Robert Parsons (1764 - 1846)

Born 30 Mar 1764 in Albemarle Parish, Sussex, Virginia Colony

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 6 Mar 1846 at age 81 in Mouth of Wilson, Grayson, Virginia, USA

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Daphne Maddox [send private message]

Biography

Robert Parsons was born 30 March 1764 to William Parsons and Mary "Polly" Craig in Albemarle Parish, Sussex County, Virginia, and christened on 24 June of that year. His godparents were Robert Parsons, George Ezell [Uzell?] and Mary Adams.^[1][2]

He married Ann Welborn^[3] in Rowan County, North Carolina in the 1790s.^[4]

Robert and Ann probably went with or followed his brother John to Grayson County, Virginia between 1796 and 1799, in which year John appears on the tax lists there. By 1805, it is Robert's name on the tax lists and John no longer appears in the county.^[5]

Robert and had many children.

People of Mouth of Wilson in Grayson County, where he lived, remember him as the first to build a brick home in the settlement,^[6] and a photo of the house from the 1980s appears on his Findagrave memorial page.^[2]

Robert died 6 March 1846, and is buried in the "Robert Parsons Cemetery" which lies next to the house he built along with quite a few of his descendants.^[2]

His grandson, Thomas Welborn Parsons, wrote a memoir of his life in 1975, Incidents & Experiences in the Life of Thomas W. Parsons From 1826 to 1900, which chronicles this family.

Children

Robert named twelve children in his will.^[7]

• James Parsons
• Robert Parson
• Solomon Parsons
• "E....." (?)
• William Parsons
• Isaac Parsons
• John W. Parsons
• Polly Parsons (wife of Stephen Jones)
• Nancy Parsons (wife of Benjamin Lawrence)
• Sarah Parsons (wife of John Davis)
• Ann Parsons (wife of Sam'l Baker)
• Isabella Austin Parsons

Sources

1. ↑ "Virginia, Births and Christenings, 1853-1917," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VRPL-56X : accessed 5 September 2015), Robert Parsons, 30 Mar 1764; citing , reference ; FHL microfilm 30,161. Note: the record is on image 130 of the microfilm.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 28 November 2023), memorial page for Robert Parsons (30 Mar 1765–6 Mar 1846), Find A Grave: Memorial #38444156, citing Robert Parsons Cemetery, Mouth of Wilson, Grayson County, Virginia, USA; Maintained by dketchell (contributor 47141361). Note: as of November 2023, Robert's Findagrave profile incorrectly gives the year of his birth as 1765.
3. ↑ Karen Salisbury, "Parsons Family: Descendants of William Parsons," rootsweb (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ksalisbury/parsons_family.htm and on Wayback Machine : accessed 5 September 2015); citing Parsons, Thomas W. Incidents & Experiences in the Life of Thomas W. Parsons, from 1826 to 1900, (Lexington, University Press of Kentucky, 1975).
4. ↑ The 1790 census, "United States Census, 1790", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHK1-BS9 : accessed 5 September 2015), Robert Parsons, 1790, shows him single in Rowan County, where Ann's family lived, and their son James was born in 1798.
5. ↑ "Grayson County, Virginia," New River Notes, Grayson County Virginia, Heritage Foundation Inc. and New River Notes, Enumerations, Search "Parsons" in: 1796 Land Tax List (http://www.newrivernotes.com/grayson_enumerations_1796_land_tax_list.htm)
   — 1799 Land Tax List (http://www.newrivernotes.com/grayson_enumerations_1799_land_tax_list.htm)
   — 1805 Personal Property Tax List (http://www.newrivernotes.com/grayson_enumerations_1805_personal_property_tax_list.htm).
6. ↑ "Mouth of Wilson, VA home to Fraser Ridge Tree Farm," Fraser Ridge Tree Farm (http://www.fraserridge.com/article.php?&article=167 and on Wayback Machine : accessed 5 September 2015).
7. ↑ "Grayson County, Virginia Wills 1793 - 1849," Grayson County Virginia, Heritage Foundation Inc. and New River Notes (http://www.newrivernotes.com/grayson_history_documents_1793-1849_grayson_wills.htm and on Wayback Machine : accessed 5 September 2015).