Elisha Slade Converse (continued) 

In 1874, Alexander Graham Bell conceived of the idea for the telephone and patented his invention for the acoustic telegraph in March of 1876. Alexander Bell’s early benefactor (and future father-in-law) Gardiner Greene Hubbard was an old friend of shoe manufacturer Elisha Converse. Hubbard was involved in the founding of Malden Bank and the Edgeworth (real estate) Company. On January 31, 1877, Bell demonstrated the box telephone using a private wire from the Boston offices of the Boston Rubber Shoe Company to Elisha Converse’s home on Main Street in Malden, where Bell’s assistant Thomas Watson was stationed. Elisha was an early investor when the Bell Telephone Company was established on July 9, 1877. Bell also co-founded the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 1885, retaining one-third of the company shares, quickly making him a wealthy man. By 1886, more than 150,000 people in the U.S. owned telephones.

Mr. Converse was a successful business man, active in thought, untiring in work and conservative in method. He was, on the 4th of September, 1843, married to Mary Diana Edmands, daughter of Captain Hosea and Ursula Edmands, of Thompson, CT. Their children were: Frank Eugene, Mary Ida (wife of Costello C. Converse), Harry Elisha and Frances Eugenia.

In all of Mr. Converse’s life history, he has had a true helpmate in his wife. Her kind, sympathizing nature, her bountiful hospitality, her good judgment and her true womanly qualities have been to him of inestimable value. The names of Mr. and’ Mrs. Converse are inseparable in the history of Malden, and the mother’s love and woman’s generosity, no less than the father’s love and his public spirit, have made for themselves a name which will last long after they have passed to their reward.

The church connections of Mr. Converse are with the First Baptist society of Malden. His private benefactions are as judiciously placed as his public bequests are wisely bestowed.

In 1850, he moved to Malden, where he lived until his death in 1904. There, in 1851, he became one of the founders and directors of Malden Bank, which was reorganized as the First National Bank of Malden in 1864, and he served as its president for over 30 years, beginning in 1856.

On December 15, 1863, his seventeen year old son Frank was working alone as a clerk at the bank, and was murdered (the first bank robbery murder in the United States). The Converse Memorial Building, in which the Malden Public Library is located, was designed by Henry H. Richardson. It was built by Converse and his wife as a memorial of their eldest son, Frank. Converse donated money for its construction, and artwork for its decoration. This building, when completed, was given to the trustees of the Malden Public Library, "for the benefit of the inhabitants of the city of Malden." In October 1885, Malden Public Library was opened in the Converse Memorial Building.

Converse became the president, director, and trustee of other companies and institutions including the Boston Belting Company, Rubber Manufacturers' Mutual Insurance Company, Revere Rubber Company, Boston Safe Deposit & Trust Company, Exchange National Bank of Boston, Five Cent Savings Bank and Wellesley College.

In 1853, Converse opened the Boston Rubber Shoe Company in Malden that employed 3,500 people and became one of the largest rubber manufacturers in the USA. In 1875, his factory was severely damaged by fire, but he managed to rebuild it within a few months. The business was so prosperous that it expanded to Melrose and later opened branches around the country and even in England. Converse was company treasurer and general manager for 40 years, and president from 1893.

He served the commonwealth for two years (1878–79) in the House of Representatives and for two years (1880–81) in the State Senate. In 1881, after Malden had been incorporated as a city, he was, by universal acclaim, elected as its first mayor.

Among Converse's philanthropic deeds were the establishment and construction of Malden Hospital, Malden City Hall, Malden Public Library, Malden YMCA, Malden Historical Society, and the Malden Auditorium - one of the finest theaters around Boston at that period.

Converse provided basic education and proper health care for his employees. He also founded the Malden Home for Aged Persons and Day Nursery. Converse tried to improve the health care system in Malden. He provided monetary and land donations for the construction of Malden Hospital. In 1892, two years after its incorporation, Malden Hospital admitted its first patients. For many years Converse served as its president. He and his family donated money and land for the Maternity Hospital and the School of Nursing.

Converse participated in the creation of the Malden city water supply system (Spot Pond Water) and Reservoir and donated 107.5 acres of land for the establishment of Pine Banks Park.