Historical Name: Samuel F.B. Morse
Common Name: Sycamore
Latin Name: Platanus occidentalis
The handsome Samuel F.B. Morse Sycamore stands at the Poughkeepsie, New York home of the man who developed the Morse Code, which is still used by amateur radio operators and Navy signalmen. Samuel F.B. Morse, with the help of New Jersey resident Alfred Vail, invented the magnetic telephone in 1837. He sent the first telegraphed message from Washington D.C. to Baltimore on May 24, 1844. The message said “What hath God wrought?” Morse was also recognized as a painter and philanthropist and was mourned by the nation at his death in 1872. This tree grew from a seed taken from the Samuel F.B. Morse Sycamore, and was planted into UCNJ’s Historic Tree Grove in 1997.
(text adapted from American Forests)