ty, Pennsylvania, the record of the descendants of Capt. John' Parsons. To very many others am I also indebted for prompt and interested replies to letters of inquiry, evincing so great interest in my work that I found it difficult to decide when or where to end the research. For genealogical research has a special and unique fascination. We seem to make the personal acquaintance of kindred long dead to this world, and we are made to feel the continuity of life in a way that strengthens faith in immortality. We dwell with pleasure upon ancestral courage, patriotism, and fidelity to all that was true and pure, while we cast a mantle of forgetfulness over all shortcomings. The qualities that were best in our ancestors we recognize as best today and forever. The more recent revival of interest in genealogy is in every way creditable to the American people, and is a patriotic service. Family history is interwoven with our country's history, particularly when its roots strike deep into Colonial times. The knowledge of our ancestors widens our horizon and gives a broader view of life and its responsibilities. We remember that posterity may sit in judgment on us, and our times, and this thought should be an inspiration and incentive to higher and better things. In the preparation of this record I confess to have experienced a growth of honest pride in my ancestry. For while few were conspicuous in our history, many of the name have done honorable service, and they belong to the class noted for industry, intelligence, and piety, upon which our country must always depend for its real greatness, and from which in time of need or stress the country's statesmen, educators, philanthropists, and soldiers are usually recruited. New York, 1912 HENRY PARSONS CONTENTS Page The Parsons Family in England, and Arms of Its Branches.. The Parsons Family in America.... ILLUSTRATIONS Facing Page Arms of Other Parsons Families of England.. Built 1658 ... Parsons Coat-of-Arms in Colors.. House of Cornet Joseph Parsons, Northampton, Mass., House at Northampton, Mass., Built by Isaac House at Northampton, Mass., Built by Noah Parsons, 1755 Portrait of The Reverend Levis Parsons. Frontispiece 25 43 Parsons, 1743 90 97 128 183 Portrait of Lewis Baldwin Parsons.. Portrait of Elijah Parsons 186 .... 190 Parsons Portrait of Portius F. Parsons.. Portrait of Hannah (Taggart) Parsons, Wife of Elisha Portrait of Lucius Edmunds Parsons... 192 195 224 Portrait of The Reverend Levi' Parsons, D. D. Portrait of Hannah (Moyer) Parsons, Wife of James' Portrait of The Reverend George' Parsons. Portrait of Eli Graves' Parsons. Portrait of William D. Parsons.. Portrait of Charles W. Parsons. Portrait of Monroe Marsh' Cady. 280 282 288 |