Atherton D. Converse
Atherton Darling Converse | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives for the 2nd Worcester County District | |
| Assumed office 1907 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 7, 1877 Rindge, New Hampshire, United States |
| Died | July 6, 1956 (aged 79) |
| Occupation | Toy manufacturer, Politician |
Atherton Darling Converse (January 7, 1877 – July 6, 1956) was an American was a Harvard educated businessman, a toy manufacturer and politician from Winchendon, Massachusetts, who served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives after being elected to the 128th Massachusetts General Court in 1906.[1][2] He represented the second district of Worcester County, Massachusetts.[3]
Biography
[edit]Converse was born in Rindge, New Hampshire.[4] He was the son of Morton E. Converse (1837–1917) and Harriet Maria Atherton (1841–1886).[5]
His father came to Winchendon, Massachusetts in 1878 and established a toy and woodenware business.[6] Converse eventually took over the family business, and as a toy manufacturer, at its peak, he employed over 1000 people at Morton E. Converse & Son Co. He patented many toys, from spinning tops to toy planes.[7] By the time he branched into doll house furniture and accessories, it was one of the largest manufacturers of its kind by volume until the 1930s.[8] He was a director of the Safety Fund Bank of Fitchburg, Massachusetts. During the 1930s he was president of Toy Town Tavern Inc. and Treasurer to the New England Hotel Association.[9]
Converse entered politics at a state level, serving only one term.[1]
In 1909 he accompanied Charles Jasper Glidden in a hot air balloon flight to demonstrate the practicability and accuracy of dropping explosives from the height of one mile, using eggs.[10]
He married Delia Minton on March 30, 1910. He married his second wife, Harriet Dorothy Taylor in 1932.[11]
External links
[edit]- U.S. patent 701,155
- U.S. patent 1,182,977
- U.S. patent 877,830
- U.S. patent 1,209,675
- U.S. patent 1,207,504
- U.S. patent 1,182,978
- U.S. patent 1,039,699
- U.S. patent 1,182,979
- U.S. patent 1,039,699
Ancestry
[edit]His maternal grandfather was Thomas Atherton (1799-1869), a manufacturer of machinery who migrated to Lowell, Massachusetts in 1827 from Preston, England. His uncle Dr Abel T. Atherton was co-proprietor of the Lowell-based, Whitehead & Atherton Machine Company, as well as the Potter & Atherton Machine Company of Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "Annual Register of the Executive and Legislative Department of the Government of Massachusetts: Entry for State Representative Atherton D. Converse" (PDF). archives.lib.state.ma.us. State Library of Massachusetts. 1907. p. 20.
- ^ "A Souvenir of Massachusetts legislators". archive.org. Bridgman, A.M. 1907. pp. 93, 175, 176.
- ^ "A Manual of the General Court". archive.org. 1907. p. 464.
- ^ "Hardware News, Volumes 4-5". 1919.
- ^ "Atherton Darling Converse entry". atherton.one-name.net.
- ^ Wheeler, Glen C (1997). Winchendon. p. 51. ISBN 9780738554624.
- ^ "Annual Report of the Commissioner of Patents". United States Patent Office. 1919. p. 105.
- ^ Bertail McClintock, Inez; McClintock, Marshall (1961). "Toys in America". Public Affairs Press.
- ^ "ToyTown Tavern, Inc". OpenCorporates. December 14, 1955. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
- ^ "Drops eggs from Balloon". New York Times, May 9. 1909. p. 9.
- ^ "Miss H.P. Taylor a bride". The New York Times, Nov 3. 1932. p. 18.