CONVERSE FAMILY SKETCH

Some of the Ancestors and Descendants of Samuel Converse, Jr, Volume 1: Author: Charles Allen Converse; Boston: Eben Putnam, 1905.

JOSEPH ELLIOTT CONVERSE (David, Thomas, Samuel, Sergeant Samuel, Deacon Edward), born in Belchertown, Mass., 30 October 1786; died in Farmington, N.Y., 11 February 1867.  When he was eight years old his father emigrated from Belchertown, Mass., to Bridgewater, Oneida County, N.Y., taking his son with him.  He attended common school about three months of the year, and in youth worked for his father and for his brothers David and Thomas on their farms, and was afterwards engaged in farming on his own account.  He used to go to mill to Utica, a distance of about twenty miles, on horseback, with a grist of corn for the family bread.  He also made many trips with teams to Albany, ninety miles, that being the nearest market.  Several teams would go in company, the drivers carrying their provisions and camping out on the road.  He also made one trip, with others, to Hudson, a much longer distance.  On one of these trips he visited Rochester, N.Y., which then consisted of seven log cabins.  He was orderly sergeant in the Bridgewater militia until he joined the Society of Friends, when he severed his connection with the militia.  He married four times. At the age of 21 he married Sarah, daughter of John Mott, a member of the Society of Friends, and who probably lived in Bridgewater, N.Y., or Paris, Oneida County, N.Y.  By her he had Milton7 and Sarah.  After her death, he removed to Skaneateles, N. Y., and was married there in 1818, by the Friends' ceremony, to Harriet Frost, who was born in Pittsfield, Mass., 23 September 1792, and died 1 September 1828.  She was the eldest child of Joseph Frost who was born in Williamsburgh, 4 April 1770, and lived for many years in Skaneateles, and died in Rochester, N.Y., 8 May 1838.  Her mother's maiden name was Submit Allis, born in Conway, Mass., 22 September 1772, married 29 September 1791.

Joseph Elliott Converse removed to Farmington, N.Y., about 1820, where he continued farming.  Some time in the thirties he removed to Chili, Monroe Co., N.Y., where he lost his third wife, Sarah Sheldon, to whom he was married in Farmington, N.Y., 28 October 1829, by the ceremony of the Society of Friends.  About the time of her death and of his residence in Chili he was afflicted, continuously, for about twelve years with sickness in his family, losing several children.  Mrs. Sarah (Sheldon) Converse was a member of the Society of Friends, was the mother of eleven children, died in February 1851, and is buried in the Friends' Cemetery in Rochester, N.Y.  She was the daughter of Nathaniel and Sarah (Winslow) Sheldon.  The original certificate of this marriage, issued by authority of the Farmington, N.Y., monthly meeting of Friends at a public meeting of that Society is now (1902) in the possession of Arthur Mott Converse of Ferry, Mich.  About 1852 Joseph Elliott Converse returned to Farmington, where he resided until his death, engaged in farming and in shipping cattle, in which he was expert, being an unusually good judge of cattle.  Although living among people of other than his own religious faith, he gained and kept the warmest friendship among his neighbors, and was highly esteemed for his religious sincerity by his acquaintances of all denominations.  Having embraced the religious tenets of the Society of Friends he followed strictly in its teachings, and not only refrained from bearing arms, but also refrained from voting for public officers.  Although living to the advanced age of 81 years, he voted but twice in his life.  He was, however, deeply interested in schools and was a member of school boards, but would accept no other office.

Though acutely alive to current events, and living in the stirring times of the slavery agitation, he held that all men who in religious faith were opposed to war in any event, had no right to vote on political questions, because war might result from the casting of votes, and the voter might be bound to engage in war in support of the principles for which he had voted.  He was a supporter of the Anti-Masonic sentiment which prevailed after the disappearance of Morgan, and was drawn on the trial jury when the famous trials were held at Canandaigua, N. Y., in connection with that affair.

He married, fourth, in March, 1852, Eliza (Gardiner) Sheldon, widow of John Sheldon. She was born in Rensselaer Co., N.Y., 20 April 1801. Mr. Converse was buried in the Friends' Cemetery at South Farmington.

Children of Joseph Elliott and Sarah (Mott) Converse:

              MILTON CONVERSE, born in North Bridgewater, N. Y., 4 March 1808, and died there, unmarried, March 1867. He was born, lived and died in the same house in North Bridgewater. He received a common school education; and, jointly, with his sister, inherited a farm of 250 acres adjoining North Bridgewater P. O.  He always made annual or semi-annual visits to his father, though living at a great distance.  He was Supervisor of his town fifteen years. He was a member of the Congregational Church of North Bridgewater and was buried in the cemetery of that church there.

              SARAH CONVERSE, born, in North Bridgewater, in 1811; died in Ithaca, N.Y., Dec. 1882; buried in Ithaca; member of the Society of Friends.  During the life of her brother Milton she lived with him as did also their aunt, Deborah Mott. She devoted her life to them.  On the death of her mother, she sold the farm, and moved to Ithaca, Tompkins Co., N. Y., where she lived the rest of her life.

Children of Joseph Elliott and Harriet (Frost) Converse:

            MARY ANN CONVERSE, born in Skaneateles, N. Y., in 1819; died before 1850; married
                 James Connolly.
            EMMOR KIMBER CONVERSE, born, in Skaneateles, 4 March 1821; died in Paola, Kan., in
                 1897; married, 1st, Anna Sheldon; married, 2nd, Catherine Van Denburgh.
            EDWARD CONVERSE, died in infancy.
            HARRIET MARIAH CONVERSE, born in Farmington, Ontario Co., N. Y., 20 July 1828;
                 died, Dec. 1894, unmarried. She mostly lived with her father during his life. She
                 received an injury to her head by a fall which brought on fits of insanity of irregular
                 periods.

Children of Joseph Elliott and Sarah (Sheldon) Converse:

            PHOEBE CONVERSE, born 9 Sept. 1831; died ae 16.
            NATHANIEL SHELDON CONVERSE, born 5 April 1833; died 11 April 1844.
            JOSEPH ELLIOTT CONVERSE,7 JR., born 28 Jan. 1835; died 5 April 1903, buried in Palmyra,
                 N. Y. He had a son FRED E. CONVERSE8 of the firm of Hopkins & Converse,
                 Attorneys, Palmyra, N. Y., and Cor. Sec'y Soldiers' & Sailors' Monument Assn. of
                 Palmyra.
            ANSEL FROST CONVERSE, born in Farmington, N. Y., 16 July 1838; married Selinda
                 Power Payne.
            CHARLES EDGAR CONVERSE, born in Chili, N. Y., 14 Oct. 1841; married Lucy McLouth.
            ARTHUR MOTT CONVERSE, born in Chili, N. Y., 15 Dec. 1844; married Jane S. Doty.

ARTHUR MOTT CONVERSE (Joseph Elliott, David, Thomas, Samuel, Sergeant Samuel, Deacon Edward), born in Chili, Monroe Co., N. Y., 15 December 1844.  He accompanied his parents to Farmington, N. Y., in 1852.  He attended common school and one term at Macedon Academy and worked on the home farm until his marriage.  He continued farming until 1871, when he moved to Shortsville, N. Y., and was a paper-maker there until 1876.  As ill health necessitated a change of employment, he moved with his family in 1878 to Ferry, Mich., where he bought a piece of wild land, cleared it, erected buildings, and set an orchard. This property he sold in 1892, and removed to a partly cleared farm in the same town where he has since resided most of the time.  For about sixteen years he was employed in lumbering in winter and farming in summer, until physical disability necessitated a change of employment, when he engaged in real estate business.  He also for several years sold farm machinery.  He was a birth-right member of the Hicksite Quakers, and was educated in that faith. In 1874 Mr. and Mrs. Converse were converted in the Presbyterian meetings in Shortsville, N. Y., and there joined that church. Soon after their removal to Ferry, Mich., they united with the Greenwood Presbyterian Church at Hesperia, Mich., and in 1882 or 1883 Mr. Converse was chosen Ruling Elder.  In 1885, on account of distance, they took letters and joined the United Brethren in Ferry; but when the latter church became divided in 1890, upon Secret Society questions, they withdrew therefrom and Mrs. Converse united with the M. E. Church in Ferry.  Mr. Converse was a member of the Loyal League from 1864 to 1866, joined the Good Templars in 1868, of which society he has been an active member.  Although he is a Democrat and his town is town is strongly Republican he has been elected School Inspector in Ferry for six years to 1901. He was elected Justice of the Peace in 1898, and also Notary Public.  He has canvassed for several business houses, has been a newspaper correspondent for about twenty years and for fifteen years a crop reporter for State and U. S. departments.  He has taken great interest in the preparation of this book of genealogy, and has rendered valuable assistance in the compilation of the record herein of descendants of David Convers, cheerfully devoting much labor thereto, and demonstrating his own efficiency as a genealogist and his genial disposition as a co-laborer in a field so laborious and full of discouragement.  He was married in Rochester, N. Y., 2 March 1864, by Mayor Bradstreet, to Jane S. Doty, who was born in Tecumseh, Lenawee Co., Mich., 11 February 1844.  She is the daughter of John Jay and Lydia (Wilson) Doty, and is now (1901) a member of the M. E. Church in Ferry.  John Jay Doty was born in Granville, Washington Co., N. Y., 15 July 1812, and was a Mayflower descendant.  Lydia Wilson was born in New Jersey 3 August 1816, and was the daughter of David and Mary (Brotherton) Wilson. John Jay and Lydia (Wilson) Doty removed to Macedon, N. Y., in 1856, and to Farmington, N. Y., in 1860.

         Children of Arthur Mott and Jane S. (Doty) Converse:

              MARY PHOEBE CONVERSE, born 19 Jan. 1865; married Herbert Timothy Smith.
              H. WILSON CONVERSE, born in Farmington, N. Y., 4 April 1866; married Mary Romans.
              SARAH M. CONVERSE, born in Farmington, N. Y., 5 Dec. 1867; married Ira A. Putney.
              JOSEPH ELLIOTT CONVERSE, born, in Farmington, 2 March 1870; accompanied his parents
to Ferry, Mich., in 1878, where he has since resided. He received a common school education, and later studied        engineering by home course. He has been engaged  in lumbering: has been employed as engineer in several different states, and tried fresh water sailing; member I.O.O.F. in Ferry; offered his services in Spanish American War, but did not pass the test, and was returned home.  He married, in Ypsilanti, Mich., 9 July 1898, by Rev. Frank B. Arnold, to Mrs. Estella
McMahon, who was born, in Ypsilanti, 6 July 1867. They live on a farm near Ferry. Her father was William A. Burnett, born in Lyons, Wayne Co., N. Y., 29 Nov. 1816.  Her mother was Jane McKeag, born in County Down, Ireland, 5 May 1837.

ANSEL FROST CONVERSE (Joseph Elliott, David, Thomas, Samuel, Sergeant Samuel, Deacon Edward), born in Farmington, Ontario Co., N. Y., 16 July 1838; received a good common school education and worked on his father's farms in Monroe Co., N. Y., and later in Ontario Co., N. Y. In 1857, he began farming on his own account. He was married, 10
March 1858, by  Lindley W. Smith, J. P., to Selinda Power Payne, who was born in Farmington, N. Y.,
5 July 1838. She was educated at Macedon Centre, N. Y., Academy. She is the daughter of Gideon Riley and Mary
Brown (Smith) Payne of Farmington, N. Y., who were members of the Society of Friends. Mr. and Mrs. Converse and family removed to Conesus, Livingston Co., N. Y., in 1863, returned to Farmington, N. Y., in 1865, and resided for a short time in Macedon, N. Y. They finally settled on the Canandaigua road near Palmyra, N. Y., where they reside (1901), and are engaged in fruit growing. In 1871 Ansel Frost Converse united with the Orthodox Society of Friends and was an active
worker and spoke in public. His wife united with the Orthodox Friends in 1873. They both united with the Methodist Episcopal Church of Palmyra, N. Y., by letters from the Orthodox Friends' Church of Farmington, N.Y., 29 January 1888. He is a local preacher, having been licensed to preach by the M. E. Conference in 1890. His life from boyhood has been marked by an unusual degree of sobriety and uprightness.

         Children of Ansel Frost and Selinda Power (Payne) Converse:

              WILLIAM CHAUNCY CONVERSE, born in Farmington, N. Y., 14 Sept. 1859; married Sadie Maedonald.
              ALBERT ANSEL CONVERSE, born, in Farmington, N. Y., 23 June 1861; was educated at Macedon Centre Academy. He resided in 1901 in Rochester, N. Y. He married, 1st, 23 June 1881, Lucinda Ennis of Macedon, N. Y., who died 4 March 1887, and was buried in Macedon. She was the daughter of Joseph and Lucy Ann (Snyder) Ennis of Macedon. He married, 2nd, 7 Nov. 1888, Marietta Pilcher Lord, who is the daughter of Henry and Susanna (Smith) Pilcher of Macedon Centre. To Albert Ansel and Lucinda (Ennis) Converse, two children were born:
 

                   FREDERICK LLOYD CONVERSE, b., in Macedon, 20 Aug. 1883.
                   MARY ELEANOR CONVERSE, b., in Macedon, 10 Jan. 1887; adopted by her fostermother, Catherine  Sarah Ennis Beck, in 1887, and assumed the name of Mary Eleanor Converse Beck.

              LENA PAYNE CONVERSE, born, in Farmington, 9 April 1873; educated at Palmyra Union
                   School; held a position for over six years in the Custodial Asylum for Feeble-Minded
                   Women in Newark, N. Y. She married, 30 Nov. 1900, Ross Moe Tremaine of
                   Rochester, N. Y., who was born in Haven, Huron Co., Ohio, 19 Jan. 1867.  He is
                   the son of Daniel Moe and Julia Ludlow (Snyder) Tremaine of Peru, Huron Co.,
                   Ohio. Ross Moe Tremaine has a position in the Eastman Kodak factory in
                   Rochester, N. Y., and resides in that city.

              SIBLEY CONVERSE, born in Macedon, N. Y., 23 April 1875; educated at Palmyra Union
                   School and one year in the sophomore class in the Peabody Normal College in Nashville,
                   Tenn. Residence, in 1901, Rochester, N. Y.

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