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CONVERSE Family History, Part I

The Converse family originates in Vermont (presumably near Plattsburgh, NY). It probably ties in with the line of Deacon Edward Convers, the progenitor of the New England Converse clans.

Our grandfather, Erastus Converse, Sr.² who was born around 1804, probably near Lake Champlain in Vermont. He married Elizabeth Van Wormer who was born around 1811 in Ohio and began a family in Rockdale Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania around 1829. The family moved to Greene Township, Iowa County, Iowa Territory in 1842, four years prior to Iowa statehood.

In 1847, Erastus Sr. died and in 1851, eldest son, John³, followed the Gold Rush out to California leaving the estate and care of their mother to the second son, William. William later sold the Greene Township estate and moved to Valley Township, Pottawattamie County, Iowa in 1871. John crossed the plains in a covered wagon and settled in the Red Cloud district above Coulterville, Mariposa County, California, an area now better known as Greeley Hill.

Younger brothers, Henry, George, and Erastus all served with the Union Army during the Civil War. Henry and George fell ill during the Mississippi campaigns of 1862 and 1863 and died. Erastus served with the cavalry in the Dakota Territory and after the war eventually made his way to Alberta, Canada.

Asa CONVERS¹

1. The father of our Converse family may be Asa Convers¹, who is found in Le Boeuf Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania, in 1820^{[Cen 1820]} and is the elder of two Converses in that area. Asa is believed to at least be the father of George Converse (1799-1874) of Waterford Township, Erie County, and perhaps the father of all the Converses in the area. Unfortunately, from the scant information available in the 1820 census, all that is currently known is that he was 45 years or older at the time (i.e. born before 1775). According to an Iowa biography, the father of our line was originally from the Plattsburgh area on the New York-Vermont state border and fathered at least seven children:

1A.	Daniel S. ConverseΔ	15 Mar 1787	6 Nov 1855	(68)
1B.	William Converse	(1790/1791)	Mar 1855	(63)
1C.	Marcia ConverseΔ	(1795)	(1850-1854)	(54-59)
1D.	Betsey ConverseΔ	(1789)	13 Apr 1842	(53)
1E.	George ConverseΔ	24 Oct 1799	1874	(74)
1F.	Jesse Converse	(1801)	(> 1831)	(> 30)
1H.	Erastus Convers, Sr.2	(1804)	(1847)	(43)
1H.	Maria ConverseΔ	(1806)	(> 1880)	(> 73)
1I.	Chase Converse	--	--	--
1J.	Jemima Converse	--	--	--
1K.	John Converse	--	--	--
1L.	Polly Converse	--	--	--

In 1820, Asa Converse (age 45+) was enumerated with a man and woman (both age 26-45), and three younger family members: a girl (age 10-16) and two boys (age 16-18 and 16-26) in Le Boeuf Township. On the next page, Daniel S. Converse (age 26-45) is found with a wife and three children: two boys (under age 10) and a girl (age 10-16).^{[Cen 1820]}

Come 1830, brothers William (age 30-40), Jesse (age 20-30), and Erastus (age 20-30) are all enumerated adjacent to each other in Rockdale Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania.

Daniel S. CONVERSE^Δ (1787-1855)

1A. Daniel S. Converse^Δ was born in 1786 or 1787, reportedly on March 15^[Grave], in Massachusetts. He was likely an elder brother of Erastus Converse¹. Daniel married Mary "Polly" E., a native of Vermont, and had as many as eight children,^{[Cen 1820,1830]} but so far I have only been able to identify four:

1A1.	James Converse	30 Oct 1818	26 Jun 1887	(73)
1A2.	Converse son	(1815-1820)	(> 1830)	--
1A3.	Converse daughter	(1815-1820)	(> 1830)	--
1A4.	Olive Finetta ConverseΔ	Dec 1821	22 Oct 1909	(87)
1A5.	Julia E. Converse	30 Jan 1825	5 Jan (1872)	(46)
1A6.	Barilla Ann Converse	(1827-1828)	(> 1850)	(> 22)
1A7.	Josiah K. Converse	28 Jul 1829	29 Mar 1872	(42)

Daniel apppears to have moved to Vermont, perhaps as a child, married Polly, started his family there, and then moved south to Le Boeuf Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania, by 1820. Also found there was an elder Asa Converse, perhaps his father or even an older brother.^{[Cen 1820]}. By 1830, Daniel moved north to the outskirts of Erie in Millcreek Township.

Daniel purchased a 41.25' wide by 165' deep lot (lot 1994 and 1995) on the southwest corner of Parade Street and 5th Street in Erie from Rufus Seth Reed for $400 on March 4, 1838.^{[Deed 1838, Cen 1840]} He acquired a second 41.25' wide by 165' deep lot (lot 1388) along the north side of 8th Street, two lots over from French Street, from Reed for $1,000 on April 17, 1843.^{[Deed 1843]}

The Converse family was enumerated in the East Ward of Erie in 1850, where Daniel and sons James and Josiah all worked as millers. Also enumerated with the family was Mary Grace, a 17-year-old Irish immigrant who may have been from the Jeremiah and Mary Grace family that was enumerated two household before.^{[Cen 1850]}

Daniel S. Converse reportedly died on November 6, 1855, at the age of 68 or 69. He was buried in Erie Cemetery.^[Grave]

Daniel's widow, Polly continued on in Erie, living with her son James.^{[Cen 1860]}

Polly Converse died in 1865 at about the age of 73. She was also buried in Erie Cemetery.^[Grave]

Much of Daniel and Polly's property in Erie was likely left to son James, as on April 6, 1888, James' estate saw the acquisition of property from his deceased parents and transfer to Gertrude M. Brown and C. M. Conrad on the same day.^{[Deed 1888]}

William CONVERSE (~1791-1855)

1B. William Converse was born in Vermont in either 1790 or 1791. He and two younger brothers, Jesse and Erastus, moved to Rockdale Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, by 1830. He is not known to have ever married.

William lived in Woodcock Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, southwest of Rockdale Township, at the time that he sold 100 acres in Rockdale Township to James A. Ferris on April 17, 1839, for $550. The property was located in the southeast corner of donation tract 1526 and adjacent to donation tract 1520 to the east and donation tract 155 to the west.^{[Deed 1839]} William's brother Jesse lived nearby in donation tract 1522, presumably to the southeast, and brother Erastus to the south of that. This transaction came a month before brother Erastus sold his Rockdale tract and both moved west to Iowa. The junctions later known as Ferris Corners are in tract 1526.

It was in 1842 that William and Erastus became among the first white settlers to move into Iowa County settling along Old Man's Creek, which runs through the northern sections of Greene Township (Township 78 North, Range 9 West), in the southeastern corner of Iowa County and about 20 miles southwest of Iowa City, which was then the territorial capital.

The 1850 census of Greene Township shows William Convers, age 60, born in Vermont, and enumerated with his late brother's widow, Elizabeth. At the time William was a mill wright with an estate value of $480. "William put up many excellent mills through this section, for he was a good mechanic."^[Birdsall] That same year it appears that William deeded property north of the English River (Township 78 North, Range 9 West, west half of southeast quarter of southeast quarter) to his nephew "Will. Jr."^{[Deed 1850]}

• Township 78 North, Range 9 West, Section 35, W½ of SE¼ of SE¼; to "Will Jr."^{[Deed 1850]}
• Township 78 North, Range 9 West, Section 3, SE¼ of NE¼ from Jacob Ricord^{[Deed 1852]}

William Converse drowned in Old Man's Creek near his mill in March 1855.^{[Parnell, 1910]} He was in his early 60s, His estate went into probate court and administered by E(dward) R(eece) Ricord who listed William's heirs as Erastus Converse and George Converse,^{[Prob 1855]} possibly his brothers, if not for the fact that his brother Erastus is held to have predeceased him. His heirs may also have been his young teenaged nephews, Erastus' sons. Erastus' eldest son had gone west to California by that time, but curiously sons William and Henry, who both were already beyond the age of majority, were not named as heirs.

Marcia (CONVERSE) CURRIER (1795-<1854)

1C. Marcia Converse was reportedly born in 1795 in Grand Isle, Grand Isle County, Vermont. She married John Currier in October 1816 and had as many as six children:

1C1.	Louisa Currier	5 (Aug/Sep) 1817	12 Feb 1865	(47)
1C2.	Mary A. Currier	(1819)	--	--
1C3.	Maria CurrierΔ	22 Nov 1822	(> 1850)	(> 27)
1C4.	Lura Currier	2 Aug 1824	4 April 1889	(64)
1C5.	Marcia CurrierΔ	22 Sep 1826	29 Mar 1881	(54)
1C6.	John Converse CurrierΔ	21 Sep 1828	2 Sep 1888	(59)

John was reportedly a native of Sandown, Rockingham County, New Hampshire. After Marcia and John married, they started their family in Grand Isle, where their first two daughters were reportedly born.

The Curriers moved southeast to Wentworth, Grafton County, New Hampshire, by the birth of daughter Maria in 1822.

In 1850, the family farm in Wentworth was valued at $5,000, and daughters Louisa, Maria, and Marcia, were all living at home, along with Louisa's six-year-old son Charles H. Osgood. Daughter Marcia's future husband, Ferdinand Kezer, lived nearby with his family.^{[Cen 1860]}

Marcia (Converse) Currier apparently died between 1850 and 1854. She would have been in her mid-to-late 50s.

John remarried to Alice Ann Carter, a native of Vermont, on November 22, 1854, in Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. John was 60 years old and Alice was 42. It was Alice's first marriage.^{[Mar 1854]}

John and Alice continued to live in Wentworth and by 1860 their farm was only valued at $1,800, with personal property valued at $3,890. Daughter Louisa lived nearby.^{[Cen 1860]} The farm value appreciated to $2,000 by 1870; his personal property rose to $12,000 and Alice's was reported to be $500.^{[Cen 1870]}

John Currier died of typhoid fever on January 29, 1882, in Wentworth. He was 88 years old.^{[Dth 1882]}

Alice Ann (Carter) Currier died of heart disease 11 years later on May 7, 1893, in Hudson, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. She was 81 years old.^{[Dth 1893]}

Betsey (CONVERSE) CHASE^Δ (~1798-1842)

1D. Betsey Converse^Δ was born about 1789, reportedly in Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts. She married Jacob Chase, reportedly of Metheun, Essex County, around 1809 in Newburyport. (Metheun is 22 miles up the Merrimack River from Newburyport.) They had as many as seven children:

1D1.	Caroline ChaseΔ	(1810)	1842	(32)
1D2.	Asa Converse Chase	12 Mar 1812	1890	(78)
1D3.	Mary M. Chase	(1814)	--	--
1D4.	George J. Chase	(1818)	7 Oct 1907	(89)
1D5.	Eliza O. Chase	(1820)	(> 1880)	(> 60)
1D6.	John Lloyd Chase	17 May 1821	(> 1860)	(> 39)
1D7.	Sarah "Sally" M. Chase	(1823)	1907	(84)

Betsey and Jacob's first daughter was reportedly born in Newburyport, but by the birth of Asa in 1812 they likely moved 230 miles northwest to Grand Isle, Grand Isle County, Vermont. Incomplete research vary on the birth places between Newburyport and Grand Isle.

George CONVERSE^Δ (1799-1874)

1E. George Converse^Δ was born on October 24, 1799, in Vermont, appears in Greene Township, Iowa County, Iowa, concurrent with the Erastus Converse, Sr. family, and a few years older than Erastus, suggesting he may have been an elder brother. George married Maria Lyman, a native of Pennsylvania born to Prussian immigrants, on March 20, 1823, in Waterford Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania. They had eight daughters and one son:

1E1.	Nancy ConverseΔ	1 Jan 1824	12 Aug 1872	(48)
1E2.	Mary Elizabeth Converse	(1826)	(1880-1900)	(> 55)
1E3.	Sarah Converse	(1828)	(Childhood)	(Childhood)
1E4.	Jane Catherine ConverseΔ	11 Feb 1830	3 Apr 1904	(74)
1E5.	Olive Converse	23 Mar 1832	1 Sep 1894	(62)
1E6.	Hannah Converse	(1834)	(1904)	(70)
1E7.	William Wallace Converse	(1838)	(1884-1900)	(~50s)
1E8.	Helen Marion Convers	24 Mar 1842	31 Dec 1916	(74)
1E9.	Philena Marie Converse	(1845)	Aug 1849	(5)

The Converses started their family in Waterford Township.^{[Cen 1830]}

The Converse family began selling off their property in Erie County, Pennsylvania, in 1845 and resettled in Naperville, DuPage County, Illinois, presumably that same year. George and Maria sold property in Waterford Township to Mary E. Skelton on June 16, 1845, and three separate transactions to Hiram L. Vader on May 12, 1846.^{[Deed 1845-1846]}

The Converses remained in Naperville through 1850, when Maria was noted living with daughter Nancy (Converse) Hunt's family.^{[Cen 1850]} George's whereabouts that year are not known.

George and Maria acquired land in Waterford Township from the estate of Hiram L. Vader on November 13, 1851, and that same day deeded it to Performance Specific, presumably a company.^{[Deed 1851]}

George scouted out a new plot in Greene Township, Iowa County, Iowa, around 1853 and sent for his family a year later.^{[Cen 1856]} Two years later he deeded part of his lot to I(saac) B. Lillibridge (Section 19, Lot 5), in the hills north of the Iowa River, northeast of Marengo, the Iowa County seat.^{[Deed 1855]}

• Township 81 North, Range 10 West, Section 19, Lot 5; to I(saac) B. Lillibridge^{[Deed 1855]}

A few years later the Converses moved to north-central Iowa, just south of the Minnesota border to Bristol Township, Worth County,^{[Cen 1860]} where daughter Helen married in 1859.

George Converse, presumably this George, deeded five remaining plots in Greene Township to his apparent nephew "H. B. Converse" on April 10, 1860:^{[Deed 1860A]}

• Township 79 North, Range 9 West, Section 35, SE¼ of NW¼, mill site
• Township 79 North, Range 9 West, Section 25, W½ of SE¼
• Township 79 North, Range 9 West, Section 2, (S)W¼ of NW¼
• Township 79 North, Range 9 West, Section 2, E½ of NW¼ of NW¼
• Township 79 North, Range 9 West, Section 3, E½ of SE¼

Two weeks later, "G. & M. Converse" deeded the same plots over to sister-in-law Elizabeth Converse.^{[Deed 1860B]}

Maria (Lyman) Converse died during the 1860s in Bristol Township. She was in her 60s.

George continued to farm in Bristol Township with his unwed son William through 1870.^{[Cen 1870]}

George Converse died in 1874 in Bristol Township, at about the age of 74.

Son William lived on at the Bristol Township farm and married Sarah E. Hooper, an Iowa native born to a father from Prince Edward Island, Canada, in the mid-1870s.

Jesse CONVERSE (~1801->1830)

1F. Jesse Converse was born about 1801 in Vermont. He moved to Rockdale, Crawford County, Pennsylvania by the 1830 census with his brothers William and Erastus.

Jesse purchased a tract of 30 acres in Donation Land tract 1522 in Rockdale Township from Ebenezer Felton on May 14, 1831. He subsquently sold the property for "an exoneration tax" whereupon it was purchased by George Charman, prior to 1838.^{[Deed 1838]} His brother William lived in nearby tract 1526, presumably to the northwest, and brother Erastus in the adjacent tract to the south.

Erastus CONVERSE (Sr.)² (~1804-~1847)

1G. Erastus Converse (Sr.)² was born in Vermont, possibly across Lake Champlain from Plattsburgh, New York around 1804. He moved to Pennsylvania, perhaps as a youth in the 1810s, and married Elizabeth Van Wormer³, a native of Ohio. They settled for a time in Pennsylvania before moving on to Iowa in 1842. Erastus and Elizabeth had five sons and a daughter who died in infancy:

1G1.	John Converse3	14 Oct 1830	16 Mar 1909	(78)
1G2.	William ConverseΔ	20 Oct 1832	13 May 1916	(83)
1G3.	Henry B. Converse	(1835-1836)	25 Jul 1862	(27)
1G4.	George W. Converse	(1842-1843)	29 Jul 1864	(22)
1G5.	Erastus Taylor Convers	(1845)	(> 1930)	(> 84)
1G6.	Daughter	(1837-1847)	Infancy	--

Erastus Converse (Sr.) was born in Vermont, probably across Lake Champlain from Plattsburgh, New York around 1804. He moved to Pennsylvania, along with his elder brothers William and Jesse perhaps in the 1810s. There he married Elizabeth Van Wormer, an Ohio native and in 1829 their first son, John, was born in Pennsylvania. Their second son, William, was also born in Pennsylvania, in Rockdale, Crawford County, as likely was their third son, Henry.

After 1834 the family acquired a tract in Rockdale Township from James McKray, who had received the land by grant from the State of Pennsylvania in 1834. They settled in that area until at least May 27, 1839, when Erastus and Elizabeth sold the tract, 105 acres and 40 perches (¼ acre), to Daniel Burgess for $400. The tract was bounded on the north by donation lot 1522, in which his brother Jesse lived from 1831 until sometime before 1838; on the east by donation lot 1548; and on the south by Abraham Warner (1796-1870).^{[Deed 1839]} A month earlier Erastus' elder brother William sold his Rockdale Township tract of 100 acres in donation lot 1526, which is believe to have been to the northwest of Jesse's lot in tract 1522. Erastus, William, and James McKray all moved west to Greene Township, Iowa County, Iowa Territory.

In 1842 the Converse family became one of the first families to move into Iowa County settling along Old Man's Creek, which runs through the northern sections of Greene Township (Township 78 North, Range 9 West), in the southeastern corner of Iowa County and about 20 miles southwest of Iowa City, which was then the territorial capital. Erastus reportedly was the first to settle in Section 2^[Birdsall] or Section 3 of Greene Township, along Old Man Creek, just east of Holbrook.

Erastus built a simple log house on his remote claim, a good 100 miles from the nearest trading post of Burlington in the southeast corner of Iowa. Wild game was plentiful but the family had to go without many common provisions and substituted wheat flour, sugar, and tea with hand-ground buckwheat flour, honey, and red root. The Converse claim laid only three miles from an Indian reservation where they maintained good relations with the neighboring Sac and Fox Indians and their chief Keokuk.

About 1847 or 1848 , Erastus went on a 70-mile horse ride, perhaps to Davenport on the Illinois border, to fetch a doctor for a sick son. Soon after his return he died from exhaustion at the age of 43.

The Converse family remained in Greene Township for about 28 years. In the 1850 census they were enumerated with William Convers, likely Erastus' elder brother, and Jane Loveland, perhaps Erastus' mother or mother-in-law. Soon after, eldest son John followed the California Gold Rush to Mariposa County.

In 1871, son William moved across state to Valley Township in Pottawattamie County and Elizabeth followed.

Elizabeth (Van Wormer) Converse³ died on October 30, 1899, in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, at the age of 87.

Maria CONVERSE^Δ (~1806->1880)

1H. Maria Converse^Δ was born about 1806 in Vermont. She married Peter Van Camp (Sr.), a native of Ontario, Canada, with Dutch roots in New York. They had as many as ten children:

1HA.	James Van Camp	(1825)	(> 1910)	(> 85)
1HB.	Mary Van Camp	(1827-1828)	(1850-1851)	(22-23)
1HC.	Peter Van Camp (Jr.)	4 Mar 1830	2 Nov 1915	(85)
1HD.	Jane Van Camp	8 Sep 1833	1 Nov 1913	(80)
1HE.	Nancy Van Camp	(1833-1834)	(> 1850)	(> 16)
1HF.	William H. Van CampΔ	12 Jul 1837	12 Jan 1923	(85)
1HG.	Caroline Van Camp	(1838-1839)	(> 1850)	(> 11)
1HH.	George Edward Van Camp	Jul (1842)	(> 1910)	(48)
1HI.	Mary Van Camp	(1843)	(< 1850)	(< 7)
1HJ.	Clara Van Camp	(1845)	(< 1850)	(< 5)

Maria and Peter started their family in Rockdale Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, where they were enumerated with two sons and one daughter, all under the age of five.^{[Cen 1830]} Maria's elder brothers Jesse, Erastus, and William Converse were enumerated on the previous page in the same township.

Son Wiiliam was reportedly born in Venango County, Pennsylvania, in 1837, but by 1840 the family had resettled to the west in Delaware Township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania.^{[Cen 1840]}

The Van Camps continued west to Independence Township, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, south of Cleveland, by 1850, where Peter and son Peter worked as laborers.^{[Cen 1850]} Eldest son James lived not far away with his in-laws, the Hedglens, and soon after the census, eldest daughter Mary married her brother's brother-in-law, Henry Hedglens. Sadly, Mary died soon after she married at the young age of 22 or 23.

Peter Van Camp died between 1850 and 1870.^{[Cen 1850,1870]}

After Peter's death, Maria lived with her widowed daughter Jane and her two younger sons in Independence Township.^{[Cen 1870]} She later lived with son William and his family in Riga Township, Lenawee County, Michigan, by 1880.^{[Cen 1880]}