An Historical Moment at the PH

Putnam, Connecticut grew in importance as a “mill-town” in the late eighteen and early nineteen hundreds. One of the mill owners George Milton Morse built a ‘mansion on the hill’ for his young and growing  family in 1868. For many years this house was the Morse family homestead from which George conducted business, hosted gatherings for relatives and colleagues and planned the construction of other homes in the immediate vicinity for his five sons and five daughters.

In her book “God’s Spirit Breathes Forth” p. 14  Sister Marian St Marie tells us that after the death of George M. Morse in 1914 “the estate was put on the market ...and Mother St. Charles Borromée (then provincial) purchased the Morse estate for $11,750 in cash.  The province had a reserve account of $6,750. This along with a $5,000 loan from Bishop Nilan provided the needed funds.” Thus the Morse Mansion became the Provincial House for the Daughters of the Holy Spirit in the United States.

Recently the Morse family was reconnected to the family homestead when Mr. Alden Reed, great,great grandson of George M. Morse came to visit the home he had heard so much about and that he had visited years ago when he would travel from Worcester to Putnam with his grandmother Florence Morse Reed to honor their deceased family members at the Grove Street Cemetery in Putnam.

Mr. Reed’s visit to the Privincial House was a response to an invitation extended through the Development Office when he had contacted us and shared photographs of the Morse family taken at the site in the 1890’s. Sr. Irene Fortier, Province archivist, accompanied by the director of development and two reporters from local newspapers, conducted the 2 hour tour of the premises’ many nooks and crannies. The multitude of questions and comments on the part of all the participants, made the time pass by all too quickly and renewed interest in an era and a place that was indeed a building block in the history of Putnam and of that of the Daughters of the Holy Spirit.

While the Provincial House has undergone many changes and renovations over the years, Mr. Reed was impressed with the pristine condition of the so-called “mansion” component of the building and expressed several times how happy he is to see how the Daughters have taken such good care of the Morse homestead that has been designated as one of Putnam’s historic buildings.

Anyone interested in more information about the Morse family or the Provincial House may contact the DHS Development Office at devofdhs@yahoo.com  or Mr. Alden Reed:  alden.reed@verizon.net