Person:Edward Converse (2)

First Amercan ancestor of the Stafford branch of the Converse family. Came to America with Winthrop in 1630, and with him settled in Charlestown, near Boston.

1. ↑ Johnson, Edward Francis. Notes on the Family of Deacon Edward Convers. Woburn, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. Woburn Records of Births, Deaths, and Marriages
   3:325.

   Dea. Edward Convers, born "as is supposed" 30 Jan 1590, d. 10 Aug 1663, "may have" m. England Jane Clarke, m. England "as early as 1617" Sarah ---, m. 9 Sep 1662 Joanna (Corbin) Sprague.

2. ↑ The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society)
   146:130.

   Traditionally (according to William G. Hill) b. 30 Jan 1590 in Wakerly, Northamptonshire, England, but that man prob. m. Jane Clarke, so is unlikely. Other more likely candidates would be two cousins: Edward, s/o Allen, bp. 23 Mar 1588/89 at Navestock, Essex (near South Weald where children baptized) , or Edward, s/o Anthony, bp. Feb 1690 Stanford Rivers, Essex, England.

3. ↑ Johnson, Edward F. Woburn Records of Births, Deaths, and Marriages . (Woburn, Massachusetts: Andrews, Cutler & Co., 1890-1919)
   2:39.

   CONVERSE, Deacon Edward, s. of ---, [died] Aug. 10, 1663.

4. ↑ Film 386061: Files 4907-4997, in Massachusetts. Probate Court (Middlesex County). Probate records, 1648-1924. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1964-1967)
   File 4920 Edward Convers 1663.

   Will of "Edward Convers of wooburn", dated "the [blank] day of August 1659:", proved "7th.8'm.63" [7 Oct 1663] names wife "Sara Convers", son Josiah Convers, son "Sam[m]e'l[?] Convers his sonne Edward Convers", "sonn James his children", "sonns Josiah and Samuell", "sonn James Convers", [children of my] daughter Mary Thompson, daughter Mary Sheldon[?], "kinsman Alin Convers", "kinswoman Sara Smith", kinsman John [Parker]. [parts obscured by blots, difficult handwriting, additions from GMB, p. 461] Samuel executor with Alin Convers and John Parker overseers.

5. ↑ Navestock parish records, in Converse, Charles Allen. Some of the Ancestors and Descendants of Samuel Converse, Jr. of Thompson parish, Killingly, Conn: Major James Convers of Woburn, Mass.; Hon. Herman Allen, M.C. of Milton and Burlington, Vermont; Captain Jonathan Bixby, Sr., of Killingly, Conn. (Boston, Massachusetts: Eben Putnam, 1905)
   2:890.

   From the parish register of Navestock:
   
   Edwardus Convers son of Allen, bapt. 23 March 1588.

The Winthrop Fleet (1630)

The Winthrop Fleet brought over 700 colonists to establish a new colony at Massachusetts Bay. The fleet consisted of eleven ships: the Arbella flagship with Capt Peter Milburne, the Ambrose, the Charles, the Mayflower, the Jewel, the Hopewell, The Success, the Trial, the Whale, the Talbot and the William and Francis.   Sailed: April and May 1630 from Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, England   Arrived: June and July 1630 at Salem, Massachusetts   Previous Settlers: The Higginson Fleet (1629)   Passengers: Winthrop wrote to his wife just before they set sail that there were seven hundred passengers. Six months after their arrival, Thomas Dudley wrote to Bridget Fiennes, Countess of Lincoln and mother of Lady Arbella and Charles Fiennes, that over two hundred passengers had died between their landing April 30 and the following December, 1630.   Selected leaders and prominent settlers: Gov. John Winthrop - Richard Saltonstall - Isaac Johnson - Gov. Thomas Dudley - Gov. William Coddington - William Pynchon - William Vassall - John Revell - Robert Seely - Edward Convers - Gov. Simon Bradstreet - John Underhill - William Phelps   Resources: The Winthrop Society - The Winthrop Fleet (Wikipedia) - Anderson's Winthrop Fleet