"C" is for Converse, Dexter Edgar

"C" is for Converse, Dexter Edgar. Industrialist. A native of Vermont, Converse worked in textile mills in New York before moving to Spartanburg District in 1855. He was manager of the Bivingsville Cotton Factory and within a year was a member of the firm. After the Civil War, the mill made a quick recovery and in 1868 Converse and his brother-in-law purchased the mill. Two years later they changed the name of the company to D.E. Converse and Company. In 1880 Converse bought Hurricane Shoals on the Pacolet River and organized the Clifton Manufacturing Company. The Clifton complex had the capacity to produce 150,000 yards of cloth each day. In addition to establishing one of the most important industrial enterprises in Spartanburg County, Dexter Edgar Converse contributed to the local college that bears his name.