Samuel Parsons and Parsons family papers, 1703-1865 | WorldCat.org (original) (raw)

Summary:Primarily correspondence and legal papers of Samuel H. Parsons of Lyme, Connecticut, a general during the Revolutionary War, agent for the Ohio Company, and later surveyor general and chief judge of the Northwest Territory, which consisted of land east of the Mississippi, and between the Ohio River and the Great Lakes. Parsons also was involved in forging treaties with the Indians. His correspondence includes letters to his wife and children, as well as letters to William Samuel Johnson, Jeremiah Wadsworth, Thomas Mumford, and General Heath. Many of the letters concern the prosecution of the war, and in several case refer to prisoners and deserters. Incoming letters were from Silas Deane, Benjamin Huntington, General Knox, and Richard Butler. Parson's will and estate records are included in the collection. Samuel H. Parsons married Mehitable Mather. They had children William Walter, Lucia who married Titus Hosmer, Thomas, Enoch, Mehitable, Phebe, Samuel H., and Margaret. Correspondence to and from the children are included in the collection, in particular descriptions of his travels through Pennsylvania and Ohio. Enoch Parsons had children Mary Sullivan, Enoch Thomas, Samuel Holden, and Henry Ethelbert. He was president of the United States Bank in Middletown, Connecticut, and several of his letters concern his activities with the bank. He is also represented by his will. Enoch's son Samuel H. was a lawyer and actively invested in land and the railroad in New York State and Ohio. Of particular interest and not directly related to the family are two letters to Nehemiah Hubbard from Nathanael Greene and two early deeds for Middletown. The collection also includes two copies of documents signed by George Washington, copies of original town meeting records for Hartford, 1635-1754 in the hand of George Wyllys, a deposition by Andrew Bennet, 1781, correspondence of Samuel H. Parsons, 1889-1906, and some printed materials