USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity, Vol. III > Part 28
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He married, May 22. 1765, Lydia Newton, of "Westboro, born May 22, 1744, died March 20, 1824. Their children were: Elizabeth, born in Westboro. March 26, 1766, married, November 4, 1790, Hum- phrey Gilbert, of North Brookfield; she died May 15, 1861; Josialı, born January, 1768, was a physi- cian ; married, 1835, Mrs. Forbes, of Shrewsbury; died there December 13, 1852; John, born in West- boro, February 5, 1770; Lydia, born December 22, #771, married, February 26, 1793, Dr. Jeremiah Kit- tridge, of Walpole, New Hampshire, she died Sep- rtember 4, 1837; Amos, born February, 1774; Saralı, born December 9, 1775, married, April 1, 1799, Silas Haskell, of North Brookfield; died at Perry, Ohio, January 8, 1852; Thomas, born September 17, 1777, merchant, settled at Springfield, Massachti- setts ; married, October 1, 1804, Jemima H. Bush, of Brookfield; Lucy, born in North Brookfield, September 19, 1780, married, May 2, 1802, Dr. Wil- bur Southworth, of Rochester, Massachusetts; died at Mattapoisett, April 16, 1859: Eli, born in North Brookfield, March 18, 1782, married, December I, 1813, Sarah Ely Pomeroy, of Cleveland; died in Painesville, Ohio March 18, 1830; served in the war of 1812; became major-general of militia; Moses, born April 5, 1784, married Lucy Fisk, died Febru- ary 14, 1804; lived in Sterling and Templeton; Jo- seph, born May 16, 1787, physician; married, Octo- ber 29, 1817, Eliza Drew, of Drewsville, N. H., died at Walpole, New Hampshire, July 7, 1832.
(VI) John Bond, son of Lieutenant Thomas Bond (5), was born in Westboro, Massachusetts, March 5, 1770. He settled in North Brookfield and Rutland, Massachusetts. He married, 1791, Ruth Bond, a distant relative, who died November 2, 1794. He married (second), April 1, 1798, Judith Fisk, daughter of Colonel Fisk, of Barre. She died -October 25, 1837. Other members of the Bond fami- :ily settled in Rutland also about 1775, and later, Captain John Bond settled about the time of his marriage in 1798 in Boylston, Massachusetts. His wife Judith was the daughter of David and Sarah Fiske, of Boylston, Massachusetts. David Fiske was a revolutionary soldier in Captain Ebenezer Belknap's company, Colonel Nathaniel Wade's regi- ment, in 1778. David, Jr., seems also to have been in the service. The only child of Captain John and Ruth was Tyler, born April 5, 1792, died February 12, 1833. The children of Captain John and Judith Bond were: Ruth, born July 22, 1799, died August 9, 1822; Sally F., born January 6, 1801, married, May 22, 1833, Captain Thomas Eaton, of Worces- ter, father of Thomas B. Eaton. (See sketch.) David Fisk, born October 6, 1802, died October 27, 1833, unmarried, colonel of militia regiment ; Louise, born November 26, 1805, married, August 19, 1830, Colonel Aaron Gibbs, of Leominster, Massachusetts ; Thomas, born August 14, 1807, married, August 19, 1834, Harriet Slocum; John B., born February 6, ISI0, died December 16, 1853; married, November 5. 1834, Elmira Hathaway, of Worcester, and had : Samuel Hathaway, Jane, married William B. Mc- Iver, of Worcester ; he died 1905.
(VII) Thomas Bond, son of John Bond (6),
was born in Boylston, Massachusetts, August 14, 1807. He inherited the homestead in part, buying out the interests of the other heirs. He sold the farm on Bond Hill later to the late John B. Gough, the temperance orator, and it is to the old Bond place in Boylston that many admirers of the elo- quent Gough make the pilgrimage to see his old home.
Thomas Bond married Harriet Slocum, August 19, 1834 (or October 16). She was the daughter of General Slocum, of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, the adjoining town to Boylston. He was a farmer and tavern keeper at Shrewsbury. Their children were: Maria Persis, born in Boylston, August 6, 1835, married Thomas A. Shaw of Hartford, Con- necticut ; their son, Dr. Thomas B. Shaw, is prac- ticing medicine at Worcester. Their home is on King street; Elizabeth Wright, born in Shrewsbury, September 12, 1837, married Albert W. Andrews, 341 Lincoln street, Worcester; they have three children: Harriet B., Ferdinand, Arthur; George Calvin, born in Boylston, March 3, 1841, married Abby Holbrook, of Shirley, Massachusetts; he is a farmer of Holden, Massachusetts; they have twelve children, viz .: Nellie, Herman, Harry, Fred, Samuel, Etta, Lena, Bernice, Grace, Edward and two unnamed infants; Mary, born March 2, 1842, married Oran Allan Kelley, of Worcester (see sketch) ; Harriet, born' November 10, 1846, married George F. Hurlburt; Henry, born December 15, 1848, died at the age of fifteen years.
MORTON E. CONVERSE. The Converse family to which Morton E. Converse, of Winchen- ·don, Massachusetts, belongs, is of ancient French origin. The early seat of the family was in Na- varre, France, whence Roger de Coigneries, emi- grated to England with William the Conqueror in the eleventh century.
(I) Roger de Coigneries, to whom the ancestry of the American family has been traced, was born in France, about 1010. To him the Bishop of Dur- ham gave the constableship of Durham.
(II) Roger de Coigneries, son of Roger de Coigneries (I), lived also at Durham, England. (III) Roger de Coiners, son of Roger de Coigneries (2), lived in Durham and Sockburn, England.
(IV) Galfred Conjers, son of Roger de Coiners (3), lived at Sockburn.
(V) John Conyers, son of Galfred Conyers (4), settled and lived at Sockburn, England. (VI) Sir Humphrey Coigners, son of Jolin Conyers (5), lived at Sockburn.
(VII) Sir John Coigners, son of Sir Humphrey Coigners (6), settled at Sockburn.
(VIII) Roger Coigners, son of Sir John Coigners (7), resided at Sockburn.
(IX) Sir John Coigners, son of Roger Coig- ners, lived at Sockburn, died 1395. (X) Robert Coigners, son of Sir John Coigners (9).
(XI) John Coigners, son of Robert Coigners (10), lived at Hornby, England.
(XII) Sir John Coigners, son of John Coig- ners (II), resided at Hornby.
(XIII) Sir John Conyers, son of Sir John Coigners (12), resided at Hornby.
(XIV) Sir John Conyers, son of Sir John Conyers (13), resided at Hornby.
(XV) Reginald Conyers, son of Sir John Conyers (14), resided at Wakerly. (XVI) Richard Conyers, son of
Reginald Conyers (15), resided at Wakerly.
(XVII) Christopher Convers or Conyers, son
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of Richard Conyers, was baptized 1552 at Wakerly, county Northampton. He married Mary Halford. Their children were: Edward, see forward; Mary, born 1590; John, 1593; Moses, 1595; Lucy, 1595; Joshua, 1590; Samuel, 1597; Noalı, 1599.
(XVIII) Edward Convers, son of Christopher Convers or Conyers (17), was born at Wakerly, county Northampton, 1590, died in Woburn, Massa- chusetts, August 10, 1603. He came to New Eng- land in 1630 with wife and three children, and his name is fourth on the list of thirteen inhabitants of the new town of Charlestown. All these settlers united with the First Church of Boston. He was also one of the charter members of the Charlestown Church, organized November 2, 1632. He estab- lished the first ferry at Charlestown, for which he paid a rental of forty pounds a year in 1631 and for a number of years after, until he finally surrendered his rights for the benefit of Harvard College. He was at the head of the commission of seven from Charlestown appointed by the Church to arrange for the settlement of Charlestown village, later Wo- burn. The church in Woburn was organized be- fore the town and he was one of the first deacons. He was one of the most prominent citizens of Woburn as long as he lived. For nineteen succes- sive years lie was elected on the board of select- men. He was appointed commissioner to end small causes by the general court in 1660. His house was situated on Main street, Woburn, and was thirty by thirty-five with nineteen windows, at a time when widows were luxuries. On the opposite side of the street was the Convers mill, which was con- ducted by several generations of his descendants.
He married Jane Clark, of Theckenham, Eng- land, who died before 1617. He married (second) Sarah -, in England. She died January 14, 1662. He married (third) Joanna Sprague, September 19, 1662. She died February 24, 1680. His children were: Josiah, born in England, 1617, died Febru- ary 3, 1689; married, March 26, 1661, Esther Champ- ney; James, see forward; Mary, born 1622, married Simon Thompson; (second) John Sheldon; Samuel, baptized January 12, 1637, married, June 8, 1660, Judith Carter ; their son was the founder of Thomp- son, Connecticut.
(XIX) Lieutenant James Converse, son of Dea- con Edward Converse (18), was born in England, 1620, died May 10, 1715. He was a deputy to the general court in 1679-83-84-85-86-89. He was an officer in King Philip's war. He had a long and honorable military record. He was appointed ser- geant in 1658, promoted to ensign 1672, to lieuten- ant in 1688, serving until his death, May 10, 1715, a period altogether of about sixty years. He mar- ried October 24, 1643. Anna Long, born 1625. daugh- ter of Robert and Elizabeth Long. She died Au- gust 16, 1691. He married (second), 1692, Anna (Sparhawk) Cooper, widow of Deacon Nathaniel Sparhawk, of Cambridge, widow of Deacon John Cooper. His children were: Anna, born July 15, 1644, died January 30, 1645; Jane, November 16, 1645, died July 8, 1706; Deborah, July 25, 1647, mar- ried, July 1, 1663, John Peirce; Sarah, April 21, 1649; Rebecca, May 1, 1651, married Enoch More; Lydia, March 8, 1653, died May 20, 1655; Edward, February 27, 1655, married Sarah Stone; Mary, December 29, 1656, married Nathaniel Davis; Abi- gail, October 13, 1658, married Jonathan Kettell ; Ruth, February 12, 1661, married Philemon Dean. (XX) Major James Converse, son of Lieuten- ant James Converse (19), was born at Woburn, Massachusetts, November 16, 1645. He was one of the most prominent men in the Massachusetts Bay colony. He served in the general court as deputy
from 1679 to 1692 and was speaker three years, 1699, 1702-03. He was the commander at the fam- ous defense of Storer's garrison at Wells, Maine, in 1691-92, and for his conduct there was promoted to the rank of major. He was placed in command of all the military forces in Maine. In1 1692 he was attacked by a force of French under Labocree and Indians under Moxus, Madocawando, Egeremet and others. The French leader was killed and the as- sault repelled. For his services in this campaign his heirs received a grant of land at Ashburnham, Massachusetts, "on condition that within five years after the date of the grant two families be settled on the premises, each with a house and at least four acres of land under cultivation. Major Converse lived in what is now Winchester, east of Winter Pond. All of his descendants are eligible to the Society of Colonial Wars. He married, January 1, 1668-69, Hannah Carter, born January 19, 1650-51, daughter of Captain John and Elizabeth Carter, of Woburn. His wife died August 10, 1691. Their children were: James, born September 5, 1670; John, see forward; Elizabeth, April 26, 1675, died July 27, 1694; Robert, December 29, 1677, died July 20, 1736; Hannah, June 12, 1680; Josiah, May 24, 1683, died young; Josiah, September 12, 1684; Patience, November 6, 1686, died July 23, 1707; Ebenezer, De- cember 16, 1688, died young.
(XXI) John Converse second son of Major James Converse (20), was born in Woburn, Massa- chusetts, August 22, 1673, died there. He lived at Woburn except during the period from 1708 to 1728. He married, May 22, 1699, Abigail Sawyer, born March 17, 1679, daughter of Joshua Sawyer. His children: James, born February 26, 1700, died 1752; John, February 3, 1701; Joshua, January 3, 1704; Abigail, 1705; Patience, May 1, 1707; Josiah. (XXII) Joshua Converse, son of John Con- verse (21), was born in Woburn, January 3, 1704. Ile became a prominent citizen in Dunstable, now Nashua. He was moderator of the town meetings 1740 and 1741 and selectman in 1741 at Naticook, now Merrimac, where he moved in 1729. He was also assessor and constable. He was a representa- tive agent in the great and grand court at Ports- mouth in 1741. In 1744 he was drowned in the Merrimac river. He married, at Dunstable, July 31, 1729, Rachel Blanchard, born March 23, 1712, daughter of Joseph and Abiah (Hassell) Blanchard, and sister of Colonel Joseph Blanchard, the agent of the Masonian Proprietors. His estate was valued at 1205 pounds or $60,000, a large amount for a farmer particularly at that time. His widow mar- ried (second) Joseph Fitch and (third) John Page. Children of Joshua and Rachel Converse were: Jo- seph, born November 13. 1739, died February 16, 1828; married Elizabeth Davis, settled at Bedford, Massachusetts ; Jesse, born December, 1741, fought in Captain Lovewell's company ; Zebulon, see forward.
(XXIII) Zebulon Converse, son of Joshua Con- verse (22), was born in Merrimac, New Hampshire, March 21, 1744, the year his father was drowned. He was taken to Bedford by his mother who had married Joseph Fitch, of Bedford, brother of John Fitch of Fitchburg. He settled in Rindge, New Hampshire, in 1773 or 1774, and lived on the first lot of the first range until 1778, when he sold to Ebenezer Muzzey. Later he lived at Converseville. In 1786 he removed to the farm now of Hon. Alfred C. Converse, of Rindge, where he died November 10, 1805. His wife died May 28, 1805, less than three weeks later. He married, 1773, Sarah Merriam, born October 10, 1753, daughter of Nathaniel and Olive (Wheeler) Merriam, of Bedford, Massachu-
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setts. Their children were: Nathaniel, horn No- vember 17, 1774, removed to Beaufort, South Caro- lina, where he died unmarried April 10, 1815; Sarah, born March 15, 1776, married Eliakim Rus- sell, son of Nathaniel; Rachel, born July 3, 1777. died young; Olive, born May 15, 1779. married Solomon Sawtelle; Joshua, born April 2, 1781, died young; Ira, born May 28, 1783, died young : Joshua, see forward; Rachel, born October 12, 1788, mar- ried Daniel Jones ; Rebecca, born February 18, 1794, married Charles Stearns; Zebulon, horn October S, 1795.
(XXIV) Joshua Converse, son of Zebulon Con- verse (23), was born in Rindge, New Hampshire, April 23, 1781. He was a farmer in his native town and a successful manufacturer of lumber and wooden ware. He was frequently elected to pub- lic office. He was a representative in the state leg- islature of New Hampshire in 1840 and 1841, a member of the state constitutional convention in 1850, and for seventeen years a selectman, a longer period than that of any other man in this office. His sons Zebulon and Omar D. were associated with him in the business during his later years. With generous foresight he engaged in several en- terprises from which he neither hoped nor expected remunerative returns. One was a system of flow- age, secured through his efforts and influence, and the capacious reservoirs for which were built largely at his expense. He helped other public improve- ments that affected the material interests of the whole town. He bought the mills at Converseville and started there in 1845.
He married, May 6, 1808. Polly Piper, born Feb- ruary 13, 1791, daughter of Thomas and Hepsibath (Jewett) Piper, and granddaughter of Ezekiel and Hannah (Platts) Jewett. She died February 7, 1840. He married (second), May 20, 1841, Polly Kimball, born September 25, 1789, daughter of Will- jam and Abigail ( Hamlet) Kimball, of Rindge. He died November 1, 1862; his widow September 10, 1866. Children of Joshua and Polly ( Piper ) Con- verse were: Lucius Manlius, born July 20, 1809; Ebenezer Hartshorn, see forward; Joshua, June 15, 1813; Christopher Columbus, December 20, 1814; Mary, September 11, 1816, married David Stowe ; Abraham Jewett, August 18, 1818; Levina Piper, May 21, 1820, married Reuben Richardson ; Zebulon, May 20, 1822; Omar Duane, March 9, 1824; Alfred Collins, March 17, 1827; Amanda M., February II, 1829, married, May 15, 1850, Edward Miller, of New York city, resided at Milwaukee, Wisconsin; George Washington, August 29, 1830; Gustavus Adolphus, January 21, 1833.
(XXV) Captain Ebenezer H. Converse, son of Joshua Converse (24), was born in Rindge, New Hampshire, November 14, 18II. He resided at Rindge, except for a few years spent in New Ips- wich, New Hampshire. He was actively engaged in the lumber business, blacksmithing and farming. Soon after the firing in Fort Sumter in April, 1861, notwithstanding his exemption from service by rea- son of age, he raised a company in Rindge and vi- cinity of which he was captain. This company be- came a part of the Sixth New Hampshire Regiment of Volunteers, and accompanied General Burnside's expedition to North Carolina.
He married, October 8, 1835, Sarah Darling, daughter of Jewett Boynton and Hannah (Mur- dock) Darling, of Winchendon, Massachusetts. ( Sec sketch of the Darling family for her ancestry. ) Her maternal grandparents were James and Deb- orah (Williams) Murdock, of Winchendon. ( See Murdock family sketch.) She died July 10, 1875. Captain Converse married (second), June 2, 1877,
Harriet E. (Leland) Dearborn, daughter of James and Hannah ( Kidder) Leland. She died July 16, 1888. Children of Captain Ebenezer H. and Sarah Converse were : I. Morton E., see forward. 2. Nettie S., born August 29, 1841, died August I, 1903; married, May 1, 1871. Albert A. Spear, son of Palmer M. and Elizabeth ( Proctor) Spear, of War- ren, Maine. She was prominent in charitable work and at the time of her death was president of the Woman's Exchange in Chicago. 3. Oscar Irving, born August 9, 1843, now dead; married, March 8, 1867, Corolie S. Mix, daughter of Hon. James D. Mix, of Walla Walla, Washington, an officer in the United States army. He enlisted as a private at the age of seventeen, in the volunteer service of the rebellion, served three years. 4. Clarence MI., born in Rindge, New Hampshire, November 19, 1853. Now in heating business in Chicago. He de- votes a great deal of time to city missionary work and was for several years superintendent of Armour Mission Sunday school, said to be the largest in the United States.
(XXVI) Morton E. Converse, eldest child of Ebenezer H. Converse (25), was born in Rindge,. New Hampshire, September 17, 1837. He was edu- cated in the public schools of his native town and at several academies in the vicinity. He had been in the clothing business for two years at Salmon Falls, New Hampshire, when the civil war opened. In response to the first call of President Lincoln for three-year volunteers, he enlisted in the Rindge company, of which his father was captain, and served first in the Burnside expedition to Northi Carolina. In July, 1862, his regiment joined the army in Virginia and participated in the battle of Bull Run (second), the battles of Chantilly, South Mountain and Antietam. In the spring following it was ordered to the army of General Grant in Mississippi and was in the siege of Vicksburg and in arduous service during the months ensuing in Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky. Early in 1864 the regiment returned to the Army of Virginia and took part in the battle of Cold Harbor, the inem- orable assault on Petersburg and other historic engagements. In the autumn of that year he was mustered out at the end of his term of enlistment. While with the regiment and sharing its duties and fortunes, he was an acting commissary of subsist- ence. Although he escaped the rebel bullets he suffered severely from exposure and hardships and for two years was in poor health and not actively employed.
In 1867 he began at Converseville, in Rindge, New Hampshire, the manufacture of pyroligneous acid, iron liquor, acetic acid and other products of wood acid, and continued it with success for eight years. In 1873 he bought and refitted a mill at Con- verseville for the manufacture of light wooden ware. Out of this beginning the business of toy manufact- ure, with which Mr. Converse has been connected for many years, originated. He removed to Winchendon and entered partnership with Orlando Mason, a prominent citizen and successful manu- facturer of that town, and under the firm name of Mason & Converse the manufacture of toys and light wooden ware was continued. In 1883 the partnership was dissolved and Mr. Converse
continued the business partnership with his uncle. Hon. Alfred C. Converse, ex-mayor of Chelsea, Massachusetts, under the firm name of Con- verse Toy and Woodenware Company. They pur- chased the Monadnock mill, a commodious and sub- stantial building, forty by one hundred feet, three stories high, with steam power. From year to year the business increased steadily and the capacity of
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the works has been correspondingly increased. In 1887 the firm became Morton E. Converse & Com- pany, the partners, remaining the same. A new mill was erected forty by one hundred feet, four stories high, for the manufacture of reed and rattan chairs. This business was later removed to the New Hampshire state prison, where Mr. Converse conducted it with Wilbur F. Whitney, and the building was used for the addition of toys. Another new mill of the same dimensions was built in 1891. Several others have been added to the plant since then. One of the mills was destroyed by fire, June 30, 1896, together with a large amount of lumber in the yard, but new buildings were erected at once. The factories have exceptional railroad accommno- dations. They have been kept up to date in every sense, being heated by steam, lighted by electricity generated in the power house of the plant, equipped with automatic sprinklers and the modern devices for protection against fire, including the thermo- stat fire alarm system.
Mr. Converse manufactures wooden toys in in- finite variety, children's and dolls' furniture and various novelties. Special departments are devoted to popular toys in constant demand, such as drums and dolls' trunks. Constant attention to new no- tions in the toy business is essential to success. Mr. Converse has a special aptitude for anticipating the wants of Young America, devising himself and securing from others the toys that attract not only the children of the United States but of the whole world, and he has built up the largest busi- ness of the kind in the United States and demon- strated the superiority of American toys in compe- tition with the whole world. Many of the products are protected under the patent laws. At the World's Fair in Chicago the Converse Company received the highest awards for exhibiting the finest toys in the world. In other competitions of this kind, as well as in the direct competition for the trade of the world, the Converse toys have won the prizes. The business now employs nearly three hun- dred hands and produces annually a vast amount of goods. To the ability and resourcefulness of Mor- ton E. Converse more than to any other single cause may be attributed the success of this business. He has been the manager and chief owner during the years of its greatest growth and development.
Mr. Converse has been active in the public affairs cf Winchendon, taking upon himself his full share of the duties of citizenship. He is a Republican in politics, a member of the Republican Club of Massa- chusetts, and of the Home Market Club of Boston.
In 1890-91 he was a representative to the gen- eral court and was chairman of the house com- mittee on banks and banking and member of the committee on water supply. In 1903 he was elected to state senate and re-elected in 1905. He was chairman of the committees on public service, water supply, parish and religious societies, and in 1905 was a member of the committees on drainage, mili- tary affairs and street railways. Hle was one of the organizers and a director of the Winchendon Light and Power Company, also served as its president. He was treasurer of the New England Baby Car- riage Company, which is now merged into the Mor- ton E. Converse Company & Son, president of the New England Lock and Hinge Company, was a di- rector of the Granite State Manufacturing Company, but has now sold his interest, director of the Winchendon Board of Trade and president of the Village Improvement Association. He is active in the church and in various social organizations. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, an Odd Fellow, a member of the local tribe of Red Men, of the local
Grand Army Post and. of the local camp of Sons of Veterans, called after him Morton E. Converse Camp.
He married, Angust 19, 1869, Hattie M. Ather- ton, daughter of Thomas and Susan ( Peacock) Atherton, of Lowell, Massachusetts. She died Oc- tober 28, 1886, leaving two children. He married (second), September 17, 1889, Bertha E. Porter. daughter of Rev. Samuel Porter, of Chicago. Chil- dren of Morton E. and Hattie M. (Atherton) Con- verse were: Grace Atherton, born November 17, 1873, married Dr. Louis Cross (see Cross family ). Atherton Darling, born January 7, 1877.
DARLING FAMILY. George Darling, the im- migrant ancestor (on his mother's side) of Morton E. Converse, of Winchendon, Massachusetts, was born in England, in 1615 or 1620. He made an affidavit in 1670, giving his age as fifty years, and again in 1681 he gave his age as about sixty-six years. Possibly the clerk should have made this read sixty. The date 1620 seems more probable than the other. He settled in New England, first at Salem, then at Lynn and finally at Marblehead. He was a yeoman' or farmer by occupation. He and his wife Kate were witnesses in the Hathorne case in 1657. His wife Katherine was the daughter of Richard Gridley, and Darling was mentioned in Gridley's will in 1674. His wife was a witness to the will of Robert Hawes in 1641. George Darling died at Salem and the inventory of his estate was dated September 13, 1693. His will was dated April 12. and proved October 9, 1693. It mentions his wife Katherine and the children as given below. Many of his children and descendants lived at Marblehead. It is believed that John Darling and Dennis Darling, who settled first in Braintree and then removed together to Mendon, were brothers of George Darling. (See sketch of the Mendon Darlings in this work.) George was much older than either of them.
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