Abraham Parsons

Abraham “"Abe"” Parsons BIRTH 17 Aug 1809 Randolph County, West Virginia, USA DEATH 19 Aug 1884 (aged 75) Gonzales, Monterey County, California, USA BURIAL Gonzales Cemetery Gonzales, Monterey County, California

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/173377667/abraham-parsons

The second settler in Parsons was Abraham Parsons (1809-1884) , a son of James and Nancy (Rust) Parsons. He married Emily, a daughter of Job Parsons Sr., on February 12 1834, when she was 16 years old, and they became the parents of eleven children. I n April 1844, he settled on a 125-acre farm east Parsons between Shavers Fork and Black Fork Rivers. His daughter, Virginia (P arsons) MacCabe, says the farm was given to him by his father but a record in Randolph County Clerk's office indicates that he purchased it from his father-in-law for $1,500.00. He erected a log home and a combined grist-sawmill along what is now Billings Avenue. The mill was water-powered by a natural sluice that required but little slave labor to put in an operating condition. The mill was destroyed by a flood in 1857 and a new mill was built in 1859. It passed through the vicissitudes of the Civil War, was modernized and relocated at the corner of Billings Avenue and Railroad Street, and remained in operation, under new owners, until about 1920. Two of its old burhs are mounted as ornaments along Railroad Street at the present time. The building of these old log structures of over a century ago w as a community project, consummated by a social gathering called a "log-rolling." When Abraham Parsons built his home in 1844 , James Rust Parsons, Peter Fansler, Peter Ward, and Job Parsons Jr., hewed and notched the logs. John Kalar laid the foundation and built the chimney. Neighbors came from miles around, o n the appointed date, rolled the logs up on skids and fitted their mortises and tenons together. William Mason accomplished the carpenter work, making the doors and windows. By evening the clapboard roof was on and the house finished. It was then dedicated with an all-night shindig of dining, dancing, and apple jack, with old black mammy slaves doing the cooking and serving . In 1855 Washington Corrick built an addition of two rooms which were used as a kitchen and an upstairs bedroom. In 1859 Ernest Vanscoy ceiled the inside and weather boarded and painted the outside. The house stood until 1936 when it fell to ruin after a long unused period. Abraham Parsons was a rabid Confederate and voted for secession in 1861. He and his family were continually harassed during and after the Civil War, and his health was impaired by imprisonment, so he sold his property to Abraham Currence, of Randolph County, in 1872, and with eighteen members and in-laws of his family, moved to Gonzales, California, in November 1872. There he died on August 19, 1884. His son Job Ward Parsons visited California to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his parents. Abraham and Emily are buried in Gonzales Monterey County, California

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Mar 22 2016, 3:13:26 UTC

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Abraham “"Abe"” Parsons BIRTH 17 Aug 1809 Randolph County, West Virginia, USA DEATH 19 Aug 1884 (aged 75) Gonzales, Monterey County, California, USA BURIAL Gonzales Cemetery Gonzales, Monterey County, California,

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/173377667/abraham-parsons

Parents Photo James Parsons 1772–1859

Photo Nancy Rust Parsons 1776–1856

GEDCOM Source

@R-947282960@ 1880 United States Federal Census Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Ancestry.com Operations Inc 1,6742::0

GEDCOM Source

Year: 1880; Census Place: Gonzales, Monterey, California; Roll: 69; Family History Film: 1254069; Page: 208A; Enumeration District: 055; Image: 0417 1,6742::14274853

GEDCOM Source

@R-947282960@ 1880 United States Federal Census Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Ancestry.com Operations Inc 1,6742::0

GEDCOM Source

Year: 1880; Census Place: Gonzales, Monterey, California; Roll: 69; Family History Film: 1254069; Page: 208A; Enumeration District: 055; Image: 0417 1,6742::14274853

GEDCOM Source

@R-947282960@ 1880 United States Federal Census Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Ancestry.com Operations Inc 1,6742::0

GEDCOM Source

Year: 1880; Census Place: Gonzales, Monterey, California; Roll: 69; Family History Film: 1254069; Page: 208A; Enumeration District: 055; Image: 0417 1,6742::14274853

GEDCOM Source

@R-947282960@ Ancestry Family Trees Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.

GEDCOM Source

Ancestry Family Tree http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=71074076&pid=92

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/173377667/abraham-parsons

Children Photo Washington Parsons 1834–1912

Photo Job Ward Parsons 1838–1919

Photo Mahala Parsons 1844–1895

Photo James Parsons 1846–1921

Photo Jacob S Parsons 1847–1923

Photo Virginia Parsons MacCabe 1849–1935

Photo Phebe Ann Parsons Boekenoogen 1857–1948