Cornet Joseph PARSONS^[1]

Abt 1620 - 1683  (~ 63 years)

• Name	Joseph PARSONS
  Prefix	Cornet
  Born	Abt 1620	Great Torrington, Devonshire, England
  Gender	Male
  Baptism	25 Jun 1620	Beaminster, Dorsetshire, England
  Migration	Abt 1635
  Noteworthy	Chief founder of Northampton, MA
  Occupation	Trader, business man, landowner
  Military Event	Capt John Pynchon’s Hampshire Troop, King Philip’s War, French & Indian Wars ; Cornet
  Immigrant?	Y
  Military Flag	Y
  Died	9 Oct 1683	Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts
  Buried	Springfield Cemetery, Hampden, Massachusetts
  	Plot: Willow Avenue 2-97
  Person ID	I39242	Main
  Last Modified	21 Nov 2021

  
  

  Father	William PARSONS,   b. Abt 1580,   d. Bef 19 Mar 1654, Beaminster, Dorsetshire, England  (Age ~ 74 years)
  Mother	Margaret HOSKINS,   d. Apr 1655, Beaminster, Dorsetshire, England
  Married	15 Nov 1602	Beaminster, Dorsetshire, England
  Family ID	F27876	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Mary “Polly” BLISS,   b. Abt 1628, England ,   d. 29 Jan 1712, Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts  (Age ~ 84 years)
  Married	26 Nov 1646	Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut
  Children	1. Joseph PARSONS,   b. 1 Nov 1647, Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts ,   d. Nov 1729, Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts  (Age 82 years)   2. Benjamin PARSONS,   b. 22 Jun 1649, Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts ,   d. 22 Jun 1649, Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts  (Age 0 years)   3. John PARSONS,   b. 14 Aug 1650, Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts ,   d. 15 Apr 1728, Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts  (Age 77 years)   4. Samuel PARSONS,   b. 23 Jan 1652, Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts ,   d. 12 Nov 1734, Durham, Middlesex, Connecticut  (Age 82 years)   5. Ebenezer PARSONS,   b. 1655, Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts ,   d. 8 Sep 1675, Northfield, Franklin, Massachusetts  (Age 20 years)   6. Jonathan PARSONS,   b. 6 Jun 1657, Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts ,   d. Dec 1694  (Age 37 years)   7. David PARSONS,   b. 30 Apr 1659, Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts ,   d. Abt 1659, Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts   8. Mary PARSONS,   b. 27 Jun 1661, Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts ,   d. 23 Aug 1711  (Age 50 years)   9. Hannah PARSONS,   b. 1 Aug 1663, Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts ,   d. 1 Apr 1739  (Age 75 years)   10. Abigail PARSONS,   b. 3 Sep 1666, Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts ,   d. 27 Jun 1689, Dover, Strafford, New Hampshire  (Age 22 years)   11. Esther PARSONS,   b. 11 Sep 1669, Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts ,   d. 11 Sep 1669, Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts  (Age 0 years)   12. Benjamin PARSONS,   b. 11 Sep 1669, Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts ,   d. 11 Sep 1669, Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts  (Age 0 years)   13. Hester PARSONS,   b. 24 Dec 1672, Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts ,   d. 1760  (Age 87 years)
  Last Modified	4 Jul 2016
  Family ID	F27852	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map		Died - 9 Oct 1683 - Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Photos

  parson-joseph-house House of Cornet Joseph Parsons at Northampton, MA, built in 1658

  
  

• Notes

  JOSEPH PARSONS is believed to have been the first of the name in America. He was known as Comet Joseph, from the military title which he, in later years, bore; the Cornet being the color-bearer and third in command in a British troop or regi­ment of cavalry. The best attainable evidence is that he was born at or near Great Torrington, Devonshire, England, about 1618, and came to America about 1635, possibly earlier. On July 15, 1636, he was a witness to the deed of cession made by the In­dians to William Pynchon and others of a large tract of land on both sides of the Connecticut River, then called Agawan but later Springfield, the consideration being 18 yards of wampum, 18 coats, 18 hatchets, 18 hoes and 18 knives, a copy of which deed can be seen in the recorder's office in Springfield, Mass. (It is published in full in Vol. 15, New England Hist. and Biog. Regis­ter, pp. 1-141.) At that time he was about seventeen years of age, as he testified at the March term of the court at Northamp­ton, in 166.:a, on proof of said deed. This deed was made but sixteen years after the landing of the Pilgrims, and but six years after the first settlement of Boston. Munsell's "American An­cestry" states that Joseph Parsons came over with William Pynchon, the leader of the Springfield colonists, who was one of the patentees of the grant by the Crown to the Massachusetts Bay Company, and a fellow passenger with Winthrop, who came over in 1630. It is probable that he was a protege and possibly a relative of Pynchon, which would account for their intimate social and business relations, both with him and later with his son, John Pynclion. In 1646 Joseph's younger brother, Benjamin, known in history as Deacon Benjamin, first appeared in Spring­field, where he and his family continued to reside for the greater part of his life. He was a man of great ability and purity of character, and who exerted a wide influence in laying the foundation of a Christian state. On Nov. 2, 1646 (0. S.), Joseph :Par­sons married Mary Bliss, the daughter of Thomas Bliss, of Hart­ford, Conn., who was a s/o Thomas Bliss, of Belstone Parish, Devonshire, England, from whom is descended the Bliss family of this country. —— The public records of his day, as well as contemporary writ­ings still in existence, testify to his remarkable activity and force of character. That he was a man of integrity and justice is shown by the trust reposed in him in his frequent transactions with the Indians, so necessary in connection with public affairs in those times; while the numerous offices which he filled during his long life testify to the regard of his fellow colonists. He had in an eminent degree those traits which qualified him to be a founder of this new civilization, and a worthy companion among those who made New England known and honored. [2, 3]

  
  

• Sources

  [S151] WikiTree. [S166] PARSONS Family; Descendants of Cornet Joseph Parsons, Henry Parsons, A. M., (Frank Allaben Genealogical Company, Three West Forty-Second Street, New York), 39-40. [S166] PARSONS Family; Descendants of Cornet Joseph Parsons, Henry Parsons, A. M., (Frank Allaben Genealogical Company, Three West Forty-Second Street, New York), 42.