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
Winchendon is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,364 at the 2020 census. The town includes the villages of Waterville and Winchendon Springs (also known as Spring Village). A census-designated place, ...
, who served in the
Massachusetts House of Representatives after being elected to the
128th Massachusetts General Court in 1906.
He represented the second district of
Worcester County, Massachusetts.
Biography
Converse was born in
Rindge, New Hampshire. He was the son of Morton E. Converse (1837–1917) and Harriet Maria Atherton (1841–1886).
His father came to
Winchendon, Massachusetts
Winchendon is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,364 at the 2020 census. The town includes the villages of Waterville and Winchendon Springs (also known as Spring Village). A census-designated place, ...
in 1878 and established a toy and woodenware business. 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.
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. 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.
Converse entered politics at a state level, serving only one term.
In 1909 he accompanied
Charles Jasper Glidden
Charles Jasper Glidden (August 29, 1857 – September 11, 1927) was an American telephone pioneer, financier and supporter of the automobile in the United States. Charles Glidden, with his wife Lucy, were the first (in 1902) to circle the wo ...
in a hot air balloon flight to demonstrate the practicability and accuracy of dropping explosives from the height of one mile, using eggs.
He married Delia Minton on March 30, 1910. He married his second wife, Harriet Dorothy Taylor in 1932.
External links
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Ancestry
His maternal grandfather was Thomas Atherton (1799-1869), a manufacturer of machinery who migrated to
Lowell, Massachusetts in 1827 from
Preston
Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to:
Places
England
*Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement
**The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement
**County Boro ...
, 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
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1907 Massachusetts legislature
The 128th Massachusetts General Court, consisting of the Massachusetts Senate and the Massachusetts House of Representatives, met in 1907 during the governorship of Curtis Guild Jr. William D. Chapple served as president of the Senate and Joh ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Converse, Atherton D.
1877 births
1956 deaths
People from Rindge, New Hampshire
People from Winchendon, Massachusetts
Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
American inventors
American toy industry businesspeople
Toy inventors
Harvard College alumni