Edward P . Morse Edward Phinley Morse ( 7 March 1859 — 26 August 1930 ) was a Canadian - American industrialist and proprietor of the Morse Dry Dock and Repair Company , a major late 19th / early 20th century ship repair facility located in Brooklyn , New York . He later assisted in the creation of United Dry Docks , Inc . , a corporation formed by the merger of six New York - based ship repair companies including his own , and at the time the largest corporation of its type in the world . At one time , Morse ' s fortune was estimated at $ 40 , 000 , 000 , but after his death in 1930 , his taxable estate was appraised at considerably less . Life and career . Morse was born in Clementsport , Nova Scotia , Canada in 1859 . At the age of 20 , he arrived in Brooklyn , New York , USA seeking work , which he eventually obtained in a shipsmithing yard . About five years later in 1885 , he opened a small shipsmithing yard of his own at the foot of 26th Street , Brooklyn , which he named the Morse Iron Works . In 1890 a fire destroyed the Morse Works but he re - established it quickly thereafter . Over the next dozen or so years , Morse was forced to place his company into receivership several times but on each occasion was able to recover and continue to expand the business . By 1900 his repair yard , now known as the Morse Iron Works and Dry Dock Company , was not only servicing many of the great steamships of the era , but was also maintaining the yachts of many members of New York ' s elite business community , including those of J . P . Morgan , Cornelius Vanderbilt III , John Jacob Astor IV and August Belmont , Jr . After a brief period in receivership due to industrial action in 1903 , Morse reincorporated his yard in 1904 as the Morse Dry Dock and Repair Company . Like many other U . S . shipyards , the Morse company made lucrative profits during World War I , estimated at more than $ 15 , 000 , 000 . In 1919 , the Morse Company built the world ' s largest floating dry dock , capable of servicing a ship long and weighing 30 , 000 tons . In 1929 , Morse masterminded the merger of six New York ship repair yards , including his own , into a new $ 20 , 000 , 000 entity named United Dry Docks , Inc . — the largest company of its type in the world . Morse was named President of the new company before being appointed chairman of the board . After only a short time in this role however , Morse retired from active business and returned to his native Nova Scotia , where he died a few months later at the age of 72 . Legal battle with son . After World War I , Morse became involved in a protracted legal dispute with his son , Edward P . Morse Jr . , who had worked as a superintendent in his father ' s company during the war . Morse Jr . sued the company for two percent of its total wartime profits , a sum amounting to about $ 300 , 000 , to which he claimed entitlement under an alleged condition of his employment contract . A jury found in his favor in 1920 , but the case was appealed to the Brooklyn Supreme Court . By this time Morse Jr . had become head of a rival company , the National Dry Dock and Repair Company of Staten Island . In 1921 , a private detective was caught tapping phone conversations between Morse Jr . and his lawyers . Morse Jr . apparently believed the wiretap was in relation to the case against his father ' s company , but as the private detective maintained ignorance of his client ' s identity , no - one else was charged in the crime . Morse Jr . was eventually disinherited by his father . In May 1935 , Morse Jr . ' s case against his father ' s company was finally concluded when the Brooklyn Supreme Court ruled that the company owed him the sum of $ 540 , 283 . Eighteen months later however , the Morse Dry Dock and Repair Company admitted to having overcharged the government and private clients during the war by $ 5 , 403 , 520 , and since Morse Jr . had been a partner of the firm at the time , his award from the May 1935 case was consequently struck down . Personal life . Edward P . Morse married Ada Martha Gavel on November 8 , 1878 , shortly before leaving his hometown of Clementsport , Nova Scotia to begin his Brooklyn career . The marriage produced three children : Jessie Elizabeth ( 1879 – ? ) , Edward Phinley Jr . ( 1882 – 1948 ) and Roy Bertram ( 1886 – 1953 ) . Both sons followed Morse into the shipbuilding industry , Edward P . Jr . as head of a rival ship repair company , and Roy B . as head of a ship parts supply company . Morse was a longtime resident of 47 Plaza Street , Brooklyn , but he also owned a estate on Long Island known as Green Gables . According to a granddaughter , Morse was a non - smoker and teetotaller who was not overly fond of social occasions . He was however an enthusiastic horseman , maintaining his own stable , and at one time owned Theodore Roosevelt ' s favorite saddle - horse , General Ruxton . Death and legacy . After his retirement , Morse returned to his native Nova Scotia where he began building a $ 250 , 000 mansion at Digby Neck , not far from his Clementsport birthplace . On August 26 , 1930 , while overseeing construction of the building , Morse suffered a heart attack and died before the arrival of medical assistance . He was 72 years of age . At the time of his death , Morse ' s fortune was estimated at $ 40 , 000 , 000 , but his executors valued his estate at a relatively modest $ 1 , 645 , 953 net . Morse ' s 2 , 199 shares in his old company , Morse Dry Dock and Repair , were deemed worthless due to a pending $ 586 , 000 damages suit against the company by the owners of the tanker " Egremont Castle " , which had been improperly insured when damaged by an explosion at the Morse yard in the 1920s . Morse was survived by his wife Ada , his three children , Edward P . Jr . , Roy and Jessie , and eight grandchildren . Apart from Edward P . Jr . , all were beneficiaries of Morse ' s will , including Jr . ' s own children . The primary beneficiary of Morse ' s will was his daughter Jessie , with $ 150 , 000 plus two fifths of the residuary estate , followed by his wife Ada with $ 80 , 000 and one part , Jessie ' s two children with one part of the residuary estate each , and Morse ' s son Roy with $ 60 , 000 . In addition to his wife and descendants , Morse ' s sister Mary and a former employee named Kirsten Jensen received $ 5 , 000 each . Morse also gave $ 500 to St . Clement ' s Episcopal Church in his native town . Business legacy . After Morse ' s death , his Brooklyn ship repair yard remained in business another 33 years , first as part of the United Dry Docks / United Shipyards group , and later under the management of Bethlehem Shipbuilding as Bethlehem Brooklyn 56th Street . The yard closed in 1963 after 63 years of operation . In total , Morse ' s various companies and their successors contributed their services to the New York waterfront for some 78 years .