Born about in Virginia, United States
[uncertain]
[uncertain]Daughter of [father unknown] and Charlotte (Taliferro) Carter
[sibling(s) unknown]
Wife of
Albert Richard Parsons
— married
28 Sep 1872 in Cherokee, Texas, United States
Mother of
Albert Richard Parsons Jr. and Lulu Eda Parsons
Died
at about age 89
in Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States
Profile last modified
| Created 3 Nov 2014
This page has been accessed 1,104 times.
| Lucy (Gonzalez) Parsons is a part of US Black history. Join: US Black Heritage Project Discuss: black_heritage |
Biography
Lucy (Gonzalez) Parsons is Notable.
Controversial American labor organizer, radical socialist and anarcho-communist Lucia Eldine Taliferro Parsons[1] was born a slave, probably with the surname of her slaveowner, Taliferro (as listed on her mother's marriage record),[2] but later took the the surname of her stepfather, Carter. She was born about 1853, possibly in Virginia,[3] but other records indicate Texas.[4][5][6][7]
In 1863 Lucia was brought to Texas, with her mother Charlotte and brother Tanner, by slaveowner and physician, Dr. Thomas J. Taliferro.[8] It is possible because of Lucia's lighter skin complexion that she was the daughter of her enslaver or another white man. It is equally possible because of her defiant nature that she wanted no part of his name.
After the civil war, Taliferro moved to Tennessee, leaving behind Lucia and her family. Her family resettled in Waco, Texas, as did many other freed slaves.[8] It was in this new life that her mother married Charlie Carter, and Lucia and her siblings took their stepfather's surname.[2][3] She worked as a seamstress and a cook for white families. Lucia lived with or was married to a former slave, Oliver Gathing, for a time prior to 1870. During this relationship, she had an infant which died at birth.[8]
On September 28, 1872, Lucia married Albert Richard Parsons in Cherokee, Texas, United States, under the name Ella Hall.[9] The interracial aspect of their marriage during a time of state-authorized miscegenation aroused much prejudice in their lives. It was around this time that Lucia developed a habit of providing inconsistent information regarding her name and the birth places of her parents. Lucia shortened her name to Lucy from this point and began to use different names: Lucy Ella and surname Hall.[3][10] She often insisted that her coloration was the result of Mexican (hence "Gonzales") and Native American ancestry. Her parents were listed as being born in Texas and/or Mexico in census records,[4][5][6][7] but contemporary newspaper accounts often identified her as Negro. Lucy and Albert "conspired together to offer up the fiction that she had been a charming young Spanish-Indian maiden."[8]
Lucy's habit of providing inconsistent information as to her name and the birth locations of her parents was probably to try to avoid the prejudice which inevitably resulted in her and her husband's fleeing from Texas to Chicago in 1873. In Chicago, Albert worked for the Chicago Times as a reporter, and became involved in labor politics.[11] Lucy also became involved, contributing to the newspaper, embracing anarchism, and helping to organize the laborers alongside her husband. She also participated in revolutionary activism on behalf of political prisoners, people of color, the homeless, and women. She was described by the Chicago Police Department as "more dangerous than a thousand rioters."[12]
During this time Lucy and Albert had two children: Albert Richard, Jr and Lulu Eda.[10][13]
In 1886 her husband, who had been heavily involved in campaigning for the eight-hour workday, was arrested, tried, and finally executed on November 11, 1887, by the state of Illinois, on charges in his alleged role in the Haymarket Riot and fire-bombing deaths of four police officers. After his death, Lucy made a career out of writing and speaking about the depredations of capitalism. "She garnered widespread attention around the country for her defiant rhetoric condemning capitalism and the judge and jury responsible for the execution of her husband."[14]
By the 1920 census, and for at least twenty years, she was living with George Markstall,[5][6][7] activist.
Lucy died on March 7, 1942, in a house fire in the Avondale Community Area of Chicago, Illinois.[15] She was buried near her husband at Waldheim Cemetery (now Forest Home Cemetery), near the Haymarket Martyrs' Monument in Forest Park, Cook County, Illinois, United States.[16]
Research Notes
- A number of trees on Ancestry give her maiden name as Waller, but I have found no documentary evidence for this. (Lloyd-391 17:10, 3 November 2014 (EST))
- It is very unlikely that Gonzalez is her last name since her mother's last name was listed as Taliferro (the same as their slave owner) on her marriage record. She was known to have used a number of aliases. No sources here indicate Gonzales was her maiden name.
Sources
- ↑ Wikipedia: Lucy Parsons
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Texas, County Marriage Index, 1837-1977, Charlott Taliferro in entry for Charlie Carter, 1868; Cherokee, Texas, United States.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 United States Census, 1870, Lucia Carter in entry for Charlotte Carter, 1870; Waco, McLennan, Texas, United States
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 United States Census, 1900, Lucy E Parsons, Precinct 43 Chicago city Ward 15, Cook, Illinois, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 501, sheet 6A, family 113.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 United States Census, 1920, Lucy Markstall in entry for George Markstall, 1920; Chicago City Ward 27, ED 1677, Cook, Illinois, United States.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 United States Census, 1930, Lucy Parson, Chicago (Districts 1251-1500), Cook, Illinois, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 1310, sheet 1A, line 37, family 10
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 United States Census, 1940, Lucy Markstall in household of George Markstall, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 103-2060, sheet 1A, line 39, family 11, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Jacqueline Jones, Goddess of Anarchy [on-line] (Basic Books, 2017)
- ↑ Texas, County Marriage Index, 1837-1977, A R Parsons and Ella Hall, 28 Sep 1872; citing Cherokee, Texas, United States, county courthouses, Texas.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Illinois, Cook County, Birth Certificates, 1871-1949, Lucy Ella Hall in entry for Lulu Parsons, 20 Apr 1881; Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States, reference/certificate 4691, Cook County Clerk, Cook County Courthouse, Chicago.
- ↑ Albert Parsons Wikipedia.
- ↑ Kathy Warnes, "Lucy Parsons"
- ↑ Illinois, Cook County, Birth Certificates, 1871-1949, Albert R. Parsons, 14 Sep 1879; Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States, reference/certificate 7935, Cook County Clerk, Cook County Courthouse, Chicago.
- ↑ Jacqueline Jones, Parsons, Lucy (1851–1942) Texas State Historical Association [on-line].
- ↑ "Lucy Parsons, Blind Anarchist, Burned to Death," Chicago Tribune, (Chicago, Illinois, 08 Mar 1942, Sunday) p. 10.
- ↑ Find A Grave, memorial page for Lucy Parsons (1853–7 Mar 1942), Find A Grave: Memorial #8793, citing Forest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, Cook County, Illinois, USA.
See also:
- Carolyn Ashbaugh, Rudolf Steiner, Lucy Parsons: An American Revolutionary, (Illinois, USA: Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company/Illinois Labor History Society, June 1976)
- Wikidata: Item Q3090218, en:Wikipedia
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G > Gonzalez | P > Parsons > Lucia Eldine (Gonzalez) Parsons
Categories: Forest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, Illinois | USBH Heritage Exchange, Linked | USBH Heritage Exchange, Needs Slave Owner Profile | Political Activists | Women's History | Virginia, Slaves | US Black Heritage Project Managed Profiles | African-American Notables | Notables
* I sincerely appreciate a lengthier, well-written and sourced biography as it gives life to the data. However there are a lot of negative words (adjective phrases quotes etc) when compared to positive and there is virtually no mention of her passionate life's work with regard to womens' rights, advocacting for the working and impoverished classes regardless of ages, races etc, justice system reform, her work with famous legal cases regarding those incarcerated who were wrongly convicted. There is one sentence mentioning something her advocacy but it is immediately followed by the infamous quote about her being "More dangerous than..." By today's standards she and her first husband would most likely be seen as martyrs; heroes of the people and instead of having to hide identity she'd probably be juggling political rallies with cosmetic and beauty product influencing and have endorsements on hard cover books vs confiscated pamphlets; just saying.
As genealogists, historians, biographers etc, both race and ethnicity are large parts of what we study. That said, are there times where it may be better to respect the person's humanity; writing what facts we know or can safely assume(?) vs arguing over the information we can't confirm? It seems she either chose, was forced, asked or maybe learned new information about her parents over time since the few records we have make different assertions at different times.
Thanks for hanging in through all of that! Cheers! Becky Elizabeth Simmons-11603
Lucy was born a slave. Her mother's last name was Taliferro, the name of her slave owner Thomas J. Taliferro. This name appears in her mother's marriage record (primary source cited on this page). Lucy would have had the same last name at birth (surname) as her mother being born under the same slave owner. In the 1870s as a free woman, she is found in the census records under the last name Carter which is her step-fathers name and most likely the surname she adopted as a free person.
Again no primary record for Gonzales has been found and should be removed as her "last name at birth" (surname). Most likely Gonzales is an alias or pseudo name she used due to prejudice she faced in life. She even flees Texas to Chicago and is known at that to develop a reputation of providing inconsistent information regarding her name and birth places of her parents. Lucy and her husband "often conspire together to offer up the fiction that she had been a charming young Spanish-Indian maiden." Most likely she did not want people to know of her true ancestry.
With the evidence that we have I suggest that we use Taliferro as her last name at birth and place Gonzales in the "other last name" category because at this point Gonzales is nothing more than a pseudo name with no primary source to say that she even used it in a legal document.