Deacon Edward Convers was an early Puritan

Puritan

The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...

 settler in the Massachusetts Bay Colony

Massachusetts Bay Colony

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...

, and was one of the founders of Woburn, MA

Woburn, Massachusetts

Woburn is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. The population was 38,120 at the 2010 census. Woburn is located north of Boston, Massachusetts, and just south of the intersection of I-93 and I-95.- History :...

.

He built the first house and first mill in Woburn. Convers was very active in town affairs, serving as one of its first selectmen. He served on "every committee and had a part in every movement that had this new settlement in view." He also helped establish Charlestown

Charlestown, Massachusetts

Charlestown is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and is located on a peninsula north of downtown Boston. Charlestown was originally a separate town and the first capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; it became a city in 1847 and was annexed by Boston on January 5, 1874...

. He was one of the colony's wealthy landowners, and was a farmer, miller and surveyor.

Convers was born February 23, 1587, in Navestock, England

Navestock

Navestock is a civil parish in the Borough of Brentwood in south Essex, in the East of England region of the United Kingdom. It is located approximately North West of the town of Brentwood and the M25 motorway cuts through the western edge of the parish. It covers an area of in excess of 1800...

. After his first wife died, he married Sarah Smith in 1617. He and his family arrived in Salem, Massachusetts

Salem, Massachusetts

Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...

, with the Winthrop Fleet

Winthrop Fleet

The Winthrop Fleet was a group of eleven sailing ships under the leadership of John Winthrop that carried approximately 700 Puritans plus livestock and provisions from England to New England over the summer of 1630.-Motivation:...

 on June 12, 1630, in the early stages of the Great Migration

Great Migration (Puritan)

The Puritan migration to New England was marked in its effects in the two decades from 1620 to 1640, after which it declined sharply for a while. The term Great Migration usually refers to the migration in this period of English settlers, primarily Puritans to Massachusetts and the warm islands of...

.

He also founded the First Church of Charlestown, and established the first ferry from Charlestown to Boston. The ferry operated where the Charles River Bridge is now located, and was referred to as the "Great Ferry" (to distinguish it from a smaller ferry operating between Charlestown and Winnisimmet). Convers died on August 10, 1663, in Woburn, Massachusetts.

External links

• http://dickconverse.tripod.com/Story--ConverseFamily.htm