Jesse Converse papers, circa 1860s-1939

The collection includes a personal scrapbook and ledger, correspondence and other materials related to Converse’s freemasonry activities, news clippings, an 1891 certificate of membership in the Laramie Fire Department, a journal describing a trip to Alaska in 1925, a glass negative camera, and miscellaneous other materials. The scrapbooks contain a variety of information on events and people of interest to the Converse family, including obituaries of Thomas J. Canada, janitor at the Converse Building. Also, many of the other documents and photographs appear to have been formerly assembled as a scrapbook, which has since been taken apart and cut into separate pieces.

The photographs include portraits of the Converse, Reynolds and Chaplin families, portraits of friends, including Thomas J. Canada in Masonic uniform, views of the Converse Jewelry Store, the Converse Building, and street scenes in Laramie, and photographs taken during hunting and fishing trips and during vacations in Yellowstone, Colorado, and Alaska.

The collection also contains news clippings, photographs, and correspondence relating to the settlement and distribution of Edward Ivinson’s estate. Ivinson was a pioneer banker and businessman in Laramie and an associate of Converse, who served as an executor of Ivinson’s estate.