Samuel F Morse an American Leonardo?

There is a house in Poughkeepsie I ride by often.  At first I noticed it was "Locust Grove."  The traffic races by the estate so swiftly it was a while before I noticed the name "Samuel F Morse" on an adjacent plaque, of course I knew he was the inventor of the telegraph and Morse code.  I decided to stop in and discovered his first ambition was to be a world famous artist with all the fame and fortune that would come with that.

His father like most successful artists, scientists and inventors' fathers (of history went to college) received a divinity degree from Yale.  His parents sacrificed and supported Samuel to help him achieve his dream of being this artist.  Samuel also went to Yale and used his contacts there to introduce himself to wealthy families to obtain a commission to paint their portraits in oil.  Not getting the work he thought he would, he decided to go to London to the Royal Academy, maybe he would find his fortune there.

To raise money for the voyage, he decided to do oil reproductions of the famous painters of the day and he sold these for $300 each.  ($6000 in today's currency) When in Europe he made friends with many new age thinkers.  In a conversation on a voyage back to America he first had the idea to make conversations transmittable across distances.  Together with friends the telegraph was invented and Samuel finally received the fame and fortune that he so desired.

With the royalties he built the Tuscany Villa estate at Locust Grove and bought a penthouse in NYC.  His family preferred the city, Samuel preferred Locust Grove. Summers were spent in Poughkeepsie with the family but upon his death the family rented the property.  In 1902 the renters(Young family) purchased the property and displayed their own artwork and collections from their world travels.  The Young family had two children who worked to preserve the site for public enjoyment and used their inheritance to form a foundation to fund the restoration and upkeep of Locust Grove.

Today the house has hiking trails to the Hudson River which I did hike and listened to see trains going back and forth to the city and Rensselaer station on tracks in front of the river.

My many tours and books read by me, on the lives of people who made a significant difference in the world has lead me to see that starting out in life with kind and supportive parents that give their time and money for each child to realize their dream, alongside as much formal education as possible is key to a successful outcome. It is rare, really rare for a person to rise to their fullest potential without the love and support of a relative and an education to point out the possibilities as well as introduce one to the many other people in the world.

It is a lot easier to find your interest and explore what can be when you start out with structure, a moral code of ethics, supportive and positive parents with opportunities to an education.  And if you did not have this, you first begin with learning you are enough.  You begin with being "thankful for what you have so you can have more" in the future.  Anger, bitterness, victimhood, martyrhood, will sap the energy of your creativity until you make peace within yourself and move on.

Foundational needs such as food and housing must be established by individuals to move forward in education and interest.  It seems if emotional needs are not peaceful, all else may bring physical satisfaction but life will be fraught with sadness and loneliness.

The only peace on earth we'll ever have is within ourself.  I have been on this road my entire life. Because I have found much peace, I write to possibly help others find theirs.