James Cogswell Converse (1807-1891)
Merchant, Manufacturer & Shipowner, of Boston, Massachusetts
He was born in Weathersfield, Vermont, and began his career as a Dry Goods Merchant in Boston. He worked for several firms before becoming a senior partner in Converse, Blanchard & Co, Wholesale Dry Goods Merchants. By then, he was also behind the creation of several steamship lines across the East Coast and in the South including the Baltimore & Norfolk Steamship Company, the Boston & New Orleans Steamship Company, and the American Steamship Company. He was also a Director and President of the Boston Board of Trade, a Director of the Troy & Greenfield Railroad, President of the National Tube Works, and the first Chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Railroad Commissioners. He married Sarah, daughter of Jeremiah Peabody. They had five children and lived between Boston and their summer home at Greenfield, Mass.
