USA > Pennsylvania > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 71
USA > Wyoming > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 71
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In the Democratic national convention of 1844, held in Baltimore (May 27), Colonel Wright was delegate-at-large from Pennsylva- nia, and was chosen temporary chairman and then permanent presiding officer over the delib- erations of the body that nominated Polk for the presidency, a result which was not relished by Colonel Wright and his strong minority follow- ing. In October, 1850, he was the Democratic candidate for congress, and was defeated by Henry M. Fuller, the Whig candidate. Two
years later they were again opposing candidates, and Colonel Wright was elected. In 1854 their names again headed the congressional ticket, and once more the Whig candidate ( Fuller) was suc- cessful.
In March, 1856, Colonel Wright was a del- egate to the Democratic state convention, and was elected its chairman. He espoused Buch- anan's cause and advocated his nomination for the presidency. In 1858 he was a substitute del- egate to the state convention and chairman of the committee on resolutions. In 1861 he was the candidate of the War Democratic party for con- gress, and secured an overwhelming majority at the polls. He declared himself clearly on the side of the Union and against the right of the south- ern states to withdraw from the national com- pact, but afterward voted against the bill to abol- ish slavery in the District of Columbia. When criticised for this action he justified himself in these words: "I voted against the bill for abol- ishing slavery in the District of Columbia, and it is my purpose to vote against any bill abolishing slavery anywhere, without the consent of the peo- ple in the state where it exists, and in doing this I will violate no pledge that I ever assumed, either by word or implication, in the remotest degree."
In March, 1863, at the close of the Thirty- seventh congress, Colonel Wright returned to his home and to his extensive law practice which, per force, he had laid aside during the period of his public service. Among other things he turned himself to literary pursuits, and published in 1871 a "Practical Treatise on Labor," which originally appeared in a series of articles in the Anthracite Monitor under the nom de plume of "Vindicator." In April, 1873, was published his "Historical Sketches of Plymouth."
In 1872 Colonel Wright was again impressed into the service of his party as its congressional candidate, but he was defeated at the polls. In 1873 he presided over the Democratic state con- vention at Erie, and from that time until 1875 served as chairman of the state committee. In 1876 he was again a candidate for congress, and was elected in the fall of that year and re-elected in 1878. With the ending of the Forty-sixth congress, March 4, 1881. Colonel Wright closed his political life after a service of eleven years in the state and national legislature and with his retirement from public life he also gave up his business and professional pursuits, and retired to his country residence on the shores of Shawa- nese Lake, about twelve miles from Wilkes- Barre. He was one of the organizers, and a
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member of the first board of trustees in 1839 of the Wyoming Athenaeum; was the first presi- dent of the Wilkes-Barre Law and Library Asso- ciation, organized June 8, 1850; was one of the organizers and for many years president of the Wilkes-Barre Water Company ; a stockholder and for several years director of the Second National Bank of Wilkes-Barre; and was president of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, 1870-1872.
Colonel Wright died in Wilkes-Barre, Sep- tember 2, 1881, and was buried in the Hollenback cemetery three days later. "Charity and benev- olence were the ruling features of his heart. The distribution of his holiday loaves to the poor, a practice he continued for years : his acts of gen- erosity to the poor the year round ; his aid to peo- ple in debt, contributions to public charities, and various subscriptions for public purposes, all in- dicated the existence in him of that priceless fea- ture of exalted manhood and the true ornament of human life."
Hendrick Bradley Wright married, at Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania, April 21, 1835, Mary Ann Bradley Robinson, born Wilkes-Barre, June 9, 1818, died there September 8, 1871, only daugh- ter of John W. Robinson and his wife Ann But- ler. Mary Ann Bradley Robinson was grand- daughter of Col. Zebulon Butler. She was a descendant of the fifth generation of the Dux- bury pastor, Rev. John Robinson ; a descendant of the seventh generation of Maj. William Brad- ford, who was an officer during the Narragan- sett war, and was wounded at the Great Swamp fight, December 19, 1679: a descendant of the eighth generation of William Bradford, one of the "Mayflower" company and second governor of Plymouth colony-holding the office thirty- one years ; a descendant of the seventh genera- tion of Rev. James Fitch, first of Saybrook, and then the first pastor of the church at Norwalk, Connecticut ; and she was also a descendant of the eighth generation of Maj .- Gen. John Mason, leader of the Connecticut forces in the Pequot war, and one time deputy of the colony. Her. father, John W. Robinson, born Norwich, Con- necticut, April 5, 1779, eldest child of Samuel Robinson and his wife Priscilla Metcalf ; great- grandson of Rev. John Robinson, the able but eccentric pastor of the church at Duxbury, Mas- sachusetts, 1702-37. Rev. John Robinson was born at Dorchester, Massachusetts, April 17, 1875; graduated Harvard 1898. His wife was Hannah Wiswell, and one of their daughters was
Faith Robinson, born 1718, married 1735, Jona- than Trumbull, governor of Connecticut, 1769- 1784.
The children of Hendrick Bradley and Mary Ann ( Robinson ) Wright were :
Charles Robinson Wright (twin), born March 12, 1836; died August 26, 1836.
Ellen Hendrick Wright (twin), born March 12, 1836; died September 19, 1836.
Joseph Wright, born June 16, 1837 ; studied law and admitted to practice January 2, 1860; first lieutenant Company C, Eighth Pennsylvania Volunteers (formerly Wyoming Light Dra- goons ). for three months ; mustered out July 29, 1861 : captain Company D, Sixth Cavalry (Sev- entieth Regiment ), mustered for three years Sep- tember, 1861; died May 18, 1862, at German- town, Pennsylvania, of typhoid fever contracted in camp in Virginia ; buried in Wilkes-Barre with military honors.
Ann Augusta Wright, born June 18, 1839, unmarried.
Mary Elizabeth Wright, born February 17, 1841, died December 25, 1888; married Febru- ary 2, 1861, Christopher Eldredge Hawley, born August 7, 1833. a mining engineer ; son of James S. Hawley, civil engineer of Binghamton, New York, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and grandson of Maj. Martin Hawley, of Bing- hamton.
Ellen Hendrick Wright, born November 3. 1852; married December 18, 1872, Thomas Graeme, born Virginia, but later residing in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Mr. Graeme is a member of the Wyoming Historical and Geolog- ical Society ; he had one son, Lieut. Joseph Wright Graeme, U. S. N., deceased. (See sketch Lieutenant Graeme.)
Caroline Griffin Wright, born September 28, 1844, unmarried.
Hendrick Bradley Wright, born July 16, 1847 ; died April 14, 1880.
George Riddle Wright, born November 21, 1851 ; Princeton '73: admitted to Luzerne bar, September 6, 1875; a practicing lawyer of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania ; former vice-presi- dent Humane Society ; former president United Charities of Wilkes-Barre: life member Wyo- ming Historical and Geological Society ; member Society of the War of 1812, and the Pennsyl- vania Society Sons of the Revolution.
Charles Robinson Wright, born May 16, 1854 : died December 23, 1860. H. E. H.
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PARSONS FAMILY. The Rev. Jonathan Parsons, Springfield, Massachusetts, born No- vember 30, 1705, an eminent clergyman of New England, grandson of Benjamin Parsons, the progenitor of Captain Calvin Parsons of Wyo- ming Valley, stated in a letter dated October 20, 1769 (New England Hist .- Reg. xii, 175), "My great-grandfather Parsons came from Great Torrington, England, about twenty or thirty miles from Tiverton, and not far from Exeter. He came over and brought my grandfather Ben- jamin Parsons and other children, about 130 or 140 years ago."
The name of this ancestor does not appear, but it may have been either Richard of Windsor, Connecticut, who returned to England 1640, or Joseph of Colchester, near Springfield, Essex, England, the home of William Pynchon, who was with Rev. John Robinson at Leyden, and among those who did not sail in the "May- flower," but came later and returned. However, he had certainly two sons who early settled at Springfield, Massachusetts-Cornet Joseph Par- sons, and his brother Benjamin, the head of the following family.
Cornet Joseph Parsons, the elder of the two, was born 1617-18 at Great Torrington, near Essex, Devonshire, England, according to his sworn testimony 1661-62. He appeared in Springfield with William Pynchon, founder of that town, and July 18, 1636, signed the Indian deed of the land to Pynchon as "witness." He died Springfield,. October 9, 1683, married there November 26. 1646, Mary Bliss, born England, January 29, 1712, daughter of Thomas Bliss, one of the early settlers of Springfield. He was the head of the extensive line of Parsons in America descending from Joseph, among whom were Rev. Winfield Scott Parsons, and Rev. Horace Edwin Hayden, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Joseph Parsons founded Northampton, Massachusetts, was extensively interested in the fur trade and large landed property, and next to William Pyn- chon was the richest man in Springfield. Joseph Parsons' wife Mary was charged with witchcraft, but with recognized ability defended herself be- fore the court and was acquitted, and out of the trial came a suit for slander against her accuser. In the trial Benjamin Parsons was a witness, and in his evidence referred to her as "my sister" and as "sister Parsons." William Pynchon when liv- ing in Springfield had extensive dealings with Joseph Parsons, and in the entries of his ac- counts, stlil preserved in the Springfield City Li- brary, occur charges of this kind: "March 12.
1656, to Goodman Bissal I paid for you Igd more than I formerly accounted & the wheate your Brother Benjamin delivered me and I accounted it 1/2 bushel to much." So in 1658 he credits Joseph "By so much I received of your Brother Benjamin, 12 shillings." The traditions of the two families have been tenaciously held for over two centuries that Joseph and Benjamin Par- son's were brothers. This has been denied by Colonel Lemuel Chester, the genealogist, whose assistance in making researches in England at an expense to the family of Benjamin of $4,000 did not, as his records show, go near Great Torring- ton, but finding a Benjamin in Oxfordshire that suited his purpose, rejected Joseph, and claimed the Oxford Benjamin for the line of Benjamin of Springfield. Pynchon's record and Benjamin's testimony have settled the question forever against Chester. He married (first), November 6, 1653, Sarah Vore, daughter of Richard Vore, a resident of Dorchester in 1635, and Windsor prior to 1640. She died January 1, 1675-76. He married (second), February 21, 1676-77, Sarah (Heald) Leonard, widow of John, of Spring- field, who was killed by the Indians early in the year 1676. She died November 23, 1711.
Deacon Benjamin Parsons (3), younger brother of Cornet Joseph Parsons, born March 17. 1625, died August 21, 1689, emigrated to America, locating in Springfield, among the first settlers there, about 1636. In 1651 he was one of the committee charged with organizing a new settlement at Long Meadow. From October 31, 1654, he was chosen surveyor of highways, se- lectman, constable, fence viewer and sealer of weights and measures, holding some office of public trust until his death. Deacon Benjamin Parsons had nine children, of whom
Lieutenant Benjamin Parsons, the eldest, was born September 15, 1658, Springfield, Massachu- setts, died December 29, 1728, Enfield, Connecti- ticut. He was chosen March 26, 1687, selectman of Enfield, and to 1716 held several town offices. Lieutenant Parsons married at Enfield, January 17, 1683-84, Sarah Keep, born August 5, 1666, Springfield, "died July 3, 1729, Enfield, aged sixty-two years, daughter of John and Sarah (Leonard) Keep, of Springfield, Massachusetts. They had four children of whom
Christopher Parsons was the third son, born Enfield, Connecticut, January 28, 1691, died En- field, September 10, 1749. He was constable of Enfield in 1718; surveyor, March 8, 1725, and March IO, 1734; treasurer, 1732-40, and select- man, March 10, 1734-35. He married, Enfield,
25
1
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April 22, 1714, Mary Pease, born May 24, 1688, daughter of John and Margaret (Adams) Pease, Enfield. They had twelve children of whom
John Parsons was the eldest son; born De- cember 27, 1716-17, Enfield, Connecticut, died February 7, 1773. He married, Enfield, Sep- tember 25, 1740, Ann Colton, of Long Meadow, Massachusetts, born July 26, 1720, died Octo- ber 14, 1796, daughter of Joseph and Margaret (Pease) Colton. They had nine children of whon]
John Parsons, the eldest son, was born En- field, Connecticut, April 4, 1744, died Enfield, January 7, 1821. He was surveyor of highways, 1771 ; assessor, 1778; collector of town rates, 1789; selectman, 1795. He married, Enfield, June 1, 1769, Ann Osborn, East Windsor, Con- necticut, born October 13, 1743, died March 28, 1814, Enfield. They had six children of whom
Captain Hezekiah Parsons, the sixth child, born Enfield, Connecticut, March 25, 1777, died Wilkes-Barre, April 19, 1845: He was a cloth- ier in Wilkes-Barre township, now borough of Parsons, and erected the first fulling mill in Lu- zerne county, whither he removed from Ash- ford, November, 1813. He was an upright and worthy citizen. Both in public offices as well as in private life he displayed a true christian spirit. He married, November 18, 1801, Eunice. Whiton, Ashford, Connecticut, born September 12, 1778, died January 1, 1853, Wilkes-Barre, daughter of Stephen and. Susannah (Dana) Whiton, Wilkes- Barre. Stephen Whiton, born April 2, 1752, was killed by the Indians at the Wyoming massacre. July 3, 1778, and his wife fled on foot to Ash- ford, a distance of three hundred miles, where her daughter. Eunice Whiton, was born. Their children were: I. Stephen Whiton, born Sep- tember 2, 1802, died October 2, 1802. 2. Parma, born August 8, 1803, married Col. Benajalı Park Bailey. 3. Louisa, born September 28, 1811, died September 19. 1838, married, June 14, 1830, Hiram McAlpin, born July 18, 1807, died February 27, 1853, Wilkes-Barre. 4. Calvin, born April 2, 1815, mentioned below.
Captain Calvin Parsons, fourth child of Cap- tain Hezekiah and Eunice (Whiton) Parsons, was born Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, at the homestead in Old Laurel Run, now Parsons bor- ough, where he passed his entire life. He died January 1, 1900. He was educated at Laurel Run and Wilkes-Barre, his first teacher having been Sylvanus Deith, who taught in the old log school house in the woods near his home. The other teachers during the following few years
were: Sallie Tyson, of Wilkes-Barre; Ruth Ellsworth (afterwards Mrs. Dr. Boyd), Wilkes- Barre ; Joel Rogers, Wilkes-Barre ; and Mr. Utly, Plains. At the age of thirteen he attended a little frame school house built by his father, Judge David Scott, Mr. Hollenback, Jehoida P. John- son and others, Mr. Hollenback furnishing the logs for the building and his father, Hezekiah Parsons, sawing them into lumber. Later he spent three years at the old Wilkes-Barre Acad- emy, then under Israel Dickinson. In 1836 he became associated with his father in his milling enterprises, and in 1840 succeeded to their con- trol, managing them with signal success. In ad- dition to the property which he accumulated, he inherited from his father several hundred acres of land which became of great value on account of the underlying coal. Of the 557 acres belong- ing to the estate of his father. Hezekiah Parsons, 375 were one continuous coal mine, operated by the Mineral Springs Coal Company, Capt. Calvin Parsons and Reuben J. Flick having been the proprietors of the land for many years. He was one of the organizers of the Wilkes-Barre Water Company and of the People's Bank, serv- ing as a director in both. He was commissioned captain of the Wilkes-Barre and Pittston Blues by Governor Ritner in 1835, he being then only twenty years of age. When General Lee in- vaded Pennsylvania, Mr. Parsons, then past the age of military service, assisted in organizing a company of Home Guards at Plains, and was chosen first lieutenant. He was a life-long mem- ber of the First Presbyterian Church of Wilkes- Barre, and for over fifty years was one of its ruling elders. He was in early life a famous singer, and from 1834 to 1864 was the leader of the choir of the First Presbyterian Church, com- ing to Wilkes-Barre, from his home in Parsons, to fulfill this task in all kinds of weather. He also taught singing school at various times in the valley. He took great interest in historical matters, and was an original member of the Wy- oming Historical and Geological Society, vice- president 1870-95, president 1877-78, 92-93. Was one of the projectors of the Wyoming Commemorative Association, and succeeded Colonel Charles Dorrance as its president. He never missed a meeting, and his fund of histori- cal information was most extensive. In poli- tics he was a Republican, and a Prohibitionist for many years, a total abstainer from the use of alcoholic beverages from early manhood. He was prominent in the Sons of Temper- 'ance and the Good Templars, and frequently
Calvin Passons
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attended the meetings of the Grand Division .of the Sons of Temperance of Pennsylvania. He was a man of most even temper, a patriotic and public-spirited citizen, and always had_a pleasant word for those he met, one of nat- ure's noblemen and the soul of honor. It was to his regular habits of life that he attributed his splendid health. He applied for life insur- ance at the age of seventy, and notwithstand- ing his years the medical examiners showed him to be in excellent physical condition and he was accepted.
Calvin Parsons married, August 17, 1837, Ann Parsons, born June 22, 1814, died January I, 1896, daughter of Oliver and Vena (Pasco) Parsons, Enfield, Connecticut. This courtship had a tinge of romance about it. Ann had ac- companied her uncle on a visit from Connecti- cut to the Wyoming valley, and remained here to accept the position of teacher in a school. Calvin Parsons, who had never seen her before, was so charmed with the young teacher, then a girl of twenty-two, that though they were first cousins he wooed and won her. They set up their household at Laurel Run, now Par- sons, where their early years were marked by an almost pioneer experience. Laurel Run was then a mere hamlet, but their mutual dili- gence and thrift brought them prosperity, and their home was always noted for its comfort- able appointments and the charming hospitality of its occupants, as well as for the mutual af- fection between all of its members. In earlier days when it was customary to entertain the traveling clergymen, of whatever denomination, no doors ever opened with a greater cordiality of welcome than did those of the Parsons home. Mr. and Mrs. Parsons had five chil- dren : Oliver Alphonso, born May II, 1838, see forward. Louise Amelia, born May 4, 1840, married, May 24, 1864, Clarence Porter Kidder, born May 10, 1839, son of Lyman Church and Mary (Dana) Kidder. (See Kid- ·der Family). Almeda Adelia, born July 31. 1843, married, October 10, 1870, Emanuel Coy- kendall Cole, son of Josiah and Elizabeth (Wilson) Cole ; he was a merchant at Ashley, Pennsylvania, and died October 13, 1886. (See Cole Family). Anna Dana, born July 24, 1848, "married, November 20, 1872, George Warren Fish. Hezekiah, born October 20, 1854, mar- ried September 30, 1880, Sarah C. Mannees, born June 23, 1855, adopted daughter of Will- iam W. and Alvira (Carpenter) 'Mannees.
Major Oliver Alphonso Parsons, eldest
child of Calvin and Ann (Parsons) Parsons, was born May II, 1838. He served as foreman in the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company seven years, then removed to Kansas for one year, thereby securing his soldier's claim of one hundred and sixty acres of land. He enlisted April 16, 1861, as sergeant Company F, Eighth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and was honorably discharged at Harrisburg, July 29, 1861. He re-enlisted August 18, 1861, as second sergeant Company L, Twenty-third Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry, and his company was transferred to the Sixty-first Pennsylvania Infantry, March, 1862. During the desperate battle of Fair Oaks, May 31, 1862, he was taken prisoner and confined in Libby and Belle Island prisons and at Salis- bury, North Carolina. From Salisbury he was returned to Richmond, paroled and sent to Annapolis, Maryland. He was exchanged November 10, 1862, and at once reported to his command. While a prisoner of war he was promoted orderly-sergeant of his company, July 22, 1862. He was discharged December 20, 1863, Brandy Station, Virginia, to veteran- ize and re-enlist in the same command, and the day following was granted a veteran's furlough of thirty-five days. He was promoted second- lieutenant of his company, April 19, 1864, and October 1, 1864, first lieutenant. He was de- tailed as acting regimental quartermaster, Sep- tember, 1864, was appointed captain, Novem- ber 30, 1864, and May 14, 1865, promoted to major of his regiment. After the battle of Cedar Creek he commanded two companies of his regiment, and at the same time acted as adjutant, by reason of scarcity of officers in his command. Among the important battles in which he was engaged were Fair Oaks, Fredericksburg, Marye's Heights, Salem Church, Gettysburg, Rappahannock Station, Mine Run, Wilderness. Spottsylvania, North Anna River, Cold Harbor, Siege of Petersburg, Ream's Station, Fort Stephens (near Washing- ton, D. C.), Charleston, West Virginia, and the final assault on the lines in front of Petersburg, May 18, 1864. During the battle of Spottsyl- vania Court House, Virginia, he was wounded by the fragment of a shell in the left arm near the shoulder, but did not leave the ranks. He was honorably discharged at Bull's Cross- roads, Virginia, June 28. 1865. Mr. Parsons belongs to Conyngham Post, No. 97, G. A. R., in which he is past commander ; Encampment No. 135, Union, Veteran Legion ; the Military
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Order of the Loyal Legion; the Lackawanna Association ; the Ex-Prisoners of War Associa- tion,and is a life member of the Wyoming His- torical and Geological Society.
He married, October 10, 1865, Martha Washington Stark, born February II, 1839, died December 27, 1904. She was the daughter of John and Cornelia ( Wilcox) Stark, of Plains, Pennsylvania. (See Stark and Wilcox famil- ies). They had one son, John Sedgwick Par- sons, born May 15, 1867, in the borough of Parsons, Pennsylvania, and now (1906) in the United States railroad mail service. He mar- ried Gertrude K. Green, and they have one son, Sheldon M.
Mrs. O. A. Parsons died very suddenly, while returning to Wilkes-Barre from a visit to her son in Buffalo, New York. She had stopped at Waverly, New York, to visit her sister-in-law, Mrs. George W. Fish. While sitting at the dinner table she was taken sud- denly ill and died in a few moments, passing away as she had always wished, suddenly and painlessly. She was survived by her husband, son, and four brothers and sisters : Henry Stark, of West Pittston; Mrs. Garrick Miller and Mrs. Stephen Miller, of Wilkes-Barre ; and Mrs. Nancy Connard, of Charlottesville, Ohio, Mrs. Parsons was an Episcopalian, and was formerly a member of St. Stephen's, but later a member of Calvary Church, of Wilkes-Barre.
H. E. H.
CLARENCE PORTER KIDDER, de- ceased, for many years a well known personal- ity in the professional, political and social cir- cles of the city of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, was a man of rare intellectual attainments, sterling character and executive ability of a high order. He was also a man of genial dis- position and pleasing personality, which won for him a host of friends, all of whom valued hinni at his true worth. He was born in Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania, May 10, 1839, and died December 28, 1900.
He was a lineal descendant of James Kidder, Jr., who was born in East Grinstead, county Sussex, England, 1626, from whence he emi- grated to the new world in 1649 at the age of twenty-three years, settling in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Thus it will be seen that Clar- ence P. Kidder had in his veins some of the blood of the sturdy, old New England stock, men who founded a nation in the face of diffi- culties which would have daunted those of less
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