(4) III. (5) IV.

(6) V. (14) (7) VI.

(24)

brook, as they were passing from Long Meadow to the town, with an escort under Capt. Nixon. The circumstance was long perpetuated by the following distich, but with how much truth we pretend not to say. It is

this:

"Seven Indians, and one without a gun,

Caused Captain Nixon and forty men to run."

Mary, b. Dec. 10, 1660, at Springfield, Jan. 27, 1662.
Abigail, b. Jan. 6, 1662, m. 1. John Mun, Dec. 23, 1680; 2.
John Richards, Oct. 7, 1686.

Samuel, b. Oct. 10, 1666, m. Hannah Hitchcock, March 18,
1683, d. in Enfield, Feb., 1736, a. 70.
Ebenezer, b. Nov. 17, 1668, m. Margaret, dau. of Samuel
and Katherine Marshfield of Springfield, and grand-
daughter of Thomas Marshfield, who came from Exeter,
England, with Rev. Mr. Warham, and settled in Wind-
sor, Ct.
Mr. Parsons d. at Springfield, Sept. 23, 1752, a.
84. His wife d. June 12, 1758, a. 87, as is to be seen on
her tombstone in West Springfield, together with these

lines:

The hope of life immortal
bloom, Dispel ye grave's
most hideous gloom
Christ on ye Resurection

day his Saints with glory shall array.

Mr. Parsons was highly respected, was Deacon of the Congregational church in West Springfield fifty-two years, which terminated at his decease.

(8) VII. Mary,2 b. Dec. 17, 1670, m. Thomas Richards, Oct. 21, 1691. (9) VIII. Hezekiah,2 b. Nov. 24, 1673, m. Hannah, dau. of Eliakim

Cooley of Springfield, Feb. 20, 1701. [There is a curious entry on the Springfield records concerning this match.] They resided in Enfield and Suffield, Ct. He d. July 11, 1748.

(10) IX. Joseph, b. Dec., 1675, m. Abigail Phelps, Sept. 15, 1697. He resided in West Springfield.

Benjamin,
(11) I.
(12) II.

(13) III.

(3) of Enfield, who m. Sarah Keep, had,

John, b. in Enfield, Nov. 19, 1684, d. there May 9, 1717, a. 33. Benjamin, b. March 1, 1688, was of Enfield, Ct., where he d. unmarried, July 4, 1734, a. 46.

Christopher, b. Jan. 28, 1691, m. Mary Pease of Enfield, April 22, 1714, d. Sept. 10, 1747, a. 56. They had twelve children, born between March 1, 1715, and Dec. 23, 1740; eight sons and four daughters. The sons were John, Christopher, Benjamin, Joseph, Ebenezer, Benjamin,* Jabez, Noah, John, m. Ann Colton at Enfield and had John, Ebenezer," Jabez, and Oliver," who d. at Peekskill in 1777, in the Revolutionary war.

Christopher, m. Mary, dau. of Samuel Pease, and had among other children, Asahel' and Christopher."

Benjamin, m. Sophia Pease, and had Simeon, Mary," and John. He lived at Enfield.

Joseph, m. Rebecca Allen of Enfield, Ct., and had Joseph, and Jabez, and three daughters. Joseph' had a large family in Enfield.

(14) V.

Sarah, of whom we have no account but of her death, July 8, 1729.

Samuel2 (6) of Enfield, who m. Hannah, dau. of Luke Hitchcock of

(15) I.

(16) II.

(17) III.

(18) IV. (19) V.

(20) VI.

(21) VII.
(22) VIII.

(23) IX. (24) X.

Springfield, had,

John, b. July 23, 1693, m. Thankful Root of Enfield, June 20, 1716. They had seven children, among whom were John, Moses, and Thomas.*

Luke, b. Jan. 4, 1696, m. Sarah Osborn, Sept. 13, 1716, at Enfield. They had seven children, one of whom was a son, Luke, b. April 17, 1724.

Hezekiah, b. April 13, 1698, m. Rebecca Burt, Nov. 15,

1723, d. 1751. He had, besides other children, Heze-
kiah, David,* Eldad,' and Charles.*

Hannah, b. Aug. 2, 1700, m. Nath'l Horton, March 3, 1720.
Nathaniel, b. Dec. 28, 1702, m. Mary Pease, Dec. 18, 1725.
He had Nathaniel, Chadwell, who m. Ruth, dau. of
Josiah Ward of Enfield, and Stephen.1
Moses, b. June 10, 1707, m. Hannah, dau. of Samuel Steb.
bins of Springfield, Jan. 13, 1736, d. at Enfield, 1786. He
had 8 children, 4 sons and 4 daughters. Warham1 m.
Mary Pease, and had, besides other children, Martin,3
Warham, and Moses.5

Miriam, b. April 9, 1710, m. Caleb Jones, Nov. 10, 1730.
Samuel,3 b. Nov. 23, 1690, (at Springfield) m. Abigail Ran-
dall, Dec. 4, 1713, and had sons, Samuel and Aarou.*
Sarah, b. Nov. 10, 1704, m. Thomas Jones, June 10, 1742.
Daniel, of whom, as yet, nothing appears.

3

Ebenezer,2 (7) of West Springfield, who m. Margaret Marshfield, had, (25) I. Ebenezer, b. at Springfield, Jan. 12, 1691, m. Martha Ely, 1714, d. 1742, leaving 10 children; namely, Martha,* m. John Taylor; Eunice, m. Daniel H. Phelps of Upper Housatonick; Margaret, m. Daniel Foot of Colchester; Mary, m. William Clark of Colchester; Diana1; Ebenezert; Naomi, m. Asaph Leonard; Stephen'; Abigail'; and Seth.*

(26) II.

(27) III. (28) IV.

(29) V.

Margaret, b. Sept. 19, 1693, m. Rev. Daniel Elmer of
Newark, N. J.

Jonathan,3 b. July 15, 1695. Drowned, July 1, 1703.
Benjamin, b. Dec. 15, 1696, m. Martha Bliss, Aug. 15, 1723;

went to Kingston, thence to Palmer, Ms., d. at Swansey,
in the house of his son, Aaron. His wife d. at Palmer,
Ms., July 17, 1760, a. 56. They had 12 children.
Eleanor, m. Elizur Fitch of Monson; David' of Palmer,
Ms.; Tabitha,1 m. Robert McMaster of Palmer, 1766;
Moses, d. at the Havanna in the French war; Israel, d.
in the same war, at Fort Harmer; Aaron of Swansey;
Jonathan, m. Mary, dau. Deacon Joseph Merrick of
Springfield, d. at W. Springfield, May 2, 1810, a. 75. She
d. March 15, 1817, a. 84. Joshua, m. Eleanor Allen, lived
in Palmer, Ms. Abigail, m. Ebenezer Bliss of Belcher-
town. Martha, m. Daniel Worthington, Vt.; Benjamin,*
d. in the French war.

Caleb, b. Dec. 27, 1699, m. Miriam Williston, Oct. 4, 1749. She d. at W. Springfield, July 24, 1760, a. 53, leaving one son, Caleb, b. 1755, d. 1760.

(30) VI.

(31) VII. (33)

(32) VIII.

(33) IX.

Sarah, b. Feb. 4, 1703, m. Pelatiah Hitchcock of Brook-
field, Ms.
Jonathan,3 b. at Springfield, Nov. 30, 1705, grad. at Y. C.
1729, studied theology with Rev. Elisha Williams, Pres-
ident of Y. C., and Rev. Jonathan Edwards of North-
ampton, ordained at Lyme, March 17, 1730, m. Phebe,
dau. of John Griswold of Lyme, and sister of Gov. Mat-
thew Griswold.

In March, 1746, Rev. Mr. Parsons removed to Newburyport, Ms., where he preached until his decease. He d. July 19, 1776, a. 71, and was interred in a tomb under his pulpit, by the side of Rev. George Whitefield, who had died at his house not long before. His wife d. at Newburyport also, Dec. 26, 1770. He m. 2. Mrs. Lydia Clarkson, widow of Andrew Clarkson, Esq., of Portsmouth, N. H. She survived him, and d. April 30, 1778.

Mr. Parsons was author of several occasional and other sermons in pamphlet form, and two volumes of sixty sermons in Svo., advertised as in press at Newburyport, in 1781, by J. Mycall. As extended memoirs have been published of him in several works, it is unnecessary to be more particular at this time.

Abigail, b. Oct. 21, 1708, m. Thomas Day of Springfield,
March 19, 1735.

Katherine, b. Oct. 16, 1715, m. Aaron Taylor of Upper
Housatonick.

Rev. Jonathan Parsons" (31) of Newburyport had 13 children, 6 of
whom d. in infancy. Those who married were,
(34) I.

(35) II.

(36) III.

Marshfield, b. Feb. 7, 1733, lived at Lyme, Ct., d. there Jan. 13, 1813, a. 80. He m. 1. Lois, dau. of Richard Wait, Sen., of Lyme. He m. 2. Abigail Marvin, Nov. 20, 1766. She d. Aug. 22, 1782, a. 35. He m. 3. Abigail Waterman of Norwich, Jan. 15, 1783. She d. March 14, 1793, a. 53. He m. 4. Phebe Griffin, Oct. 10, 1793, widow, and dau. of Pardon Taber of Lyme. He had children only by his first wife. His son John3 m. Joanna, dau. of Joseph Mather of Lyme. By a second wife, Lois, dau. of Richard Wait, Jr., he had 12 children.

Jonathan, b. April 25, 1735, m. Hannah, dau. of Samuel
Gyles of Salisbury, Aug. 26, 1756. They had 10 chil-
dren, 4 of whom were sons, and all d. unmarried. Elis-
abeth5 m. 1. Samuel Chandler, 2. John Mycall. Hannah
m. Abraham Jackson, and had Ellen and Isaac Rand";
the latter d. July 27, 1842, at Copenhagen, while U. S.
Chargé d'Affaires, a. 37. He m. Louisa C. Carroll of
Philadelphia, granddaughter of Charles Carroll of Carrol-
ton, Md., one of the signers of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence.

Samuel Holden, b. May 14, 1737, at Lyme, Ct., grad. H.
C. 1756; in 1781 he received an honorary degree from
Y. C., studied law at Lyme in the office of his uncle,
Gov. Matthew Griswold, admitted to the bar in New
London county, 1759, settled at Lyme, was elected
Representative to the General Assembly in 1762, and

successively for eighteen sessions, which brought him to the year 1774, when he received the appointment of King's Attorney, and removed to New London. In 1775 he was appointed Colonel of the sixth Connecticut regiment, and a Brigadier-General by Congress in 1776, Major-General in 1780. In 1779 he succeeded Gen. Putnam in the command of the Connecticut line of the Continental army, and served in the Revolutionary army as Major-General until the close of the war. He was an active member of the Convention of Connecticut in January, 1788, which ratified the Constitution of the United States, and was elected President of the "Society of Cincinnati" of Connecticut. In 1785 he was appointed by Congress a Commissioner to treat with the Indians at Miami. In 1788 he was appointed and commissioned by President Washington, first Judge of the North West Territory, which included the present States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan; and while holding that office, was, in 1789, appointed by the State of Connecticut a Commissioner to hold a treaty with the Wyandots and other tribes of Indians on Lake Erie, for extinguish. ing the aboriginal title to the Connecticut Western Reserve." While returning to his residence at Marietta from this service, he was drowned by the overturning of his boat in descending the rapids of the Big Beaver river, Nov. 17, 1789, a. 52.

Gen. Parsons m. Mehetabel, dau. of Richard Mather of Lyme, (a lineal descendant of Rev. Richard Mather of Dorchester,) Sept. 10, 1761. She was b. in Lyme, March 7, 1743, d. Aug. 7, 1802, and was buried at Middletown, Ct. The children of Gen. Parsons were, 1. William Walter, b. July 5, 1762, m. Esther, dau. of Thompson Phillips of Middletown, d. Jan. 24, 1801, leaving children, Esther Phillips, m. to William Hammet of Bangor, and Thomas, who d. young. 2. Lucia, b. Nov. 8, 1764, m. Hon. Stephen Titus Hosmer, Chief-Justice of Connecticut. They had 4 sons and 6 daughters. All the sons d. young, except Oliver Eilsworth, who m. Ann P. Hawes of N. York. 3. Thomas, who d. young. 4. ENOCH,5 whose biography was given in the April number of this work. He was b. Nov. 5, 1769, m. 1. Mary Wyley Sullivan, May 19, 1795. She was dau. of John Sullivan of London, and b. in Philadelphia, Nov. 9, 1772, d. at Middletown, July 2, 1807. He m. 2. Mrs. Sarah Rosecrants, dau. of Nehemiah Hubbard of Middletown, by whom he had one son, Henry Ethelbert, who m. Abby C., dau. of John Welles of Ann Arbor, Michigan; and a dau., Mary Sullivan, m. James, son of Robert Dickson of London, Eng., d. at Philadelphia, Dec. 15, 1841. The next of the children of Gen. Parsons was, 5. Mehetabel," b. Dec. 24, 1772, m. William B. Hall, M. D., of Middletown, d. Nov. 1, 1823, a. 51, leaving, 1. William Brenton®; 2. Samuel Holden Parsons" of Binghampton, N. Y. 6. Phebe, b. Jan. 25, 1775, at N. London, m. Samuel Tif

(37) IV.

(38) V. (39) VI.

fen, had a dan., m. to L. T. Clark of Philadelphia. 7. Samuel Holden, b. Dec. 31, 1777, m. Esther, dau. of Giles Page of Middletown, d. in the West Indies, leaving a dau., Mary Ann, m. to William C. Hammet of Howland, Me. 8. Margaret Ann. 9. Margaret, b. 1785, m. 1. Stephen Hubbard of Middletown, who settled at Champion, N. Y., where he d. 1812. 2. Alfred Lathrop of Champion and W. Carthage, N. Y.

Thomas, b. April 28, 1739, m. 1. Mary Gibson, and had one
son, Jonathan G., who d. without issue. He m. 2. Sarah
Sawyer of Newbury, and had, 1. Sarah,5 m. to Gorham
Parsons, late a merchant of Boston, whose father was
brother to the late JUDGE THEOPHILUS PARSONS of Bos-
ton, descended from that branch of the family settled at
Gloucester, Ms., the ancestor of which was Jeffrey Par-
sons, whose pedigree we propose to trace hereafter; 2.
Ann, m. Fitz- William Sargent of Gloucester, Ms.; 3.
Mary, m. Ignatius Sargent; 4.5 m. Samuel Torrey
of Boston.

Phebe, b. at Newburyport, March 6, 1748, m. Capt. Eben-
ezer Lane of Boston, had no children, d. 1781.
Lucia, b. at Newburyport, Dec. 23, 1752, m. Capt. Joseph
Tappan of that place, d. there in 1815, a. 63, leaving 7
children; 1. Thomas P.5; 2. Phebe Griswold"; 3. Sarah';
4. John Pike; 5. Richards; 6. Joseph'; and 7. Thomas
Parsons."

(40) VII. Lydia, b. April 3, 1755, m. Moses, son of Hon. Jonathan Greenleaf of Newburyport, Sept. 17, 1776, and had children, 1. Moses, 2. Clarina Parsons, 3. Ebenezer, 4. Simon, b. Dec. 5, 1783, the distinguished attorney and professor of law in II. C., 5. Jonathan, a clergyman of Brooklyn, N. Y., and author of a memoir of Rev. Jonathan Parsons in the American Quarterly Register, also of Ecclesiastical Sketches of Maine.

HUGH PARSONS appears on the town records of Springfield, 27. 8, (27 Oct.) 1645. How long before that he was resident there does not appear, though it is quite probable he was among the first inhabitants. Whether HUGH were a brother of Benjamin and Joseph, or what relationship he may have borne to them, nothing has yet come to our knowledge to enable us to determine; yet he was probably the older brother of those, and so we shall consider him until we are otherwise assured. Mr. Parsons married Mary Lewis on the date above mentioned, by whom he had,

I. SAMUEL, b. Oct. 4, 1648, d. Oct. 4, 1649.
II. JOSHUA, b. Oct. 26, 1650, d. June 4, 1651.

About this point of time began the troubles and trials of this devoted family, and here, on the Springfield town records stands the following sad entry:

"Joshua Parsons, son of Hugh was killed by Mary Parsons his wife, 4. 1. 1651."

Singular as it may now seem, and notwithstanding the above entry, fair and legible at this day upon the records, an attempt was soon after made to throw the cause of the death of the son upon the father, and