Converse, Sherman, 1790-1873

Yale graduate (1813); New York City and New Haven, Conn., printer, publisher and bookseller; and land company promoter associated briefly with the Peters Colony in Texas.

In 1842, Sherman Converse, Charles Fenton Mercer, Daniel Carroll, and others obtained the interests of the eleven English investors in the Peters Colony, an empresario venture in north central Texas in contract with the Republic of Texas. Acting alone, Converse then secured the sole interest of the colony's Louisville, Ky., backers, negotiated a new, more favorable contract (Jan. 20, 1843) with the Republic, and sought to form a new company backed by additional English investors. Apparently unsuccessful in London, Converse was repudiated by the Louisville investors, who reorganized in 1844 as the Texas Emigration and Land Company and reassumed control of the venture.

From the description of Letter : London, [Eng.], to Henry Stephenson, 1843 July 8. (Newberry Library). WorldCat record id: 36653608