Edward F. Johnson, Woburn Records of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, from 1640 to 1873

Printed transcript of the Woburn, Massachusetts, town register, read in the archive.org full text for the Converse line of Ella (Chapin) Browne (October 2026). The preface explains that the register for 1641-1768 is Major James Converse’s own copy: “When Major James Converse was chosen town clerk, in 1688, he copied these records into a book of his own,” and in 1705 “the town thereupon offered to purchase Major Converse’s transcript for twelve shillings … and his book was thereafter used as the clerk’s register.”

Births (Part I):

• Converse (pp. 57-58): “James, s. of James, Nov. 16, 1645”; “Josiah, s. of James, Jr., Sept. 12, 1684”; “Hannah, d. of Josiah and Hannah, Oct. 25, 1707”; “Josiah, s. of Josiah and Hannah, March 2, 1710”; then Patience 1712, Ruth 1714, Dorothy 1717, Jesse 1720, Jude 1723 and James 1725, all “of Josiah and Hannah.”
• Carter (p. 43): “Hannah, d. of John, Jan. 19, 1651.”
• Sawyer (p. 232): “Abigail, d. of Joshua, May 17, 1679”; “Hannah, d. of Joshua and Sarah, Nov. 25, 1689.”

Deaths (Part II):

• Converse (pp. 39-40): “Sarah, wife of Edward, Jan. 14, 1662”; “Deacon Edward, s. of [blank], Aug 10, 1663”; “Ann, wife of Lieut. James, Sen., Aug. 10, 1691; 69 y.”; “Elizabeth, d. of James and Hannah, July 27, 1694; 19 y.”; “Major James, s. of [blank], July 8, 1706; 61 y.”; “Patience, d. of Major James and Hannah, July 28, 1707; 21 y.”; “John, s. of [blank], Jan. 6, 1708”; “Lieut. James, s. of [blank], May 10, 1715; 95 y.”; “Mr. Josiah, s. of [blank], June 17, 1748” (no parents given).
• Carter (p. 30): “Elizabeth, wife of Capt. John, May 7, 1691; 78 y.”; “Capt. John, s. of [blank], Sept. 14, 1692; 76 y.”
• Sawyer (p. 172): “Joshua, Sen., … July 14, 1738.”

Marriages (Part III, pp. 48, 59-60): “James Converse and Ann Long, Oct. 24, 1643”; “James Converse, Esq. (Jr.), and Hannah Carter, Jan. 1, 1668”; “Robert Converse and Mary Sawyer, Dec. 19, 1698”; “John Converse and Abigail Sawyer, May (?) 22, 1699”; “Josiah Converse and Hannah Sawyer, both of Woburn, Dec. 30, 1706.”

A. C. Vinton’s Converse genealogy (appendix to Part III, pp. 329-331; compiled, not a record): makes Capt. Josiah’s son Josiah (b. 2 Mar 1710) the man who “d. June 17, 1748,” and makes Eleanor Richardson’s husband a different Josiah, the youngest son of John Converse and Abigail Sawyer: “Josiah Convers, who lived in Leicester, m. first, Hannah [blank], and had by her: Sarah, b. Nov., 1729. He m., second, Eleanor Richardson, in 1732, and by her had: Mary, b. July 17, 1733. Eleanor, b. March 21, 1735.” The Leicester Josiah with a wife Hannah and a daughter Sarah born in 1729 was probably Capt. Josiah himself, who moved there about 1727; see Josiah Converse (1710).