after making a success of the Crocker-Hoffman Land and Water Company,
which he managed, he was subsequently offered a position managing the Pacific Improvement Company in 1915. Since the heirs
of the original owners of Southern Pacific (Stanford, Crocker, Hopkins, Huntington) had sold out the Railroad they were also
interested in liquidating the Pacific Improvement Co., which had originally been the construction company for the railroad
and had since become a holding company for many various concerns. The liquidation became Morse's job and he expedited about
90 percent of that task in his first five years on the job. However, the remainder of the job dragged on until 1967, almost
fifty years later. Morse's most triumphant personal deal was buying Pacific Improvement Co. land on the Monterey Peninsula
himself. The company that he formed of it in 1919, Del Monte Properties, became his pet and very profitable project because
he developed that land into tremendously valuable resort and private real estate (i.e. Pebble Beach, Cypress Point, etc.).
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Crocker Estate to the Jackson Library of Business in 1970. Transferred to the Department of Special Collections in
1979, accession 1979-081. Accession 1999-019 is a gift of Mary Morse Shaw, 1999.
Samuel F. B. (Samuel Finley Brown) Morse Papers. JL016. Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford,
Calif.
While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not
an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission
or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns.
Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use. Portions of acession
1999-019 are closed until processed.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Reports.
Holding Companies -- California.
Hotel management -- California.
Real estate development -- California.
Monterey Peninsula (Calif.)
Business records.
Del Monte Properties Co.
University of California, Berkeley.
Stanford University
Tresidder, Donald Bertrand
Pacific Improvement Company
Sterling, J. E. Wallace (John Ewart Wallace)
Shoup, Paul
Morse, Samuel F. B. (Samuel Finley Brown)
Wilbur, Ray L. (Ray Lyman)
Morse, Samuel F. B. (Samuel Finley Brown)