Scope and Content of Series
Series 1) FINANCIAL RECORDS: Contains business records from Morse's mercantile store in Old Town, San Diego, between 1861
and 1869, and his general entrepreneurial activities in New Town between February 1869 and 1884.
Morse kept two types of business records for his Old Town store. He recorded each transaction serially in a storebook each
day and also kept an account book for individuals with running credits and debits. For each transaction in the storebook,
Morse assigned a unique number to each individual based upon the page number assigned in one of the several account books.
The account books summarize transactions by person. Missing from the storebooks for Old Town are records from November 1,
1863 to December 31, 1865. Missing from the account books are records from 1861 to 1864. Morse's activities in New Town, beginning
in February 1869, are also represented by storebooks, February 6, 1869 to June 30, 1879, and account books, 1869-1884.