Troy's Genealogue

What's New?:

News
Journal

Family Histories:

CONVERS/CONVERSE Family History

The following line of Deacon Edward Convers¹ was extracted from various sources including "Converse Family Settlements in America," by John J. Putnam, Tuttle Antiquarian Books, Inc. This page attempts to reconstruct the various New England lines that our line, that of Erastus Converse, Sr.¹, has yet to be firmly tied into.

The New England line begins with Deacon Edward Convers¹ of Essex, England who immigrated to Massachusetts, first settling in Charlestown and then in Woburn, Middlesex County. By 1716, grandson Samuel Convers³ broke away to Connecticut and fathered the line of Killingly/Thompson Parish in Windham County.

Samuel's grandson Pain⁵ in turn branched off and moved to Bridport, Addison County, Vermont around 1781. It was likely in this area that Erastus Converse, Sr.¹ was born. Erastus' father was recorded variously in "The Biographical History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa" as a pioneer of Vermont and as a "farmer of Plattsburg" (New York).

Although, after many years, I have yet to tie in our Erastus Converse line in with that of Deacon Edward Convers¹, the prominence of Pain's family on the Vermont side of Lake Champlain, across from Plattsburg, New York, appears to highlight the most logical starting point. Additionally, Pain is known to have a son, Erastus (1780-1859), although he is not known to have left Bridport. Furthermore, Erastus' brother, Hamblin (1767-1847) had a two sons named Erastus, one born in 1800 and died two yeas later, the other born in 1806 and died in Bridport in 1859. Finally, a fourth Erastus, born about 1817 in Ohio, is connected with the family of Jeremiah Converse, Sr.⁶ (1761-1837), Pain's eldest son, who left Bridport and resettled in Madison County, Ohio by 1817.

So far, all but one Erastus Converse encountered traces back to Pain⁵: Erastus (1809-1889), the son of Lyman Converse of Windham County, Connecticut who moved to Lyme, Grafton County, New Hampshire; however, this Erastus is of a slightly younger age than ours and remained in New Hampshire through the 1880 census, likely up to his death in 1889.

The glaring omission in this migration is that so far I have no indication that Pain's descendants in Madison County, Ohio ever backtracked to Crawford County, Pennsylvania, where we pick up our Erastus family in 1830. Nonetheless, the migration of Pain's descendants into Ohio still offers the most fitting starting point, and as such, I will focus this family history on the lineage from Deacon Edward Convers¹ down to Pain Converse⁵ and his children.

Deacon Edward CONVERS¹ (1589/90-1663)

1. Deacon Edward Convers¹ was born on January 30, variously reported between 1587/88 and 1589/90, in either Wakerley, Northamptonshire, or Navestock, Essex, England. Edward Convers first married Jane Clark in Wakerley. She died with no known children. Edward went on to marry Sarah (Smith) Parker on June 29, 1614, in Great Burstead, Essex County, and had as many as seven children:

The children born in England prior to their emigration to Massachusetts are all believed to have been born in South Weald, Essex County.

Edward, Sarah, and children Josiah, John, James, and Mary, sailed from England with Governor John Winthrop aboard the ship Arbella in 1630 with 10 other ships and a total of about 700 settlers. They departed Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, on April 8 and on 12 June arrived in Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, where a small Puritan settlement had been established in 1626, an offshoot of the Plymouth Colony. The Convers family first settled in Charlestown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, across the Charles River from Boston.

The Convers family was Puritan and joined the First Church of Boston that was organized the year of their arrival. Two years later, the First Church of Charlestown was instituted and the family transferred to that church.

Edward became a freeman (voter) on May 18, 1631, and established the first ferry linking Charlestown and Boston in that year under authority of the General Court, the colonial legislature. He held the lease until 1640. Edward served as Selectman in Charlestown for five years and acted as Deputy to the General Court.

In 1644, the town of Woburn, Middlesex County, was organized and Edward was chosen by the church as one of the first two deacons of the Woburn church. Edward served on the Board of Selectmen until his death in 1663. In Woburn, Edward is credited with building the first dwelling and first bridge, the "Convers Bridge."

Sarah (Smith Parker) Convers died on January 14, 1661/62, in Woburn. She was in her late 60s.

Eight months later on September 9, 1662, Edward remarried to Joanna (Warren) Sprague, the widow of Lt. Ralph Sprague, who had died 11 years earlier. She was about 13 years younger than Edward.

Deacon Edward Convers died the following year on August 10, 1663, and is buried at the First Burial Ground of Woburn. He was about 74 years old. As no headstones prior to 1689/90 remain, a marker was placed there in 1961 by his descendants.

Joanna (Warren Sprague) Convers died 15 years later on February 24, 1679/80, in Woburn. She was about 77 years old.

Deacon Josiah CONVERS (1618-1689/90)

11. Deacon Josiah Convers (I) was born on October 30, 1618, in South Weald, Essex County, England. He sailed to Massachusetts with his parents and and three siblings in 1630 and married Esther Champney on March 26, 1651 in Woburn, Middlesex County. Esther was the daughter of Elder Richard Champney, the ruling elder of the First Cambridge Church. They had at least three children:

Josiah moved from Charlestown to Woburn with his father in 1641 and became a freeman (voter) in 1651. He later ascended to deacon of the Church of Woburn in 1674.

Judging from Deacon Convers' later burial, he likely served as an officer during the "Indian Wars."

Deacon Josiah Convers died on February 3, 1689/90, in Woburn. He was about 71 years old and is buried among the officers of the "Indian Wars" at the First Burial Ground of Woburn and his headstone is the oldest surviving in the cemetery.

Esther (Champney) Convers died 24 years later on April 5, 1713. She was about 83 years old.

Lieutenant James CONVERSE (Sr.) (1620-1715)

12. Lieutenant James Convers (Sr.) was Christened on November 29, 1620, in South Weald, Essex County, England. He sailed to Massachusetts with his parents and and three siblings in 1630. He first settled in Charlestown, Suffolk County, on the north bank of the river opposite Boston, and was one of the signatores that established the town. In 1641 he resettled in Woburn, Middlesex County and married Anne Long on October 24, 1643. They had as many as ten children:

Anne (Long) Convers died on August 10, 1691, in Woburn. She was 68 years old.

James married Anna Sparhawke, later that year, in Cambridge, Middlesex County.

Lieutenant James Convers (Sr.) died on May 10, 1715, in Woburn. He was 94 years old and the last surviving signatore of the Charlestown Town Orders. He is buried at the First Burial Ground of Woburn.

Mary (CONVERS THOMPSON) SHELDON (1622-)

13. Mary Convers was born about 1622 in South Weald, Essex County, England. She sailed to Massachusetts as a young girl with her parents and and three siblings in 1630. She married Simon Thompson on December 19, 1643, and had nine children. After Simon's death in 1658, she appears to have married John Sheldon and had one more son:

Sergeant Samuel CONVERS (I)² (1637/38-1668/69)

16. Sergeant Samuel Convers (I)² was born on March 12, 1637/38, in Charlestown, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, the first Convers born in the New World. He married Judith Carter on June 8, 1660, in Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. They had at least two children:

Samuel Convers carried the title of "sergeant," but so far I have not found the nature of his military service.

Sergeant Samuel Convers (I) died on February 20, 1668/69, in Woburn. He was about 31 years old.

Judith (Carter) Convers lived another ten years and died of small pox on October 3, 1678, in Charlestown, Suffolk County. She was about 37 years old.

Samuel CONVERSE (II)³ (1662-1731/32)

161. Samuel Converse (II)³ was born on April 4, 1662, in Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. He married Dorcas Abigail Pain, probably before 1694 in Charlestown, Suffolk County. They had six children, all born in Woburn:

In 1710, the Converse family left Woburn and moved southwest to Thompson Parish, which at the time was erroneously considered to be in Massachusetts but later was ceded to modern-day Windham County, Connecticut. Here they purchased Richard Evans' northern farm as Evans removed to Providence, Rhode Island.^{[Larned 168]}

"The first settler in the vicinity of Quinnatisset Hill was Samuel Converse of Woburn, who secured a deed of land from Richard Evans in 1710, and with his wife and five sons settled about a mile south of the hill-top. The Killingly settlers were near him on the south, but northward to the old towns of Oxford and Mendon the country was savage wilderness, its rude paths only designated by marks on tree trunks. Mr. CONVERSE's dwelling-house stood near the Boston road, and furnished rest and entertainment to many a passing traveler."^{[Larned 174]} "Quinnatisset, when thus assumed by Connecticut, was mostly a savage wilderness; its few settlers, Dresser, Howe, Jewett, Younglove, Converse and the squatter, Spalding--scattered along its southern and western borders."^{[Larned 176]}

"Samuel Converse, for fifty pounds conveyed 'a part of High Plain, near Quinnatisset, to Urian Horsmor of Woodstock, in 1716."^{[Larned 177]}

Samuel and four grown sons joined in to begin building the first meeting house in September 1728 in Thompson common. Son Edward was named one of the six supervisors to coordinate the raising of the meeting house and oversee exterior completion of it based on the Woodstock meeting house. It was completed 11 months later and services were first held in it on August 1. Finally, in February 1730 the church was officially formed with Marston Cabot as its pastor and with Samuel, Edward, and Thomas among the 28 signatories.^{[Larned 305-312]}

Dorcas Abigail (Pain) Convers died in Thompson Parish.

Samuel Convers (II) died in Thompson Parish on February 9, 1731/32. He was about 68 years old.

Samuel CONVERS (III) (1694-)

1611. Samuel Convers (III) was born on May 26, 1694, in Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. He moved to Thompson Parish, Windham County, Connecticut, likely with his parents, either just before or soon after marrying Hannah Bartlett on December 11, 1716. They had five children, all born in Thompson Parish:

Hannah (Bartlett) Convers died just four months after their last child's birth, on November 2, 1728. She was about 28 years old.

Samuel remarried two years later to Sarah Atwell on May 5, 1731, in Thompson.

Ensign Edward CONVERS (1696-1784)

1612. Ensign Edward Convers was born on September 25, 1696, in Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. He moved as a young adult with his parents to Thompson Parish, Windham County, Connecticut. There he married Elizabeth Cooper on August 6, 1717. They had nine children:

Elizabeth (Cooper) Convers died on February 19, 1776, in Thompson, Windham County, Connecticut. She was 76 years old.

Edward Convers died eight years later on July 9, 1784, in Thompson. He was 87 years old.

Thomas CONVERS (Sr.) (1699-~1760)

1613. Thomas Convers (Sr.) was born on October 28, 1699, in Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. He moved to Thompson Parish, Windham County, Connecticut with his parents in his late teens. There he married Martha Clough on April 11, 1723, and had three children before her untimely death in 1735. Two years later, Thomas remarried to Abigail Fay and had six children, all born in Windham County:

Martha (Clough) Convers died on June 18, 1735, at about the age of 32.

Thomas Convers died about 1760 in Thompson. He was about 60 years old.

Dorcas (CONVERS) WHITMORE (1701/02-)

1614. Dorcas Convers was born on February 1, 1701/02, in Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. She moved with her parents as a teenager to Thompson Parish, Windham County, Connecticut. There she married Daniel Whitmore and had 12 children, all born in Killingly, Windham County, Connecticut:

Pain CONVERS (I)⁴ (1706-1781)

1615. Pain Convers (I)⁴ was born in Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, on November 25, 1706. As a boy, he and his family moved to Thompson Parish, Windham County, Connecticut. There he married Mary Halford about 1733, and had four children, all born in Thompson Parish:

Pain Convers died in Thompson Parish on September 10, 1781, one month before Washington's victory over Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown. Pain is buried at the West Thompson Cemetery in Windham County. He was 74 years old.

Mary (Halford) Convers died nine years later on April 5, 1790, in Thompson Parish. She was about 83 years old.

Pain CONVERSE (II)⁵ (1739-1800)

16152. Pain Converse (II)⁵ was born on October 28, 1739, in Thompson Parish, Windham County, Connecticut. He married Mary Lee on December 11, 1760, in Thompson Parish. They had as many as ten children, all born in Thompson Parish:

The Daughters of the American Revolution hold that Pain turned out at Killingly following the British clash with continental militia in the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. As an ensign he marched to the relief of Boston, but it is unclear whether or not he served directly in the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17. Pain went on to rise to the rank of lieutenant and captian, and commanded a company of the 11th Regiment of Connecticut Militia, under Colonel Ebenezer Williams. He marched his company to reinforce Washington at New York (August-October 1776) and later continued on to command a company in the 4th Battalion of Connecticut State Troops under Colonel John Ely, whose battalion served in Rhode Island in 1777.^[SR-NY]

Probably after Pain's mother died in 1790, the Converse family moved from Connecticut to Bridport, Addison County, Vermont. Many of their grown children also moved to Vermont as well. The following year Vermont was admitted as the 14th state of the United States after seceding from New York and declaring independence 14 years earlier.

Pain Converse (II) died at the age of 60 on March 29, 1800, in Bridport.

Mary (Lee) Converse died nine years later on December 13, 1809, in Bridport. She was about 75 years old.

Missing Link to Erastus?

Judging from the migration of this family to Vermont and later into New York and Ohio, we so far find the greatest likelihood that our line of Erastus Converse will be related. Furthermore, the appearance of the name "Erastus," for a son, and later grandsons, also strongly suggest a relation.

Jump to the Erastus Converse family