Parsons Family Papers
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Abstract
The Parsons Family Papers contains correspondence and memorabilia. The correspondence is generally among family members, particularly letters from eldest daughter Mary Parsons, and describes their trips abroad, their life in New York City and Lenox, Massachusetts, and general family relationships.
Biographical Note
John Edward Parsons was born in 1829 in New York City to Edward Lamb Parsons and Matilda Clark Parsons. He attended a private school in Rye, New York and graduated from New York University in 1848. Parsons continued his schooling with a Master's degree at NYU in 1851 and was admitted to the bar in 1854. He formed a legal partnership with Lorenzo B. Shepard and became his assistant when Shepard was named District Attorney in 1854. Parsons was a partner in the law firm Man & Parsons as well as in Parsons, Shepard, & Ogden which became Parsons, Closson, & McIlvaine in 1902. In addition to his legal career, Parsons was also recognized for his efforts to reform the corruption of Tammany Hall and for his philanthropic work with the New York Cancer Hospital, the Woman's Hospital, Cooper Union, the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, and the American Bible Society.
On November 5, 1856 John E. Parsons married Mary Dumesnil McIlvaine, the daughter of Bowes Reed McIlvaine and Catherine Dumesnil. Together they six children who lived to adulthood: Mary (1864-1940), Edith (1865-1942), Helen (1867-1892), Herbert (1869-1925), Gertrude (1870-1927), and Constance (1873-?). John E. Parsons's successful career and his efforts for civic and political reform brought further social respect to the family. The family members divided time between their home in New York City and Stoneover, their estate in Lenox, Massachusetts. In 1896, Mary Dumesnil McIlvaine Parsons died and John E. Parsons remarried to Florence Bishop in 1901. He had no children with his second wife. In 1915 after only a short illness, John E. Parsons died of the lung disease pleurisy.
The oldest daughter Mary never married and lived at Stoneover after her father's death. She was active in wildlife preservation and in several Lenox and New York City charities until her death in 1940. Edith married David Percy Morgan and had four children, and Helen died unmarried at the age of twenty-five. Herbert became a Republican, unlike his father, and was a member of the House of Representatives from 1905 to 1911. He had four children with his wife, anthropologist and folklorist Elsie Clews, and died suddenly in 1925 from injuries sustained while riding his son's motorcycle. Gertrude Parsons also never married and lived at Stoneover with her sister Mary until her death while traveling in Perugia, Italy in 1927. Constance married attorney Montgomery Hare and had two children.
Arrangement
The correspondence in the collection is arranged by family member and then chronologically. The memorabilia is grouped by type of material.
The papers are organized into the following series:
Missing Title
- Series I: Correspondence
- Series II: Memorabilia
Scope and Content Note
The Parsons Family Papers consists of correspondence between family members and a small amount of family memorabilia. The material largely documents the travels of Mary Parsons, the eldest daughter of John E. Parsons, and her reactions to her trips abroad. Nearly all of the collection is personal or family related, and there is no material relating to the career of attorney John E. Parsons or his congressman son, Herbert. The collection is mostly correspondence from Mary Parsons to other family members. Her letters record her travels, her daily life at home in New York City or Lenox, and familial relations. The collection also contains letters to Mary Parsons and Constance Parsons Hare, as well as general correspondence among the Parsons family. One folder of correspondence contains letters dated 1824 from Bowes Reed McIlvaine to Catherine Dumesnil (the parents of Mary Dumesnil McIlvaine) shortly before their wedding. The collection also contains memorabilia from the Parsons family.
List of Places From Which Mary Parsons Writes:
Subjects
People
Access Restrictions
Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.
Use Restrictions
Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.
Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.
Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions
Preferred Citation
This collection should be cited as the Parsons Family Papers, MS 481, the New-York Historical Society.
Location of Materials
About this Guide
Edition of this Guide
Repository
Series I: Correspondence, 1824-1956
Scope and Contents note
The correspondence in this collection mainly consists of personal letters by the eldest daughter Mary Parsons (often referred to as Mamie or M.P.) to members of her immediate family, particularly her sisters. Almost every letter in the collection is followed by a typed copy that was presumably completed by a later relative. Although some of the typewritten copies are not completely accurate, they often include helpful notes explaining the context of the letters. The letters are arranged chronologically.
Many of the letters are from Mary while she is traveling abroad and include observations on the customs and manners of the people she encounters. She comments and often makes judgments on the nationality, religion, appearance, and clothing styles of natives of the countries she is visiting ,as well as of her fellow travelers. She also reports gossip and hearsay surrounding the European royalty and upper class. Her other letters from her home in New York City or Stoneover in Lenox, Massachusetts speak of everyday events and family news such as trouble with servants and the health of various family members. Many of the letters to Mary and the letters among the members of the Parsons family were also sent from abroad.
The last folder in this series contains correspondence from 1824 from Bowes Reed McIlvaine in Louisville, Kentucky to Catherine Dumesnil (the parents of Mary Dumesnil McIlvaine). In the letters, Bowes Reed discusses their impending marriage and urges his wife-to-be to write him more often.
From Mary Parsons, 1889, inclusive
From Mary Parsons, 1893, inclusive
From Mary Parsons, 1894 Nov.- 1895 Feb.
From Mary Parsons, 1895 Mar.-1895 May
From Mary Parsons to her Parents Abroad, 1896, inclusive
From Mary Parsons, 1901, inclusive
From Mary Parsons, 1906-1910, inclusive
From Mary Parsons, 1923-1928, inclusive
From Mary Parsons, 1929-1933, inclusive
From Mary Parsons, 1934-1935, inclusive
From Mary Parsons, 1936, inclusive
From Mary Parsons, 1937, inclusive
From Mary Parsons, 1938, inclusive
From Mary Parsons, 1939 Jan.-1939 June
From Mary Parsons, 1939 Aug.-1939 Dec.
From Mary Parsons at home in Lenox, Massachusetts or in New York City, undated
From Mary Parsons at home in Lenox, Massachusetts or in New York City, undated
From Mary Parsons in France, undated
From Mary Parsons in Holland and Italy, undated
From Mary Parsons in Great Britain, undated
To Mary Parsons from Various Correspondents, 1893-1939, inclusive
To Mary Parsons from Various Correspondents, undated
Correspondence to Constance Parsons Hare from Various Correspondents, 1937, 1956, inclusive
Correspondence Among Parsons Family, 1889-1932, inclusive
Correspondents Unidentified, undated
From Bowes Reed McIlvaine to Catherine Dumesnil, 1824, inclusive
Series II: Memorabilia, 1872-1938
Scope and Contents note
This series contains personal items saved by the Parsons family. It includes memorabilia relating to travel, such as the passports of Mary Parsons, handwritten lists of personal travel expenses, unwritten postcards, and a ship passenger list from 1925. This series also contains items unrelated to travel such as photographs, poems, a list of potential characters in a play, menus of food to be served, and a 1938 short essay by Daniel Berkeley Updike on Edith Wharton's time in Lenox, Massachusetts.