Civil War Walking Tour
The Morse Building
Captain Edmund A. Morse was a prominent Rutlander whose life was filled with accomplishments before, during and after the Civil War. In the Union Army, Morse served as Quartermaster of the 7th Vermont Regiment, and subsequently was promoted to Captain in the U. S. Quartermaster Corps. He gained recognition when, while on leave in late 1862, he brought ex-slave George Hart to Rutland to take up residence. Mr. Hart subsequently enlisted in Rutland, and served in the famous 54th Massachusetts Regiment of African Americans. After the war, Edmund Morse resumed his pharmaceutical practice, and joined with E. A. Pond to own and operate Pond and Morse, which was located in the Morse Building, at the corner of Merchant’s Row and Center Street.
The Morse Building was purchased by the Rutland Savings Bank in the 1880s. The building that exists on the site today bears a strong resemblance to the original Morse Building.
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