Thomas Parsons (1832 - 1895)

Born 1 Mar 1832 in Prestwood, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Husband of Hannah (Britnell) Parsons — married 27 Sep 1854 in Chipping Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England

Husband of Mary (Hazlett) Parsons — married 12 May 1865 in McGregor, Clayton County, Iowa

Descendants

Died 30 Dec 1895 at age 63 in Nora Springs, Floyd County, Iowa, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Roger Peterson [send private message]

Biography

This profile is part of the Menzies Name Study.

Birth Thomas Parsons was born on 1 Mar 1832 in Buckingham, England.^[1]

Thomas Parsons was born in 1832 in Prestwood, Buckinghamshire. He was christened 1 July 1832, registered in Great Missenden. He was a cordwainer when he married Hannah Britnell in nearby Chipping Wycombe in 1854. They moved to Merrimack, Sauk County, Wisconsin, in the spring of 1855, where he farmed and they had four girls. In 1860 the census recorded his real estate at $400 and personal estate at $100. In 1863 they moved to Columbia County, Wisconsin, and from there in 1863 to the 3rd Ward of McGregor, Iowa (a booming, picturesque town on the Mississippi). Hannah died in 1864. Thomas married Mary Hazlett in 1865 in McGregor. The 1870 census of McGregor records him as a drayman with 4 children (3 others having died) and estimates his real estate at $2000 and personal estate at $1000. After eleven years in McGregor they moved to Rockford Township in Floyd County in northeastern Iowa, 192.5 acres in Section 34 (a farm that appeared prosperous in 1984) where the 1880 census records them with 6 children, Hannah’s 2 surviving daughters having left home. The 1885 census has them there with 8 children and a hired man. After 1890 they moved to nearby Nora Springs, where Thomas worked in the First National Bank. Their home, built around 1890 according to granddaughter Mildred Davidson (and later given the address 605 North Iowa Avenue) was large and handsome (but decrepit in 1984 by my observation--R.S.P.). According to tales told by her father to granddaughter Betty Parsons, Thomas ran a very strict household; “Sundays were dismal—nobody spoke out loud, kids all sat around in Sunday clothes…and when they sat down at table, Father launched into a 25-30 min. sermon while silence & decorum reigned and the food got cold.” Thomas died in 1895 in Nora Springs, where his grave is prominently marked in Park Cemetery.

Marriage He married Mary Hazlett on 13 May 1865 in Clayton, Iowa.^[2][3]

Death and Burial He died on 30 Dec 1895 (aged 63) and was buried in Park Cemetery, Nora Springs, Floyd County, Iowa.^[1]

Residence

• 1860 Zanesville, Muskingum, Ohio. Residence Post Office: Zanesville.^[4]

• 1870 McGregor Ward 3, Clayton, Iowa. Residence Post Office: McGregor.^[5]

• 1880 Rockford, Floyd, Iowa. Marital Status: Married; Relation to Head: Self.^[6]

Notes

From History of Floyd County, Iowa [no author on title page], Chicago: Inter-State Publishing Co. 1882, pp. 920-921: Thomas Parsons was born March 1, 1832, in England, and was reared and educated in his native country. He was married there Sept. 24, 1854, to Hannah Britnell, who died in McGregor, Ia., Oct., 1844 [error for 1864]. Four children blessed their union, viz.: Clara J. born Oct. 14, 1855, Mary A., born Oct. 20, 1857, died Dec 1 1857; Mary M., born June 12, 1859, died April 27, 1867, and Abbie M., born July 14, 1861. Mr. Parsons was married the second time on May 12, 1865, to Mary Hazlett, who was born in Ireland May 13, 1839. They have had eight children--Ella, born May 26, 1866; Jennie, born Aug. 13, 1867, died April 21, 1868; George A., born March 8, 1869; Effie, Jan 18, 1871; Lottie, June 2, 1873; Edith M., Aug 16, 1875; Willie, Oct. 3, 1877, and Frederick Garfield, Oct. 23, 1881. Mr. Parsons emigrated to America in 1853 [probably spring of 1855 is correct]; landed at New York, spent two weeks in Fulton County, that State, then emigrated to Sauk County, Wis., here he remained eight years; then to Columbia County, Wis., and from there to McGregor, Ia. He lived in that city eleven years, then came to Floyd County, settling upon his present farm of 192 1/2 acres on section 24, Rockford Township. His land is under excellent improvement, and thoroughly stocked. In politics he is a pronounced Republican.

This profile has been considerably changed since I wrote it in 2013. Of the six paragraphs under Biography only the long one is mine. Of information that has been introduced, egregiously wrong is having Thomas in Zanesville, Ohio, in 1860. He is not in the Ohio census that year but is in that of Sauk County, Wisconsin. --R.S. Peterson-2111, October 2021.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 23 January 2021), memorial page for Thomas Parsons (1 Mar 1832–30 Dec 1895), Find a Grave Memorial no. 144580919, citing Park Cemetery, Nora Springs, Floyd County, Iowa, USA ; Maintained by DM Scott (contributor 47110289) . Find A Grave: Memorial #144580919
2. ↑ 1900 U.S. Census, Year: 1900; Census Place: Clear Lake, Sangamon, Illinois; Page: 14; Enumeration District: 0106; FHL microfilm: 1240343.
3. ↑ Iowa, U.S., Select Marriages Index, 1758-1996, FHL Film Number 1255482, Reference ID p354.
4. ↑ 1860 U.S. Census, Year: 1860; Census Place: Zanesville, Muskingum, Ohio; Page: 178; Family History Library Film: 805018.
5. ↑ 1870 U.S. Census, Year: 1870; Census Place: McGregor Ward 3, Clayton, Iowa; Roll: M593_383; Page: 382A; Family History Library Film: 545882.
6. ↑ 1880 U.S. Census, Year: 1880; Census Place: Rockford, Floyd, Iowa; Roll: 340; Page: 308B; Enumeration District: 217.

Buckinghamshire Family History Baptismal Index, "Thomas s of Joseph (bricklayer) & Hannah P. of Prestwood Common c 1 Jul 1832. Great Missenden Parish Records" and https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J735-LY4

England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2D39-BY8

U.S. Census, Wisconsin, Sauk County, Merrimack Township, 1860, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GBSF-6XH?i=12&cc=1473181

Iowa Marriages, 1809-1992, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XJ4S-NMD

United States Census, Iowa, Clayton County, Mendon Tp., McGregor, 1870, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDJ5-QCB

U.S. Census, Iowa, Floyd County, Rockford Township, 1880, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYBK-TJK?i=21&cc=1417683

Iowa State Census, Floyd County, 1895, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VT3M-X4C

Find A Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=144580919

____, 1882. History of Floyd County, Iowa. Chicago: Inter-State Publishing Co. 1142 pp.; see especially pp. 920-921. free e-book: https://books.google.com/books/about/History_of_Floyd_County_Iowa.html?id=sHoUAAAAYAAJ

Letter from Thomas to his daughter Abbie dated Rockford, 16 Sep 1890, has no mention of a move to Nora Springs.

Parish records and family records held by greatgrandson Roger Peterson. including copies of 4 pages of Thomas Parsons family Bible.

Roger Peterson's conversations with Thomas' granddaughter Betty Parsons and correspondence with granddaughter Mildred Parsons Davidson, both in the 1980s.

Acknowledgments

Profile begun in 2013 by Roger S. Peterson-2111. Modified, including errors, by someone else.