January i, 1904.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



127 



DEATH OF MRS. E. S. CONVERSE. 



THE news will be read with very wide regret of the bereave- 

 ment of one of the most notable men in the trade— the 

 Hon. Elisha S. Converse, founder of the Boston Rubber Shoe 

 Co. — in the death of his wife, at their home in Maiden, on De- 

 cember 16, in the sixty-first year of their married life. 



Elisha Converse was not yet twenty when, in partnership 

 with a Mr. Whipple, in the town of Thompson, Connecticut, he 

 became actively interested in business pursuits on his own ac- 

 count. This business so prospered that the firm soon estab- 

 lished a branch store in the adjacent town of Webster, Massa- 

 chusetts. On the most direct road between the two stores, as 

 Mr. Converse traveled daily to and fro, he passed, and often 

 visited, the home of Captain Hosea Edmands, a descendant of 

 settlers at Lynn as early as 1630, and a man of position in the 

 community where he then resided. His activity in the state 

 militia had rewarded him with a title by which he became 

 widely known, and he was likewise active in the Baptist society 

 at Webster. 



There was a wedding at the home of 

 this same Captain Edmands on Sep- 

 tember 4, 1843, for the young merchant 

 had won the heart of the militia cap- 

 tain's fair daughter — his oldest child 

 — Mary Diana, then in her nineteenth 

 year. The ceremony was pronounced 

 by the Rev. L. G. Leonard, pastor of 

 the Baptist church. Mr. Converse and 

 his bride forthwith began housekeeping 

 in Thompson Center. About a year 

 later he closed out his business interests 

 there and went to Boston, in which 

 city and its vicinity he has since led an 

 active business career. In 1847 Mr. and 

 Mrs. Converse were led by business 

 considerations to make their home at 

 Stoneham, Massachusetts; in the same 

 year both united with the Baptist 

 church at Maiden, and in 1S50 they be- 

 gan to make their home in the latter 

 city. 



It is not necessary here to recall the 

 many ways in which the Converse fam- 

 ily have contributed to the social life of 

 Maiden and to the general welfare of the community. As a lead- 

 ing business man, and as mayor and assemblyman, Mr. Converse 

 was more or less a public character, but during more than a half 

 century, though personally inclined to the quiet of home life, 

 Mrs. Converse ever bore her share of social duties with becom- 

 ing dignity and grace. After a time, in addition to their at- 

 tractive home at Maiden, the Converses acquired a home in 

 Boston, where they usually spent a portion of each year, their 

 son and two daughters being given an opportunity to enjoy to 

 the utmost their taste for society. In 1893 Mr. and Mrs. Con- 

 verse celebrated their golden wedding at Maiden, on which 

 occasion over 1000 invitations were issued, and the attendance 

 was very large. The celebration was attended by Mr. Con- 

 verse's sister, Mrs. Eineline Williams, who had been bridesmaid 

 at the wedding fifty years before, and by Dr. Stephen S. Griggs 

 (then of Brooklyn, New York), who had been best man. 



The eldest of the children of Mr. and Mrs, Converse— Frank 

 Eugene — died in early life, and it was as a memorial to him 

 that the parents founded the first of their extensive benefac- 

 tions to Maiden — the Memorial Public Library. The three re- 



maining children survive : Colonel Harry Elisha Converse, Mrs. 

 Costello C. Converse, and Mrs. Lester Leland. 



The funeral, at the Converse residence, on December 18, was 

 attended by hundreds of residents of Maiden and by many 

 others from a distance. The mayor and the entire city govern- 

 ment were present, and delegations from numerous social and 

 charitable organizations of which Mrs. Converse was a mem- 

 ber. Among the handsome floral tributes were set pieces from 

 nearly thirty organizations. The banks and stores were closed, 

 and business suspended throughout the city. The Rev. C. H. 

 Moss, pastor of the First Baptist church, officiated, assisted by 

 the Rev. Dr. W. H. P. Faunce, president of Brown University, 

 and the Rev. H. O. Hiscox, of Albany, New York. The inter- 

 ment was in the family lot in Woodlawn cemetery. 



RIO MICHOL RUBBER PLANTATION CO. 



MRS. MARY .DIANA CONVERSE. 

 [Honorary President Ladies' Aid Association. 



THE interest controlling this plantation is practically identi- 

 cal with that concerned in the Chiapas Rubber Plantation 

 and Investment Co., a newer but larger 

 enterprise, owning an adjacent planta- 

 tion and sharing the same administra- 

 tive offices. A recent report by Presi- 

 dent C. A. Westenberg says: "It has 

 been a year of marked progress. Hon- 

 est work has been done in cleaning out 

 the rubber about the [rubber] trees. 

 The place has never been in such fine 

 condition. We have over 1000 acres 

 now under cultivation, over 800 acres 

 fully planted to rubber, and when I left 

 [in November] they were transplanting 

 on other lands from ourgood nurseries. 

 Ten thousand of our trees are now four 

 years old, and in two years can be tap- 

 ped with perfect safety."— =The Rio 

 Michol Rubber Co. was organized about 

 five years ago, being one of the pio- 

 neers in the business in Mexico. It was 

 reorganized under the above name, and 

 incorporated under the laws of Arizona 

 in July, 1903, the capital being increased 

 from $100,000 to $600,000. Mr. Wes- 

 tenberg is president ; L. S. Sherman, 

 vice president ; E. A. Girvin, secretary ; 

 and W. F. B. Wakefield, treasurer. President Westenberg 

 writes to The India Rubber World : " We have nearly 

 1000 acres [of rubber] under cultivation, and I do not believe 



that there is a finer plantation in Mexico 



It has been the policy of the company, from its inception, to 

 move on conservative lines. We have done no advertising. 

 The directors have shown the proposition to their friends, and 

 in this way we have secured sufficient money to keep us going. 

 I presume that no corporation was ever operated more eco- 

 nomically. Our officers are men who receive salaries from other 

 business, and are all giving their services to the Michol gra- 

 tuitously. The officers and directors are all large stockholders 

 and therefore feel that they can afford to give their time to the 

 management of the affairs of the company without compensa- 

 tion." Santiago Robinson is the plantation manager. 



All reports are agreed as to the prominence given to motor 

 cycles at the late cycle shows in England and to the demand 

 for tires for such vehicles. 



