But while he gained fame in America and secured praise and attention as he had in London, he found art no more profitable.  He contrived to eke out an existence by painting an occasional portrait, going from town to town in New England for this purpose.  He turned from art to invention for a time, joining with his brother in devising a fire-engine pump of an improved pattern.  They secured a patent upon it, but could not sell it.  He turned again to the life of a wandering painter of portraits.  In 1818 he went to Charleston, South Carolina, at the invitation of his uncle.  His portraits proved very popular and he was soon occupied with work at good prices.  This prosperity enabled him to take unto himself a wife, and the same year he married Lucretia Walker, of Concord, New Hampshire.

After four years in the South Morse returned to the North, hoping that larger opportunities would now be ready for him.  The result was again failure.  He devoted his time to huge historical paintings, and the public would neither buy them nor pay to see them when they were exhibited.  Another blow fell upon him in 1825 when his wife died.  At last he began to secure more sitters for his portraits, though his larger works still failed.  He assisted in the organization of the National Academy of Design and became its first president.  In 1829 he again sailed for Europe to spend three years in study in the galleries of Paris and Rome.  Still he failed to attain any real success in his chosen work.  He had made many friends and done much worthy work, yet there is little probability that he would have attained lasting fame as an artist even though his energies had not been turned to other interests.

It was on the packet ship Sully, crossing the Atlantic from France, that Morse conceived the telegraph which was to prove the first great practical application of electricity.  One noon as the passengers were gathered about the luncheon-table, a Dr. Charles T. Jackson, of Boston, exhibited an electro-magnet he had secured in Europe, and described certain electrical experiments he had seen while in Paris.  He was asked concerning the speed of electricity through a wire, and replied that, according to Faraday, it was practically instantaneous.  The discussion recalled to Morse his own collegiate studies in electricity, and he remarked that if the circuit were interrupted the current became visible, and that it occurred to him that these flashes might be used as a means of communication.  The idea of using the current to carry messages became fixed in his mind, and he pondered, over it during the remaining weeks of the long, slow voyage.