The Smith-Mims Connection

PARSONS FAMILY STORIES

James William Parsons Sr.
& Mary Field
(& Mary Barnard)

1770 - 1876

Parsons family - from England to North Carolina

The Parsons family is thought to have moved from England to the east coast of Maryland, and then in the next generation to Guilford County, North Carolina. However the sources for this information are not available at this time.

Field family - from England to Pennsylvania to North Carolina

The Fields family (particularly William Fields) owned land in Lancaster County (now York County) in Pennsylvania. After William's death in 1748, the family moved to Rowan County and later Guilford County in North Carolina. Check out Fredric Zimmerman Saunders website below for sources, more dates, and further information on the Fields family:
http://home.netcom.com/~fzsaund/0.html
and to the Fields GenForum (below) under the message # 2459 by Fredric Zimmerman Saunders (a professional genealogist and a distant cousin) whose 4th great-grandparents were Joseph Fields and Lydia Julian This particular "post" is a concise message to correct the most common errors about the Fields family who moved from Pennsylvania to Guilford County, North Carolina:
http://genforum.genealogy.com/fields/

Any information/source that is due specifically to the hard work of Fredric Zimmerman Saunders will be noted in parentheses as " (FZS as source) ".

James William Parsons Sr. and Mary Field (his first marriage)

James William Parsons Sr., the son of George Parsons and Ruth Green, was born on January 27, 1771
in Guilford County, North Carolina. He died on February 15, 1857 in Guilford County, NC.

Mary Field, the daughter of Joseph Field and Lydia Julian, was born on September 24, 1770 in Randolph County, North Carolina. Her birth date and parents are listed in a Parsons family Bible (FZS as source). She died on January 30, 1815 in Guilford County, North Carolina.

The family of James William Parsons Sr. and Mary Field

James William Parsons Sr. and Mary Fields were married on December 23, 1794 in Guilford County, North Carolina. They had ten (10) children:

  1. Ruth Parsons (1795 - ? )
  2. Joseph Parsons (1797 - ? )
  3. George Parsons (1799-1833)
  4. Lydia Parsons (1801-1859)
  5. William Parsons (1803-1825) William and Jane both died on September 14, 1825
  6. Jane Parsons (1805-1825)
  7. Melinda Parsons (1807-1876)
  8. James William Parsons Jr. (1808-1887)
  9. Eli Parsons (1810 - ? )
  10. Peter Field Parsons (1812 - ? )

The family of James William Parsons Sr. and Mary Barnard (his 2nd marriage)

Mary Barnard was born on September 4, 1791 in Deep River, Guilford County, North Carolina. She died on January 12, 1876 in Plainfield, Hendricks County, Indiana.

James William Parsons Sr. and Mary Barnard were married on March 29, 1821 in Guilford County, North Carolina. They had eight (8) children.

  1. Benjamin Franklin Parsons (1822 -1870)
  2. Mary "Polly" Parsons (1824 - ? )
  3. Nelson Yancey Parsons (1826 - ? )
  4. Martha Ann Parsons (1828 - ? )
  5. Elihu Coleman Parsons (1831 -1831) - he lived 10 months
  6. Reuben Fitch Parsons (1833 -1862)
  7. Green McDonald Parsons (1835 - ? ) *
  8. Amy Eliza Parsons (1836 -1911)

* Green McDonald Parsons in at least one record on the internet is listed as a child of James William Parsons' first marriage, but in that record his date of birth was listed as June 13, 1815. If that were correct, then Mary Field Parsons could not have died on January 30, 1815 - as she has been listed elsewhere. Another record has his birth year as 1825, which would be possible with the second marriage to Mary Barnard. According to the 1880 census, a Green M. Parsons in Indiana who was born in North Carolina in 1835 lived in Indiana. He married (2nd marriage) someone named Nancy from Pennsylvania. Another record confirms that her name was Nancy Lookabaugh, and that she was born in Pennsylvania.

There is, however, one major problem with June 13, 1835 as his birth date. His younger sister was supposedly born on February 22, 1836. If both dates are correct and Mary Barnard Parsons became pregnant within a week after giving birth to Green M. Parsons, then Amy Eliza Parsons would still have born a month too early. In those days an eight-month (8-mo) premie would not have survived.

If you have the correct information and sources on these two children, please send me an email with the information and sources. Thanks. Until then, my assumption will be that the children's names are correct, one of the dates is inaccurate, and both will be listed with these dates (as estimated birth dates).