Date of Service: 1873-1885
1852: Born in Virginia.
1873-1874: Served as Assistant Keeper at Deep Water Shoals Lighthouse, VA. His salary was $420/year.
1874-1885: Served as Principal Keeper at Deep Water Shoals Lighthouse, VA. His annual salary was $540/year.
1880: In the US Census, Santa A. Morse (28) lives in York County, VA., with his wife Lucetta (21), and one child. His occupation is lighthouse keeper.
1900: In the US Census, Santa A. Morse lives in Denbigh, Warwick County, VA.
1929: Santa A. Morse passed away on May 10th in Warwick County, Denbigh, VA.
Keeper Santa A. Morse Anecdotes:
The headline in the obituary for Keeper Morse reads as follows: “Bury Well-Known Negro on Monday”
Santa A. Morse, Sr., one of the best known colored men in the state of Virginia, died Friday morning, May 10. He was born in York County, but had lived in Warwick County, at Denbigh, the larger part of his life. He was considered as one of the leaders of the colored people in his community.
Morse held many responsible positions. For a number of years he was lighthouse keeper at Deep Water Shore (Shoal) lighthouse on the James River; he was supervisor of Warwick County, postmaster at Denbigh, a retired merchant and a trustee of Denbigh Baptist Church.
Sources: Chesapeake Chapter Keeper’s Database; familysearch.org; uslhs.org, Daily Press, May 12, 1929
