On Friday the 18th of August 1939 Ulysses Grant Parsons was laid to rest in the Claquato Cemetery.
Ulysses was my 7th cousin 3 times removed. We share my 9th Great Grandfather, Thomas Bliss. He was born in June 1863 to Henry Charles and Abigail (Buck) Parsons. Ulysses sister Wealtha Chase Parsons is the grandmother of a man known as John Wayne.
He grew up helping his father on the family farm in Sumner, Warren County, Illinois. He met and fell in love with Eva Graham and on 4 October 1887 he married her. By 1900 the young couple had moved to the Township of Jackson in Hall County, Nebraska and began farming. In 1910 they were in Humboldt in Richardson County, Nebraska and Ulysses was working in a Lumberyard as a Salesman. Ulysses and his family made one last move to Chehalis in Lewis County, Washington were he was a salesman in the grocery business.
On Tuesday 15 August 1939 Ulysses went out into the woods about 6 miles from his home in Chehalis to cut some wood for his home for the up coming fall and winter. After he failed to come home a search was made and he was found dead in the woods presumably by heart attack.
He left a wife, a son and a daughter.
Monday, December 24, 2018
Sunday, December 23, 2018
Morris Lee Maddux - Shot
In 1925 Christmas day was on a Friday. School was out, a weekend loomed ahead, there was no rain, no snow and the temperature was about 51. Morris Lee Maddux who was 14 and three of his friends decided to go on a hunting trip to Ferris Texas. Ferris is about 20 miles south of Dallas. If you have ever traveled North on Interstate 45 to Dallas or South to Houston you have passed through Ferris. Morris lived in Palmer Texas which is about 9 miles south of Ferris and sits just off of Interstate 45.
Morris and his friends reached Ferris on Saturday and set up camp. They were in high spirits, and loaded with new hunting weapons, ammunition, warm clothing and homemade treats. They filled their days with hunting and their nights with tales of the days adventures.
Monday evening things went very wrong for the boys. One of the boys had left his shotgun out in the brush away from the camp site. It was supposed to have been unloaded, empty, and just set aside. It was not. They went back for the gun and as boys will be boys a scuffle started and the shotgun went off.
By now the sun had set and the sky was getting darker. Morris lay on the ground blood pooling around his left side. He had been shot. His friends get him to a hospital in Ferris where he dies less than 2 hours later. The funeral was on Wednesday at 2:30 and Morris was buried in Palmer at Palmer Cemetery.
Morris was the son of Greenwood and Freddie Maddux. He is my 7th cousin 3 times removed. In simpler terms we share a very great grandfather. Alexander Maddux 1613 - 1659.
Morris and his friends reached Ferris on Saturday and set up camp. They were in high spirits, and loaded with new hunting weapons, ammunition, warm clothing and homemade treats. They filled their days with hunting and their nights with tales of the days adventures.
Monday evening things went very wrong for the boys. One of the boys had left his shotgun out in the brush away from the camp site. It was supposed to have been unloaded, empty, and just set aside. It was not. They went back for the gun and as boys will be boys a scuffle started and the shotgun went off.
By now the sun had set and the sky was getting darker. Morris lay on the ground blood pooling around his left side. He had been shot. His friends get him to a hospital in Ferris where he dies less than 2 hours later. The funeral was on Wednesday at 2:30 and Morris was buried in Palmer at Palmer Cemetery.
Morris was the son of Greenwood and Freddie Maddux. He is my 7th cousin 3 times removed. In simpler terms we share a very great grandfather. Alexander Maddux 1613 - 1659.
Monday, December 10, 2018
Mary Bliss Parsons - Witch
Witch.
Witch they called her.
Mary Bliss Parsons, my 9th Great Aunt was accused on more than one occasion of being a witch. Mary was a daughter of the wealthy prominent Bliss family. She was the wife of Joseph Parsons and mother of 14 children. Her husband was a hard working, business savvy, honorable man who acquired great wealth. He had connections with prominent people and made good investments. They had a large home and were very wealthy.
In 1656 Mary and her family moved from Springfield Massachusetts to Northampton Massachusetts. Soon after they settled in jealous neighbors started to whisper rumors that Mary had made a pact with Satan and she was a witch. Whenever livestock died, or children or spouses became ill neighbors would claim it was Mary casting spells because they had a disagreement or argument with her. If anyone had a disagreement with any member of the Bliss or Parsons family and something tragic happened they blamed Mary. The daughter of a neighbor became angry at her mother and decided to pretend illness to retaliate against her mother. Mary was accused of putting a spell on the girl. Mary's husband immediately brought slander charges upon the neighbors and after Mary was found not guilty at trial neighbors publicly apologized.
18 years later the charge of witch was again cast at Mary by the same neighbors when their spouses died. The trial was held in Boston and Mary spent three months in jail while awaiting trial and during the trial. She was acquitted.
After the trial Mary Bliss Parsons and her family moved back to Springfield Massachusetts where Mary lived until her death in 1712.
I am not going to write a lot about this as there are brilliant articles and books on these events everywhere. Especially this book,
Witch-Hunting in Seventeenth-Century New England: A Documentary History 1638–1693
and
SILENCING THE WOMEN: The Witch Trials of Mary Bliss Parsons - Kathy-Ann Becker.
Witch they called her.
Mary Bliss Parsons, my 9th Great Aunt was accused on more than one occasion of being a witch. Mary was a daughter of the wealthy prominent Bliss family. She was the wife of Joseph Parsons and mother of 14 children. Her husband was a hard working, business savvy, honorable man who acquired great wealth. He had connections with prominent people and made good investments. They had a large home and were very wealthy.
In 1656 Mary and her family moved from Springfield Massachusetts to Northampton Massachusetts. Soon after they settled in jealous neighbors started to whisper rumors that Mary had made a pact with Satan and she was a witch. Whenever livestock died, or children or spouses became ill neighbors would claim it was Mary casting spells because they had a disagreement or argument with her. If anyone had a disagreement with any member of the Bliss or Parsons family and something tragic happened they blamed Mary. The daughter of a neighbor became angry at her mother and decided to pretend illness to retaliate against her mother. Mary was accused of putting a spell on the girl. Mary's husband immediately brought slander charges upon the neighbors and after Mary was found not guilty at trial neighbors publicly apologized.
18 years later the charge of witch was again cast at Mary by the same neighbors when their spouses died. The trial was held in Boston and Mary spent three months in jail while awaiting trial and during the trial. She was acquitted.
After the trial Mary Bliss Parsons and her family moved back to Springfield Massachusetts where Mary lived until her death in 1712.
I am not going to write a lot about this as there are brilliant articles and books on these events everywhere. Especially this book,
Witch-Hunting in Seventeenth-Century New England: A Documentary History 1638–1693
and
SILENCING THE WOMEN: The Witch Trials of Mary Bliss Parsons - Kathy-Ann Becker.
Thursday, December 6, 2018
Samuel Clement Paints
Samuel Clement my 11th Great Uncle was an artist/painter and he lived from 1635 to 1678.
Samuel was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts to Elizabeth and Augustine Clement and who was also an artist/painter, more on him at another time.
Samuel married Hannah English in 1657 and they lived in Boston where in 1658 she passed. He then married a woman named Deborah and they had 4 children.
During the 1670s John Freake had his portrait painted. He lived in Boston not far from the home of Samuel.
The artist is unknown but the painting has been attributed to Samuel Clement. Elizabeth Freake, John's wife also had her portrait painted. In the first version of her she is holding a fan and not 6 month old baby Mary, her youngest daughter.
A portrait of Henry Gibbs
as well as his siblings and a few other portraits are also attributed to Samuel.
In 1679 Samuel's will is probated.
Samuel was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts to Elizabeth and Augustine Clement and who was also an artist/painter, more on him at another time.
Samuel married Hannah English in 1657 and they lived in Boston where in 1658 she passed. He then married a woman named Deborah and they had 4 children.
During the 1670s John Freake had his portrait painted. He lived in Boston not far from the home of Samuel.
The artist is unknown but the painting has been attributed to Samuel Clement. Elizabeth Freake, John's wife also had her portrait painted. In the first version of her she is holding a fan and not 6 month old baby Mary, her youngest daughter.
A portrait of Henry Gibbs
as well as his siblings and a few other portraits are also attributed to Samuel.
In 1679 Samuel's will is probated.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)