Governor Julius Converse

JULIUS CONVERSE was born in Stafford, Connecticut. He was educated in the public schools and at Randolph Academy in Randolph, Vermont, after which he studied law and settled first in Bethel and then in Woodstock, Vermont, where he practiced his profession. He served in both the state House of Representatives and the state Senate and as State’s Attorney for Windsor County before becoming Lieutenant Governor from 1850 to 1852. He had been retired from public life for twenty years when he was nominated by the Republican Party to run for governor. During his gubernatorial administration, legislation was approved to regulate the formation and operation of railroads. Converse also sought to establish a public library in each town in Vermont, and he reorganized the state militia. After one term, he retired once again to private life in Woodstock. He died in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire and was buried in Woodstock.