Samuel Holden Parsons (1737 - 1789)

Born 14 May 1737 in Lyme, New London, Connecticut

Ancestors

Husband of Mehitable (Mather) Parsons — married 10 Sep 1761 in Lyme, New London, Connecticut

Descendants

Died 17 Nov 1789 at age 52 in Beaver River, Pennsylvania, United States

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Biography

Samuel Holden Parsons was born on the 14th of May 1747 in Lyme Connecticut. He was the son of Reverend Jonathan Parsons and Phoebe (Griswold) Parsons. Samuel attended Harvard, graduating in 1756. Samuel married Mehetable Mather, of Lyme, on the 10th of September 1761 in Lyme. The ceremony was conducted by John Griswold, Justice of the Peace. Samuel and Mehetable had at least six children, namely William Walter, Enoch, Samuel Holden Jr, Lucia, Mehetable, and Margaret Parsons.

Samuel became a lawyer in Lyme, and an officer in the militia; serving through the Revolutionary war. He attained the rank of Major-General, and was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territory in 1778." In 1786 Samuel and others formed The Ohio Land Company with permission from President George Washington. In his travels leading up to this venture a discovery of extensive earthworks was made at the mouth of the Muskingum, opposite Fort Harmar, during the winter of 1785-86. They collected hundreds of pounds of bones, most which turned out to be the extinct Wooly Mammoth. Samuel sent word by letter to Ezra Stiles, then president of Yale, who in turn, wrote to Thomas Jefferson about it.^[1][2]

The records of Lyme, Connecticut reflect Samuel's death:

"Samuel Holden Parsons, General, drowned November 17, 1789 near Big Beaver River, ae 52y 6m 14d; buried on bank of said river near its conflux with the Ohio River."

A letter written by Richard Butler related the circumstances:

"I am sorry to inform you that I have every reason to fear that our old friend, General Parsons, is no more. He left this place [Pittsburgh] in company with Captain Heart ..., on the 5th instant, he had sent a man with his horses from the place where he had encamped the night before, and directed him to tell Lieut. McDowell, who commanded the Block House below the falls of Beaver, that he (General Parsons) would be there to dinner. A snow had fallen in the night which had retarded the progress of the man with the horses. At one place on the Beaver shore he saw where a canoe had landed, and a person got out to warm his feet by walking about, as he saw he had kicked against the trees and his tracks to the canoe again. The man did not get down till evening, but about noon the canoe, broken in pieces, came by the Block House, and some articles known to belong to General Parsons were taken up and others seen to pass. Lieut. McDowell has diligent search made for the body of the General, but made no discovery."

Parsons' body was found the following May and was buried with the expectation that it would be more suitably interred. Because of the series of mishaps, the location of his burial was lost. The General now lies in an unmarked grave on the banks of the Beaver River in Pennsylvania.

A marker for Samuel was later placed at the Mortimer Cemetery in Middletown. In Section 3 is 'Samuel Holden, (Major General), son of Jonathan, born May 14, 1737, died Nov 17, 1789. Revolutionary War Marker, Flag.'

Military

Major General Samuel Parsons served with 10th Regiment, Connecticut Militia during the American Revolution.

Samuel Parsons is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A088340.

Samuel Parsons is an NSSAR Patriot Ancestor.
NSSAR Ancestor #: P-266240
Rank: Major General

Samuel Parsons served in the colony of Connecticut during the American Revolution. Samuel commanded a Connecticut unit in 1775, with the rank of Colonel. In 1776 'Colonel Samuel Holden Parsons' is listed as having raised the 10th Regiment in Connecticut. His rank continued to advance, as he is listed as Brigadier on the August 1776 list of Generals.

In August of 1778 his name is found on a Muster Roll, with the rank of Brigadier General.> In October of that same year, he is found signing off on the Muster Roll of Captain Andrew Raisons. His rank was Brigadier General on that as well. A Pay Abstract is found for Samuel Parsons, Brigadier General of Continental Troops, in October and December of 1778. In this record Samuel received £1349 in Peekskill for the 22nd Regiment commanded by Colonel Wyllye for the month of October 1778.

Samuel Holden Parsons, BG

In 1934 a Mrs. Potter of Tennessee requested information on Samuel's (and others) service during the Revolution. The response from the Veteran's Administration was such:

Samuel H Parsons

Wt. 1665-1100

Warrant Number 1665 for eleven hundred acres of bounty land was issued on August 23, 1790, on account of the services of Samuel H. Parsons, of Connecticut, Major General, War of the Revolution.

(partial) Transcription of the words written on the back of the 1775 Muster Roll "Occasioned by the death of Mr. Calvin Weel

I have the will is a warning prove

to all that to his grave did move

put them in mind that thay must Die

and go into Eternity

Let pass on Envy Lust and pride

and all pain things be Lord aside

the ground on which our feet Do tread

soon must be made our sleeping bed

the many friends on Earth we have

thay Can't Carry us beyond the grave

nor shall we Ever happy be

unless our Saviour makes us free

Came then my Dear and Loving mates

May Jesus Calle for you he waits

Soon you must Leave your bodies hear

and you before his throne apear

I Leave these verses in your hands

and hope to meet in Canaans Lands

to meet you all on that Calm Shore

where Sin and Death shall reign no more

Sources

1. ↑ “To Thomas Jefferson from Ezra Stiles, with Enclosure, 8 May 1786,” Founders Online, National Archives. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 9, 1 November 1785 – 22 June 1786, ed. Julian P. Boyd. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1954, pp. 476–478.]
2. ↑ Barnhart, Terry A.. American Antiquities: Revisiting the Origins of American Archaeology. United Kingdom: University of Nebraska Press, 2015.

• Samuel's Wikipedia Page

• White, Lorraine Cook. The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Com, 2009), 179.

• Dexter, Franklin Bowditch. Extracts From The Itineraries and Other Miscellanies of Ezra Stiles (Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, Conn., 1916) Page 549-50

• "Connecticut, Hale Collection of Cemetery Inscriptions and Newspaper Notices, 1629-1934," database with images, Ancestry (Hale Collection on Ancestry$ : accessed 18 December 2017), entry for Major General Samuel Holden Parsons; citing The Charles R. Hale Collection. Hale Collection of Connecticut Cemetery Inscriptions. Hartford, Connecticut: Connecticut State Library.

• Rev 1775c "United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783," database with images, FamilySearch (Revolutionary War Rolls : accessed 18 December 2017), Samuel H Parsons, 1775-1783; citing 1775-1783, Connecticut, United States, citing NARA microfilm publication M246. Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Services, 1980. FHL microfilm 830,307.

• Rev 1776 "United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783," database with images, FamilySearch (Revolutionary War Rolls : accessed 18 December 2017), Samuel H Parsons, 1775-1783; citing 1775-1783, Connecticut, United States, citing NARA microfilm publication M246. Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Services, 1980. FHL microfilm 830,307.

• Rev 1776 "United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783," database with images, FamilySearch (Revolutionary War Rolls : accessed 18 December 2017), Samuel Holden Parsons, 1776; citing 1776, United States, citing NARA microfilm publication M246. Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Services, 1980. FHL microfilm 830,280.

• Rev Aug76 "United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783," database with images, FamilySearch (Revolutionary War Rolls : accessed 18 December 2017), Samuel Holden Parsons, 09 Aug 1776; citing 09 Aug 1776, United States, citing NARA microfilm publication M246. Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Services, 1980. FHL microfilm 830,414.

• Rev Aug 78 "United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783," database with images, FamilySearch (Revolutionary War Rolls : accessed 18 December 2017), Samuel H Parsons, 11 Aug 1778; citing 11 Aug 1778, Connecticut, United States, citing NARA microfilm publication M246. Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Services, 1980. FHL microfilm 830,290.

• Rev Oct 78 "United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783," database with images, FamilySearch (Revolutionary War Rolls : accessed 18 December 2017), Samuel H Parsons, 06 Oct 1778; citing 06 Oct 1778, Connecticut, United States, citing NARA microfilm publication M246. Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Services, 1980. FHL microfilm 830,290.

• Rev Pens "Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files," database with images, Fold3 (Revolutionary War Pensions : accessed 18 December 2017), entry for Samuel H Parsons; citing Case Files of Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Based on Revolutionary War Service, compiled ca. 1800 - ca. 1912, documenting the period ca. 1775 - ca. 1900 held by the National Archives.

• Rev Pay "Revolutionary War Service Records," database with images, Fold3 (Revolutionary War Records : accessed 18 December 2017), entry for Samuel Holden Parsons, 1778; citing Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War, compiled 1894 - ca. 1912, documenting the period 1775 - 1784 held by the National Archives.

• "Connecticut Deaths and Burials, 1772-1934," database, FamilySearch (Connecticut Deaths : accessed 18 December 2017), Enoch Parsons, 11 Sep 1835; citing Connecticut, reference ; FHL microfilm 3,180.

• "Connecticut Deaths and Burials, 1772-1934," database, FamilySearch (Connecticut Deaths : accessed 18 December 2017), Samuel H. Parsons, 09 Mar 1811; citing Demerara, reference 226; FHL microfilm 3,345.

• Find A Grave, database and images (accessed 07 January 2018), memorial page for Samuel Holden Parsons (14 May 1737–17 Nov 1789), Find A Grave: Memorial #22596317, citing Mortimer Cemetery, Middletown, Middlesex County, Connecticut, USA ; Maintained by Find A Grave .
• Book Title: Lineage Book of the Charter Members of the DAR Vol 003 (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61157/images/46155_b290424-00174?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.137337203.299644549.1603578488-1501553762.1603475028&pId=3359605)

• Ancestry.com. Connecticut Town Birth Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection) [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data: White, Lorraine Cook, ed. The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records. Vol. 1-55. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1994-2002. (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1034/images/VBMDUSACT1634_0024-0187?ssrc=pt&treeid=117458931&personid=252020838307&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&pId=613168)

See Also

• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/KJDG-JK8
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Holden_Parsons
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22596317/samuel-holden-parsons