Elisha Edward Parsons was born in the hills of western Jefferson County, Alabama, on August 12, 1856, the fourth of six children of William Buford and Esther C. (McAlister) Parsons. For this branch of the Parsons family, Alabama was just one stop on their way west. Elisha's grandparents, Joseph Kirby and Sarah (Nabors) Parsons, were both natives of Laurens County, South Carolina. Their migration began in the 1830s with a move to central Alabama, where members of the family had lived since as early as 1819. By the outbreak of the Civil War they had decided to relocate again, traveling to Arkansas with their large extended family and stopping near Old Austin in Prairie County. Family stories tell that while Joseph Kirby and several of his children stayed near Old Austin, his son William Buford continued farther west, eventually stopping at Dardanelle on the Arkansas River. It is believed their ultimate destination may have been the Ft. Smith area, where Esther Parsons had McAlister relatives living. Descendants relate that one afternoon in 1861 Esther told her children to go outside and tend to their chores, the older siblings charged with attending to the younger. In a short time they returned to the house to find Esther lying on the bed, lifeless, leaving Elisha motherless at the age of five. About this same time his oldest sister, Mary Amanda, died as well of unknown causes. Faced with the prospect of raising five young sons alone, William Buford headed east with his children (Alyes Andrew, James William, Elisha Edward, Hiram Lawson, and Francis Marion), returning to Old Austin to be near the rest of his family.
Faulkner County had not yet been created when the Parsons family arrived in 1866. The land they chose was then in Conway County, in the center of what would become Harve Township. Parsons was about 10 years old and would have spent much of his time helping to carve a home out of the land. With his wife dead, William Buford would have had the burden of building a home for five sons between the ages of 6 and 15 in addition to helping his aging parents establish themselves, so the children would have been expected to do their share of the work. Once homes were constructed, they were able to see to the religious and intellectual needs of the family. Joseph Kirby Parsons was a Class Leader in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and soon he led his family in joining the congregation at Oakland, a small Methodist station just south of their new home in the Holland community. The log building served the community as both a church and school, and the children in the extended family (including Elisha) attended classes there, sitting on backless, split-log benches and holding their lessons in their laps.
The first few years in Holland for the Parsons family required perseverance. There was the challenge of simply erecting shelter and making a living. The Civil War had just recently ended, and in this part of Arkansas bands of "bushwhackers" were an ever-present threat. At one point after arriving in the area, the family was robbed of the few items of value they had brought with them, only to find them, along with Joseph Kirby's felt hat, shoved in a hollow tree trunk in the nearby woods. Descendants recount that upon finding their belongings, Joseph Kirby was heard to proclaim, "By shots! That's my hat." But beyond helping to meet the family's basic material needs, young Elisha also had to learn to deal with the frequent occurrence of death. Having lost his mother and sister when he was only five, he was no stranger to the anguish of losing loved ones, especially to illness. In 1867, only a year after arriving in their new home, the family was stricken again with the loss of young child. About 1903 Parsons recorded the events surrounding the death of his youngest brother (transcribed as written):
"in Aug. 1867 Wm. Parsons and his son Marion seven yairs old one Sunday evening went for a walk out a round Oakland Chapel church and little Marion Parsons pict out his bairing ground and his Father taken notes to it and the next month little Marion taken a chill one morning a bout the midel of September and died in a bout 6 hours and his father remembered a bout what he had said a bout his bairing ground and his father had him baired at Oakland Chapel church and in June 1872 little Marions Father died and was baired by his side. Be it remembered that little Marion Parsons was the first grave at Oakland Chapel cemetery."
The 1870 census suggests that circumstances continued to be tenuous for Parsons. He is recorded twice in Newton Township--once with his father and brothers and once as a domestic servant in the household of J. M. Brady. Working as a laborer for Brady may have allowed Parsons to supplement his family's income. It may also have been a means for him to broaden his horizons, allowing him the opportunity to pursue a different path in life than simply remaining on the farm.
By 1875, Joseph Kirby and his remaining children had also died and were buried at Oakland, leaving Parsons with only an elderly grandmother and three brothers in his immediate family. Before his death, William Buford advised his sons "to live together" and "be kind to each other", admonishing them to remain in agreement with one another when having to conduct business, relying on the guidance of the oldest brother, Alyes. Elisha Parsons was not quite 16 when his father died and, with little other than familial connections to keep him in the area, it was not long before he struck out into the world to pursue a career.
Exactly where Parsons obtained his skills as a carpenter or the tools with which he plied his trade is not known. As early as 1876 he was engaged in various carpentry jobs around the growing town of Conway, at first possibly as an apprentice to an older, more experienced carpenter. In one of his earliest ledgers he recorded a wide variety of jobs he performed, from framing and building houses, hauling lumber and other building materials, whitewashing houses and fences, building and hanging gates, and laying stone floors, to working with Richard H. Waterman on jobs on the courthouse grounds. Details of his partnership with Waterman are scant, but it is clear that the two men were given the contract to build Faulkner County's first courthouse in 1878. Waterman was born possibly in the St. Louis, Missouri, area about 1839 and appears in census records throughout his life as a carpenter. He may have taken the younger Parsons under his wing and taught him the skills needed to fulfill the types of jobs in demand around Conway. Parsons' work as a carpenter also led to a chance meeting with a then unknown George W. Donaghey. In his book Carpenter from Conway, historian Calvin R. Ledbetter Jr. relates an encounter between the future architect and Arkansas governor and a "friendly young carpenter" on a construction site around Conway. The carpenter was impressed by Donaghey's willingness to learn the trade and hired him at $1.50 a day. Though not specifically named by Donaghey, descendants of Elisha Parsons have related the story that he was the "friendly young carpenter". (This is supported by remarks in the 1934 Log Cabin Democrat article. According to family oral history, Parsons and Donaghey remained friends and it is believed that Donaghey may have accompanied Parsons and his son Ed when they traveled to the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.)
Parsons appears on the 1880 census in Conway, boarding along with four other career-minded men--a machinist, a lawyer, another carpenter, and a railroad clerk. In the early 1880s he made a move to Little Rock and was soon expanding his career from just carpentry work to include working for various foundries as a salesman and installer of cotton gin and sawmill equipment. Advertising himself as a contractor and builder and operating out of an office on 7th Street, between Izard and Chester streets, he would travel by train around central Arkansas representing companies such as D. R. Wing and Co., a foundry and machine shop founded in Little Rock in 1866. Manufacturing steam engines, boilers, sawmills, cotton gins and presses, woodworking machinery, steam pumps and pipe fittings, and brass goods, Wing and Co. would direct Parsons to a potential customer, naming the terms under which a deal could be finalized and paying him a commission for his efforts. Parsons would ensure delivery and installation of parts and machinery and may have performed some of the construction himself. This line of work complimented his partnership with his older brothers Alyes and James in a cotton gin/sawmill/grist mill that they oversaw in the Holland community.
Though he continued to work out of Little Rock throughout the 1880s, Parsons did not lose contact with his family both in and out of Faulkner County. He corresponded regularly with his brothers Alyes and James, staying appraised of business situations concerning the gin, property transactions, the status of family members, and general news items. He also regularly received letters from his first cousin, John W. James (1864-1939), who, like Elisha, was an unmarried professional during this time. James, a teacher who later operated a business college in Conway, routinely updated his cousin about the local social scene. In 1888, Parsons and his brother James traveled back to Alabama for a visit. While there they were able to reconnect with several of their grandfather Parsons' siblings as well as aunts and uncles on their McAlister side of the family. After returning home they remained in contact with various relatives who expressed their desire for Elisha and James to return again.
Life began to change for Parsons as the 1880s drew to a close. In 1889 he accepted a job overseeing the construction of a new church building at Oakland. Parsons had been a member of the church as early as 1872, though upon moving to Conway in the late 1870s he transferred his membership (he transferred his letter of membership back to Oakland in 1891). By 1889 the original log church built in 1863 by James Ford was no longer sufficient to meet the needs of the congregation. A building committee was selected and they chose Parsons as building foreman. In this capacity he directed the labor of men from the congregation and surrounding community, recording in his ledger the time each man spent working on the building. Construction began sometime in August and by the 30th of that month, work was done on the sills and stonework for the foundation. The church's pastor, Rev. John W. Head, reported in the Arkansas Methodist on September 18 that work on the foundation was complete and lumber had been bought to build a structure worth about $800. Parsons continued working on the building throughout the fall of 1889, recording that between August 1 and November 9 he had put in 67 1/2 days towards its completion. Not only did he utilize his contracting skills on the construction of the church building but he also used his talent for carpentry in building the pews and pulpit.
Building the church at Oakland was not the most significant undertaking for Parsons in 1889, however. While in Holland overseeing the church's construction, he boarded at the home of a local widow, Mrs. Mary E. Killough. Mrs. Killough was the daughter of Oakland's founder, James Ford. She and her late husband, William David Killough, had nine children before his death in 1887. By 1889 most of her older children were out on their own, leaving only her youngest two at home, so taking in a boarder was one way to help with income. With her home located about a quarter mile from the church, it was convenient for Parsons to stay there while supervising the construction job. His ledger indicated that the cost of his room & board was credited as her contribution toward the construction project. Though details of their relationship can only be surmised, a bond surely developed between the 33 year old bachelor carpenter and the 41 year old widowed mother of 9, for the two were married on Christmas Day 1889. With a ready family in place, Parsons moved permanently to his new wife's home. Though the older children had already left home, he was now step-father to his wife's youngest children. The couple became parents to their own child in 1891 with the birth of a son, William Edward "Ed" Parsons.
After moving back to Holland, Parsons' life revolved around his involvement in the church and community. At Oakland, the new building was often filled to capacity with the Sunday School and singing crowds. Parsons served as a Sunday School teacher to the youngest group of children for about three decades. When asked to recall their memories of the church nearly 80 years later, students from this class in the early decades of the 20th century recalled the "Card Class" taught by "Uncle Lish" Parsons. "We all called him 'Uncle Lish'," one lady remembered. He used the Olivet Picture cards printed by the Publishing House of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. These cost the church 75¢ a month. The class met at the front of the church on the right hand side, in the "amen corner" as another member recalled.
Oakland also served for many years as the location of the parsonage for the circuit on which it was included. In 1891, the Quarterly Conference for the Mt. Vernon Circuit met at Oakland and appointed Elisha Parsons, Tandy C. Harned, Rev. W. P. Hamilton, and A. H. Connell to a committee charged with locating a site for a parsonage for the circuit. "After consideration the parsonage was located at Holland, the committeeman from said place proposing to give $2.50." Rev. Hamilton, the pastor of the circuit, appointed Parsons, Thomas D. Grisham, Thomas T. West, L. V. Maddox, Francis E. Henry, D. H. Thornton, D. P. Forsythe, E. E. Jones, and Tandy C. Harned to a committee to build the parsonage. Again, Parsons' construction experience came into play. This building was located just south of the frame church at Oakland.
When a death occurred in the community, Parsons (who was the sexton for the cemetery) would ring the bell in the church belfry for a long time to get the attention of the community. He would then pause and toll the bell to announce the time for the funeral, the number of times the bell was tolled indicating the hour of the service. The grave would then be hand dug by men in the community. One individual related that, in the late 1920s or early 1930s, Parsons went to the school at Holland and requested a few students to come and dig a grave. As the boys were dressing down the sides of the grave they noticed the imprints of some rusty hinges in the dirt and the remains of a shoe heel in the bottom of the hole. They asked Parsons what they should do and he replied to just leave them be. The needed grave was already dug and, since there was no possible way of knowing the origins or identity of the interred, to just treat the grave with respect for the presently and previously deceased.
Church work wasn't the only endeavor Parsons was involved with during this time. He continued to work with his brother Alyes in the operation of the cotton gin and grist mill until economic considerations led to the closing of the gin about 1910. During the 1906-1907 ginning season, the brothers processed 426 bales of cotton, but recorded receiving cash payment for only 19 of those bales. In 1917, Parsons was elected secretary of a committee of citizens in the area for the purpose of building a stock dipping vat. The group voted to allow cattle owners to buy into the project for a minimum of $1 and to not charge "widow women" any fee for having their cattle dipped. The vat was built on Parsons' land near the boundary with his neighbor to the north, B. F. Lackey.
Though he had several step-grandchildren by his wife's children, it wasn't until the marriage of his son Ed that the possibility of having a grandchild of his own existed. On November 5, 1916, William Edward Parsons was married to Miss Nettie Arena Smith, daughter of Robert Henry and Mattie Lee (Ruple) Smith of Holland. After a honeymoon in Hot Springs, they made their home with his parents. It was here on July 1, 1918, that Parsons' first grandchild, named Vervian Henry Elisha Parsons, was born.
Following the death of his wife in 1921, Parsons continued to reside with his son Ed and his family. He shared a room with his grandson Vervian, and the two were very close. One story Vervian shared about his grandfather Elisha revealed the latter's kind and generous nature. As a young boy Vervian often went with his grandfather on his weekly trip to Holland for a shave at the barber shop. There was a particular type of candy bar that Vervian especially enjoyed and his grandfather would give him a nickel so that he could purchase one while waiting for his grandfather to get his shave. One Saturday, the nickel was procured, and candy bar purchased and eaten, but the line at the barber shop was longer than usual and his grandfather wasn't ready to return home. As is true with most young children even today, waiting is not a particularly strong character trait, and after a time he decided he would like another candy bar. Bravely he entered the barber shop and asked his grandfather for another nickel. Without hesitation or question the nickel was given. In a time and place where cash money for 'extras' was less common than today and children knew not to expect them unless it was a special occasion, this seemingly small gesture on the part of his grandfather left a lasting impression, enough so that Vervian shared the story with his own grandson over 60 years later.
Throughout the 1920s Parsons continued to work the farm with his son Ed, fulfill his duties at Oakland as Sunday School teacher and sexton for the cemetery, and for a brief time even operated a small business selling gasoline and oil products from the Louisiana Oil Refining Corporation (a surviving sales contract from October 1930 shows that Parsons agreed to purchase between 1,200 and 3,000 gallons of gasoline and sell it for between 16 1/2 and 19 1/2 cents per gallon.) Family continued to be important to Parsons as well. Until the death of his oldest brother Alyes in 1926 it was common for the extended families to have gatherings during the summer, where the two brothers served as patriarchs of a growing number of descendants. Ed and Nettie had another child in 1930, a daughter named Melba. She and Vervian would be the only grandchildren in the family. Though not quite four years old when her grandfather died, Melba's memory of him involves him allowing her to brush his white hair.
Early in 1934, at the age of 77, Parsons decided to apply for a job working on the construction of a new courthouse for Faulkner County (this is the present courthouse). His application drew attention for the fact that he had worked on both the first two structures and now, at his advanced age, was seeking to have a part on the third. An article in the Log Cabin Democrat entitled "Helped Build First Two, Wants Job On Third Courthouse" described him as erect and vigorous in his appearance. Parsons admitted to his skills as a carpenter and desire to have something to show for paying taxes for so long. Unfortunately he did not live to see construction begin on the courthouse. On November 19, 1934, Elisha Parsons passed away of congestive heart failure at his home of nearly a half century. Described as a pioneer citizen of Faulkner County, he was survived by a son, daughter in law, grandson and granddaughter, and brother. He was buried by his wife in Oakland Cemetery, in the community where he resided almost 70 years and across the road from the church building he had helped build.
The above was written in 2015 by Charles D. Parsons, great-great grandson of Elisha E. Parsons. It was published in the Faulkner Facts and Fiddlings, a publication of the Faulkner County Historical Society.
Faulkner County had not yet been created when the Parsons family arrived in 1866. The land they chose was then in Conway County, in the center of what would become Harve Township. Parsons was about 10 years old and would have spent much of his time helping to carve a home out of the land. With his wife dead, William Buford would have had the burden of building a home for five sons between the ages of 6 and 15 in addition to helping his aging parents establish themselves, so the children would have been expected to do their share of the work. Once homes were constructed, they were able to see to the religious and intellectual needs of the family. Joseph Kirby Parsons was a Class Leader in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and soon he led his family in joining the congregation at Oakland, a small Methodist station just south of their new home in the Holland community. The log building served the community as both a church and school, and the children in the extended family (including Elisha) attended classes there, sitting on backless, split-log benches and holding their lessons in their laps.
The first few years in Holland for the Parsons family required perseverance. There was the challenge of simply erecting shelter and making a living. The Civil War had just recently ended, and in this part of Arkansas bands of "bushwhackers" were an ever-present threat. At one point after arriving in the area, the family was robbed of the few items of value they had brought with them, only to find them, along with Joseph Kirby's felt hat, shoved in a hollow tree trunk in the nearby woods. Descendants recount that upon finding their belongings, Joseph Kirby was heard to proclaim, "By shots! That's my hat." But beyond helping to meet the family's basic material needs, young Elisha also had to learn to deal with the frequent occurrence of death. Having lost his mother and sister when he was only five, he was no stranger to the anguish of losing loved ones, especially to illness. In 1867, only a year after arriving in their new home, the family was stricken again with the loss of young child. About 1903 Parsons recorded the events surrounding the death of his youngest brother (transcribed as written):
"in Aug. 1867 Wm. Parsons and his son Marion seven yairs old one Sunday evening went for a walk out a round Oakland Chapel church and little Marion Parsons pict out his bairing ground and his Father taken notes to it and the next month little Marion taken a chill one morning a bout the midel of September and died in a bout 6 hours and his father remembered a bout what he had said a bout his bairing ground and his father had him baired at Oakland Chapel church and in June 1872 little Marions Father died and was baired by his side. Be it remembered that little Marion Parsons was the first grave at Oakland Chapel cemetery."
The 1870 census suggests that circumstances continued to be tenuous for Parsons. He is recorded twice in Newton Township--once with his father and brothers and once as a domestic servant in the household of J. M. Brady. Working as a laborer for Brady may have allowed Parsons to supplement his family's income. It may also have been a means for him to broaden his horizons, allowing him the opportunity to pursue a different path in life than simply remaining on the farm.
By 1875, Joseph Kirby and his remaining children had also died and were buried at Oakland, leaving Parsons with only an elderly grandmother and three brothers in his immediate family. Before his death, William Buford advised his sons "to live together" and "be kind to each other", admonishing them to remain in agreement with one another when having to conduct business, relying on the guidance of the oldest brother, Alyes. Elisha Parsons was not quite 16 when his father died and, with little other than familial connections to keep him in the area, it was not long before he struck out into the world to pursue a career.
Exactly where Parsons obtained his skills as a carpenter or the tools with which he plied his trade is not known. As early as 1876 he was engaged in various carpentry jobs around the growing town of Conway, at first possibly as an apprentice to an older, more experienced carpenter. In one of his earliest ledgers he recorded a wide variety of jobs he performed, from framing and building houses, hauling lumber and other building materials, whitewashing houses and fences, building and hanging gates, and laying stone floors, to working with Richard H. Waterman on jobs on the courthouse grounds. Details of his partnership with Waterman are scant, but it is clear that the two men were given the contract to build Faulkner County's first courthouse in 1878. Waterman was born possibly in the St. Louis, Missouri, area about 1839 and appears in census records throughout his life as a carpenter. He may have taken the younger Parsons under his wing and taught him the skills needed to fulfill the types of jobs in demand around Conway. Parsons' work as a carpenter also led to a chance meeting with a then unknown George W. Donaghey. In his book Carpenter from Conway, historian Calvin R. Ledbetter Jr. relates an encounter between the future architect and Arkansas governor and a "friendly young carpenter" on a construction site around Conway. The carpenter was impressed by Donaghey's willingness to learn the trade and hired him at $1.50 a day. Though not specifically named by Donaghey, descendants of Elisha Parsons have related the story that he was the "friendly young carpenter". (This is supported by remarks in the 1934 Log Cabin Democrat article. According to family oral history, Parsons and Donaghey remained friends and it is believed that Donaghey may have accompanied Parsons and his son Ed when they traveled to the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.)
Parsons appears on the 1880 census in Conway, boarding along with four other career-minded men--a machinist, a lawyer, another carpenter, and a railroad clerk. In the early 1880s he made a move to Little Rock and was soon expanding his career from just carpentry work to include working for various foundries as a salesman and installer of cotton gin and sawmill equipment. Advertising himself as a contractor and builder and operating out of an office on 7th Street, between Izard and Chester streets, he would travel by train around central Arkansas representing companies such as D. R. Wing and Co., a foundry and machine shop founded in Little Rock in 1866. Manufacturing steam engines, boilers, sawmills, cotton gins and presses, woodworking machinery, steam pumps and pipe fittings, and brass goods, Wing and Co. would direct Parsons to a potential customer, naming the terms under which a deal could be finalized and paying him a commission for his efforts. Parsons would ensure delivery and installation of parts and machinery and may have performed some of the construction himself. This line of work complimented his partnership with his older brothers Alyes and James in a cotton gin/sawmill/grist mill that they oversaw in the Holland community.
Though he continued to work out of Little Rock throughout the 1880s, Parsons did not lose contact with his family both in and out of Faulkner County. He corresponded regularly with his brothers Alyes and James, staying appraised of business situations concerning the gin, property transactions, the status of family members, and general news items. He also regularly received letters from his first cousin, John W. James (1864-1939), who, like Elisha, was an unmarried professional during this time. James, a teacher who later operated a business college in Conway, routinely updated his cousin about the local social scene. In 1888, Parsons and his brother James traveled back to Alabama for a visit. While there they were able to reconnect with several of their grandfather Parsons' siblings as well as aunts and uncles on their McAlister side of the family. After returning home they remained in contact with various relatives who expressed their desire for Elisha and James to return again.
Life began to change for Parsons as the 1880s drew to a close. In 1889 he accepted a job overseeing the construction of a new church building at Oakland. Parsons had been a member of the church as early as 1872, though upon moving to Conway in the late 1870s he transferred his membership (he transferred his letter of membership back to Oakland in 1891). By 1889 the original log church built in 1863 by James Ford was no longer sufficient to meet the needs of the congregation. A building committee was selected and they chose Parsons as building foreman. In this capacity he directed the labor of men from the congregation and surrounding community, recording in his ledger the time each man spent working on the building. Construction began sometime in August and by the 30th of that month, work was done on the sills and stonework for the foundation. The church's pastor, Rev. John W. Head, reported in the Arkansas Methodist on September 18 that work on the foundation was complete and lumber had been bought to build a structure worth about $800. Parsons continued working on the building throughout the fall of 1889, recording that between August 1 and November 9 he had put in 67 1/2 days towards its completion. Not only did he utilize his contracting skills on the construction of the church building but he also used his talent for carpentry in building the pews and pulpit.
Building the church at Oakland was not the most significant undertaking for Parsons in 1889, however. While in Holland overseeing the church's construction, he boarded at the home of a local widow, Mrs. Mary E. Killough. Mrs. Killough was the daughter of Oakland's founder, James Ford. She and her late husband, William David Killough, had nine children before his death in 1887. By 1889 most of her older children were out on their own, leaving only her youngest two at home, so taking in a boarder was one way to help with income. With her home located about a quarter mile from the church, it was convenient for Parsons to stay there while supervising the construction job. His ledger indicated that the cost of his room & board was credited as her contribution toward the construction project. Though details of their relationship can only be surmised, a bond surely developed between the 33 year old bachelor carpenter and the 41 year old widowed mother of 9, for the two were married on Christmas Day 1889. With a ready family in place, Parsons moved permanently to his new wife's home. Though the older children had already left home, he was now step-father to his wife's youngest children. The couple became parents to their own child in 1891 with the birth of a son, William Edward "Ed" Parsons.
After moving back to Holland, Parsons' life revolved around his involvement in the church and community. At Oakland, the new building was often filled to capacity with the Sunday School and singing crowds. Parsons served as a Sunday School teacher to the youngest group of children for about three decades. When asked to recall their memories of the church nearly 80 years later, students from this class in the early decades of the 20th century recalled the "Card Class" taught by "Uncle Lish" Parsons. "We all called him 'Uncle Lish'," one lady remembered. He used the Olivet Picture cards printed by the Publishing House of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. These cost the church 75¢ a month. The class met at the front of the church on the right hand side, in the "amen corner" as another member recalled.
Oakland also served for many years as the location of the parsonage for the circuit on which it was included. In 1891, the Quarterly Conference for the Mt. Vernon Circuit met at Oakland and appointed Elisha Parsons, Tandy C. Harned, Rev. W. P. Hamilton, and A. H. Connell to a committee charged with locating a site for a parsonage for the circuit. "After consideration the parsonage was located at Holland, the committeeman from said place proposing to give $2.50." Rev. Hamilton, the pastor of the circuit, appointed Parsons, Thomas D. Grisham, Thomas T. West, L. V. Maddox, Francis E. Henry, D. H. Thornton, D. P. Forsythe, E. E. Jones, and Tandy C. Harned to a committee to build the parsonage. Again, Parsons' construction experience came into play. This building was located just south of the frame church at Oakland.
When a death occurred in the community, Parsons (who was the sexton for the cemetery) would ring the bell in the church belfry for a long time to get the attention of the community. He would then pause and toll the bell to announce the time for the funeral, the number of times the bell was tolled indicating the hour of the service. The grave would then be hand dug by men in the community. One individual related that, in the late 1920s or early 1930s, Parsons went to the school at Holland and requested a few students to come and dig a grave. As the boys were dressing down the sides of the grave they noticed the imprints of some rusty hinges in the dirt and the remains of a shoe heel in the bottom of the hole. They asked Parsons what they should do and he replied to just leave them be. The needed grave was already dug and, since there was no possible way of knowing the origins or identity of the interred, to just treat the grave with respect for the presently and previously deceased.
Church work wasn't the only endeavor Parsons was involved with during this time. He continued to work with his brother Alyes in the operation of the cotton gin and grist mill until economic considerations led to the closing of the gin about 1910. During the 1906-1907 ginning season, the brothers processed 426 bales of cotton, but recorded receiving cash payment for only 19 of those bales. In 1917, Parsons was elected secretary of a committee of citizens in the area for the purpose of building a stock dipping vat. The group voted to allow cattle owners to buy into the project for a minimum of $1 and to not charge "widow women" any fee for having their cattle dipped. The vat was built on Parsons' land near the boundary with his neighbor to the north, B. F. Lackey.
Though he had several step-grandchildren by his wife's children, it wasn't until the marriage of his son Ed that the possibility of having a grandchild of his own existed. On November 5, 1916, William Edward Parsons was married to Miss Nettie Arena Smith, daughter of Robert Henry and Mattie Lee (Ruple) Smith of Holland. After a honeymoon in Hot Springs, they made their home with his parents. It was here on July 1, 1918, that Parsons' first grandchild, named Vervian Henry Elisha Parsons, was born.
Following the death of his wife in 1921, Parsons continued to reside with his son Ed and his family. He shared a room with his grandson Vervian, and the two were very close. One story Vervian shared about his grandfather Elisha revealed the latter's kind and generous nature. As a young boy Vervian often went with his grandfather on his weekly trip to Holland for a shave at the barber shop. There was a particular type of candy bar that Vervian especially enjoyed and his grandfather would give him a nickel so that he could purchase one while waiting for his grandfather to get his shave. One Saturday, the nickel was procured, and candy bar purchased and eaten, but the line at the barber shop was longer than usual and his grandfather wasn't ready to return home. As is true with most young children even today, waiting is not a particularly strong character trait, and after a time he decided he would like another candy bar. Bravely he entered the barber shop and asked his grandfather for another nickel. Without hesitation or question the nickel was given. In a time and place where cash money for 'extras' was less common than today and children knew not to expect them unless it was a special occasion, this seemingly small gesture on the part of his grandfather left a lasting impression, enough so that Vervian shared the story with his own grandson over 60 years later.
Throughout the 1920s Parsons continued to work the farm with his son Ed, fulfill his duties at Oakland as Sunday School teacher and sexton for the cemetery, and for a brief time even operated a small business selling gasoline and oil products from the Louisiana Oil Refining Corporation (a surviving sales contract from October 1930 shows that Parsons agreed to purchase between 1,200 and 3,000 gallons of gasoline and sell it for between 16 1/2 and 19 1/2 cents per gallon.) Family continued to be important to Parsons as well. Until the death of his oldest brother Alyes in 1926 it was common for the extended families to have gatherings during the summer, where the two brothers served as patriarchs of a growing number of descendants. Ed and Nettie had another child in 1930, a daughter named Melba. She and Vervian would be the only grandchildren in the family. Though not quite four years old when her grandfather died, Melba's memory of him involves him allowing her to brush his white hair.
Early in 1934, at the age of 77, Parsons decided to apply for a job working on the construction of a new courthouse for Faulkner County (this is the present courthouse). His application drew attention for the fact that he had worked on both the first two structures and now, at his advanced age, was seeking to have a part on the third. An article in the Log Cabin Democrat entitled "Helped Build First Two, Wants Job On Third Courthouse" described him as erect and vigorous in his appearance. Parsons admitted to his skills as a carpenter and desire to have something to show for paying taxes for so long. Unfortunately he did not live to see construction begin on the courthouse. On November 19, 1934, Elisha Parsons passed away of congestive heart failure at his home of nearly a half century. Described as a pioneer citizen of Faulkner County, he was survived by a son, daughter in law, grandson and granddaughter, and brother. He was buried by his wife in Oakland Cemetery, in the community where he resided almost 70 years and across the road from the church building he had helped build.
The above was written in 2015 by Charles D. Parsons, great-great grandson of Elisha E. Parsons. It was published in the Faulkner Facts and Fiddlings, a publication of the Faulkner County Historical Society.
Elisha Edward Parsons was born in the hills of western Jefferson County, Alabama, on August 12, 1856, the fourth of six children of William Buford and Esther C. (McAlister) Parsons. For this branch of the Parsons family, Alabama was just one stop on their way west. Elisha's grandparents, Joseph Kirby and Sarah (Nabors) Parsons, were both natives of Laurens County, South Carolina. Their migration began in the 1830s with a move to central Alabama, where members of the family had lived since as early as 1819. By the outbreak of the Civil War they had decided to relocate again, traveling to Arkansas with their large extended family and stopping near Old Austin in Prairie County. Family stories tell that while Joseph Kirby and several of his children stayed near Old Austin, his son William Buford continued farther west, eventually stopping at Dardanelle on the Arkansas River. It is believed their ultimate destination may have been the Ft. Smith area, where Esther Parsons had McAlister relatives living. Descendants relate that one afternoon in 1861 Esther told her children to go outside and tend to their chores, the older siblings charged with attending to the younger. In a short time they returned to the house to find Esther lying on the bed, lifeless, leaving Elisha motherless at the age of five. About this same time his oldest sister, Mary Amanda, died as well of unknown causes. Faced with the prospect of raising five young sons alone, William Buford headed east with his children (Alyes Andrew, James William, Elisha Edward, Hiram Lawson, and Francis Marion), returning to Old Austin to be near the rest of his family.
Faulkner County had not yet been created when the Parsons family arrived in 1866. The land they chose was then in Conway County, in the center of what would become Harve Township. Parsons was about 10 years old and would have spent much of his time helping to carve a home out of the land. With his wife dead, William Buford would have had the burden of building a home for five sons between the ages of 6 and 15 in addition to helping his aging parents establish themselves, so the children would have been expected to do their share of the work. Once homes were constructed, they were able to see to the religious and intellectual needs of the family. Joseph Kirby Parsons was a Class Leader in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and soon he led his family in joining the congregation at Oakland, a small Methodist station just south of their new home in the Holland community. The log building served the community as both a church and school, and the children in the extended family (including Elisha) attended classes there, sitting on backless, split-log benches and holding their lessons in their laps.
The first few years in Holland for the Parsons family required perseverance. There was the challenge of simply erecting shelter and making a living. The Civil War had just recently ended, and in this part of Arkansas bands of "bushwhackers" were an ever-present threat. At one point after arriving in the area, the family was robbed of the few items of value they had brought with them, only to find them, along with Joseph Kirby's felt hat, shoved in a hollow tree trunk in the nearby woods. Descendants recount that upon finding their belongings, Joseph Kirby was heard to proclaim, "By shots! That's my hat." But beyond helping to meet the family's basic material needs, young Elisha also had to learn to deal with the frequent occurrence of death. Having lost his mother and sister when he was only five, he was no stranger to the anguish of losing loved ones, especially to illness. In 1867, only a year after arriving in their new home, the family was stricken again with the loss of young child. About 1903 Parsons recorded the events surrounding the death of his youngest brother (transcribed as written):
"in Aug. 1867 Wm. Parsons and his son Marion seven yairs old one Sunday evening went for a walk out a round Oakland Chapel church and little Marion Parsons pict out his bairing ground and his Father taken notes to it and the next month little Marion taken a chill one morning a bout the midel of September and died in a bout 6 hours and his father remembered a bout what he had said a bout his bairing ground and his father had him baired at Oakland Chapel church and in June 1872 little Marions Father died and was baired by his side. Be it remembered that little Marion Parsons was the first grave at Oakland Chapel cemetery."
The 1870 census suggests that circumstances continued to be tenuous for Parsons. He is recorded twice in Newton Township--once with his father and brothers and once as a domestic servant in the household of J. M. Brady. Working as a laborer for Brady may have allowed Parsons to supplement his family's income. It may also have been a means for him to broaden his horizons, allowing him the opportunity to pursue a different path in life than simply remaining on the farm.
By 1875, Joseph Kirby and his remaining children had also died and were buried at Oakland, leaving Parsons with only an elderly grandmother and three brothers in his immediate family. Before his death, William Buford advised his sons "to live together" and "be kind to each other", admonishing them to remain in agreement with one another when having to conduct business, relying on the guidance of the oldest brother, Alyes. Elisha Parsons was not quite 16 when his father died and, with little other than familial connections to keep him in the area, it was not long before he struck out into the world to pursue a career.
Exactly where Parsons obtained his skills as a carpenter or the tools with which he plied his trade is not known. As early as 1876 he was engaged in various carpentry jobs around the growing town of Conway, at first possibly as an apprentice to an older, more experienced carpenter. In one of his earliest ledgers he recorded a wide variety of jobs he performed, from framing and building houses, hauling lumber and other building materials, whitewashing houses and fences, building and hanging gates, and laying stone floors, to working with Richard H. Waterman on jobs on the courthouse grounds. Details of his partnership with Waterman are scant, but it is clear that the two men were given the contract to build Faulkner County's first courthouse in 1878. Waterman was born possibly in the St. Louis, Missouri, area about 1839 and appears in census records throughout his life as a carpenter. He may have taken the younger Parsons under his wing and taught him the skills needed to fulfill the types of jobs in demand around Conway. Parsons' work as a carpenter also led to a chance meeting with a then unknown George W. Donaghey. In his book Carpenter from Conway, historian Calvin R. Ledbetter Jr. relates an encounter between the future architect and Arkansas governor and a "friendly young carpenter" on a construction site around Conway. The carpenter was impressed by Donaghey's willingness to learn the trade and hired him at $1.50 a day. Though not specifically named by Donaghey, descendants of Elisha Parsons have related the story that he was the "friendly young carpenter". (This is supported by remarks in the 1934 Log Cabin Democrat article. According to family oral history, Parsons and Donaghey remained friends and it is believed that Donaghey may have accompanied Parsons and his son Ed when they traveled to the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.)
Parsons appears on the 1880 census in Conway, boarding along with four other career-minded men--a machinist, a lawyer, another carpenter, and a railroad clerk. In the early 1880s he made a move to Little Rock and was soon expanding his career from just carpentry work to include working for various foundries as a salesman and installer of cotton gin and sawmill equipment. Advertising himself as a contractor and builder and operating out of an office on 7th Street, between Izard and Chester streets, he would travel by train around central Arkansas representing companies such as D. R. Wing and Co., a foundry and machine shop founded in Little Rock in 1866. Manufacturing steam engines, boilers, sawmills, cotton gins and presses, woodworking machinery, steam pumps and pipe fittings, and brass goods, Wing and Co. would direct Parsons to a potential customer, naming the terms under which a deal could be finalized and paying him a commission for his efforts. Parsons would ensure delivery and installation of parts and machinery and may have performed some of the construction himself. This line of work complimented his partnership with his older brothers Alyes and James in a cotton gin/sawmill/grist mill that they oversaw in the Holland community.
Though he continued to work out of Little Rock throughout the 1880s, Parsons did not lose contact with his family both in and out of Faulkner County. He corresponded regularly with his brothers Alyes and James, staying appraised of business situations concerning the gin, property transactions, the status of family members, and general news items. He also regularly received letters from his first cousin, John W. James (1864-1939), who, like Elisha, was an unmarried professional during this time. James, a teacher who later operated a business college in Conway, routinely updated his cousin about the local social scene. In 1888, Parsons and his brother James traveled back to Alabama for a visit. While there they were able to reconnect with several of their grandfather Parsons' siblings as well as aunts and uncles on their McAlister side of the family. After returning home they remained in contact with various relatives who expressed their desire for Elisha and James to return again.
Life began to change for Parsons as the 1880s drew to a close. In 1889 he accepted a job overseeing the construction of a new church building at Oakland. Parsons had been a member of the church as early as 1872, though upon moving to Conway in the late 1870s he transferred his membership (he transferred his letter of membership back to Oakland in 1891). By 1889 the original log church built in 1863 by James Ford was no longer sufficient to meet the needs of the congregation. A building committee was selected and they chose Parsons as building foreman. In this capacity he directed the labor of men from the congregation and surrounding community, recording in his ledger the time each man spent working on the building. Construction began sometime in August and by the 30th of that month, work was done on the sills and stonework for the foundation. The church's pastor, Rev. John W. Head, reported in the Arkansas Methodist on September 18 that work on the foundation was complete and lumber had been bought to build a structure worth about $800. Parsons continued working on the building throughout the fall of 1889, recording that between August 1 and November 9 he had put in 67 1/2 days towards its completion. Not only did he utilize his contracting skills on the construction of the church building but he also used his talent for carpentry in building the pews and pulpit.
Building the church at Oakland was not the most significant undertaking for Parsons in 1889, however. While in Holland overseeing the church's construction, he boarded at the home of a local widow, Mrs. Mary E. Killough. Mrs. Killough was the daughter of Oakland's founder, James Ford. She and her late husband, William David Killough, had nine children before his death in 1887. By 1889 most of her older children were out on their own, leaving only her youngest two at home, so taking in a boarder was one way to help with income. With her home located about a quarter mile from the church, it was convenient for Parsons to stay there while supervising the construction job. His ledger indicated that the cost of his room & board was credited as her contribution toward the construction project. Though details of their relationship can only be surmised, a bond surely developed between the 33 year old bachelor carpenter and the 41 year old widowed mother of 9, for the two were married on Christmas Day 1889. With a ready family in place, Parsons moved permanently to his new wife's home. Though the older children had already left home, he was now step-father to his wife's youngest children. The couple became parents to their own child in 1891 with the birth of a son, William Edward "Ed" Parsons.
After moving back to Holland, Parsons' life revolved around his involvement in the church and community. At Oakland, the new building was often filled to capacity with the Sunday School and singing crowds. Parsons served as a Sunday School teacher to the youngest group of children for about three decades. When asked to recall their memories of the church nearly 80 years later, students from this class in the early decades of the 20th century recalled the "Card Class" taught by "Uncle Lish" Parsons. "We all called him 'Uncle Lish'," one lady remembered. He used the Olivet Picture cards printed by the Publishing House of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. These cost the church 75¢ a month. The class met at the front of the church on the right hand side, in the "amen corner" as another member recalled.
Oakland also served for many years as the location of the parsonage for the circuit on which it was included. In 1891, the Quarterly Conference for the Mt. Vernon Circuit met at Oakland and appointed Elisha Parsons, Tandy C. Harned, Rev. W. P. Hamilton, and A. H. Connell to a committee charged with locating a site for a parsonage for the circuit. "After consideration the parsonage was located at Holland, the committeeman from said place proposing to give $2.50." Rev. Hamilton, the pastor of the circuit, appointed Parsons, Thomas D. Grisham, Thomas T. West, L. V. Maddox, Francis E. Henry, D. H. Thornton, D. P. Forsythe, E. E. Jones, and Tandy C. Harned to a committee to build the parsonage. Again, Parsons' construction experience came into play. This building was located just south of the frame church at Oakland.
When a death occurred in the community, Parsons (who was the sexton for the cemetery) would ring the bell in the church belfry for a long time to get the attention of the community. He would then pause and toll the bell to announce the time for the funeral, the number of times the bell was tolled indicating the hour of the service. The grave would then be hand dug by men in the community. One individual related that, in the late 1920s or early 1930s, Parsons went to the school at Holland and requested a few students to come and dig a grave. As the boys were dressing down the sides of the grave they noticed the imprints of some rusty hinges in the dirt and the remains of a shoe heel in the bottom of the hole. They asked Parsons what they should do and he replied to just leave them be. The needed grave was already dug and, since there was no possible way of knowing the origins or identity of the interred, to just treat the grave with respect for the presently and previously deceased.
Church work wasn't the only endeavor Parsons was involved with during this time. He continued to work with his brother Alyes in the operation of the cotton gin and grist mill until economic considerations led to the closing of the gin about 1910. During the 1906-1907 ginning season, the brothers processed 426 bales of cotton, but recorded receiving cash payment for only 19 of those bales. In 1917, Parsons was elected secretary of a committee of citizens in the area for the purpose of building a stock dipping vat. The group voted to allow cattle owners to buy into the project for a minimum of $1 and to not charge "widow women" any fee for having their cattle dipped. The vat was built on Parsons' land near the boundary with his neighbor to the north, B. F. Lackey.
Though he had several step-grandchildren by his wife's children, it wasn't until the marriage of his son Ed that the possibility of having a grandchild of his own existed. On November 5, 1916, William Edward Parsons was married to Miss Nettie Arena Smith, daughter of Robert Henry and Mattie Lee (Ruple) Smith of Holland. After a honeymoon in Hot Springs, they made their home with his parents. It was here on July 1, 1918, that Parsons' first grandchild, named Vervian Henry Elisha Parsons, was born.
Following the death of his wife in 1921, Parsons continued to reside with his son Ed and his family. He shared a room with his grandson Vervian, and the two were very close. One story Vervian shared about his grandfather Elisha revealed the latter's kind and generous nature. As a young boy Vervian often went with his grandfather on his weekly trip to Holland for a shave at the barber shop. There was a particular type of candy bar that Vervian especially enjoyed and his grandfather would give him a nickel so that he could purchase one while waiting for his grandfather to get his shave. One Saturday, the nickel was procured, and candy bar purchased and eaten, but the line at the barber shop was longer than usual and his grandfather wasn't ready to return home. As is true with most young children even today, waiting is not a particularly strong character trait, and after a time he decided he would like another candy bar. Bravely he entered the barber shop and asked his grandfather for another nickel. Without hesitation or question the nickel was given. In a time and place where cash money for 'extras' was less common than today and children knew not to expect them unless it was a special occasion, this seemingly small gesture on the part of his grandfather left a lasting impression, enough so that Vervian shared the story with his own grandson over 60 years later.
Throughout the 1920s Parsons continued to work the farm with his son Ed, fulfill his duties at Oakland as Sunday School teacher and sexton for the cemetery, and for a brief time even operated a small business selling gasoline and oil products from the Louisiana Oil Refining Corporation (a surviving sales contract from October 1930 shows that Parsons agreed to purchase between 1,200 and 3,000 gallons of gasoline and sell it for between 16 1/2 and 19 1/2 cents per gallon.) Family continued to be important to Parsons as well. Until the death of his oldest brother Alyes in 1926 it was common for the extended families to have gatherings during the summer, where the two brothers served as patriarchs of a growing number of descendants. Ed and Nettie had another child in 1930, a daughter named Melba. She and Vervian would be the only grandchildren in the family. Though not quite four years old when her grandfather died, Melba's memory of him involves him allowing her to brush his white hair.
Early in 1934, at the age of 77, Parsons decided to apply for a job working on the construction of a new courthouse for Faulkner County (this is the present courthouse). His application drew attention for the fact that he had worked on both the first two structures and now, at his advanced age, was seeking to have a part on the third. An article in the Log Cabin Democrat entitled "Helped Build First Two, Wants Job On Third Courthouse" described him as erect and vigorous in his appearance. Parsons admitted to his skills as a carpenter and desire to have something to show for paying taxes for so long. Unfortunately he did not live to see construction begin on the courthouse. On November 19, 1934, Elisha Parsons passed away of congestive heart failure at his home of nearly a half century. Described as a pioneer citizen of Faulkner County, he was survived by a son, daughter in law, grandson and granddaughter, and brother. He was buried by his wife in Oakland Cemetery, in the community where he resided almost 70 years and across the road from the church building he had helped build.
The above was written in 2015 by Charles D. Parsons, great-great grandson of Elisha E. Parsons. It was published in the Faulkner Facts and Fiddlings, a publication of the Faulkner County Historical Society.
Faulkner County had not yet been created when the Parsons family arrived in 1866. The land they chose was then in Conway County, in the center of what would become Harve Township. Parsons was about 10 years old and would have spent much of his time helping to carve a home out of the land. With his wife dead, William Buford would have had the burden of building a home for five sons between the ages of 6 and 15 in addition to helping his aging parents establish themselves, so the children would have been expected to do their share of the work. Once homes were constructed, they were able to see to the religious and intellectual needs of the family. Joseph Kirby Parsons was a Class Leader in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and soon he led his family in joining the congregation at Oakland, a small Methodist station just south of their new home in the Holland community. The log building served the community as both a church and school, and the children in the extended family (including Elisha) attended classes there, sitting on backless, split-log benches and holding their lessons in their laps.
The first few years in Holland for the Parsons family required perseverance. There was the challenge of simply erecting shelter and making a living. The Civil War had just recently ended, and in this part of Arkansas bands of "bushwhackers" were an ever-present threat. At one point after arriving in the area, the family was robbed of the few items of value they had brought with them, only to find them, along with Joseph Kirby's felt hat, shoved in a hollow tree trunk in the nearby woods. Descendants recount that upon finding their belongings, Joseph Kirby was heard to proclaim, "By shots! That's my hat." But beyond helping to meet the family's basic material needs, young Elisha also had to learn to deal with the frequent occurrence of death. Having lost his mother and sister when he was only five, he was no stranger to the anguish of losing loved ones, especially to illness. In 1867, only a year after arriving in their new home, the family was stricken again with the loss of young child. About 1903 Parsons recorded the events surrounding the death of his youngest brother (transcribed as written):
"in Aug. 1867 Wm. Parsons and his son Marion seven yairs old one Sunday evening went for a walk out a round Oakland Chapel church and little Marion Parsons pict out his bairing ground and his Father taken notes to it and the next month little Marion taken a chill one morning a bout the midel of September and died in a bout 6 hours and his father remembered a bout what he had said a bout his bairing ground and his father had him baired at Oakland Chapel church and in June 1872 little Marions Father died and was baired by his side. Be it remembered that little Marion Parsons was the first grave at Oakland Chapel cemetery."
The 1870 census suggests that circumstances continued to be tenuous for Parsons. He is recorded twice in Newton Township--once with his father and brothers and once as a domestic servant in the household of J. M. Brady. Working as a laborer for Brady may have allowed Parsons to supplement his family's income. It may also have been a means for him to broaden his horizons, allowing him the opportunity to pursue a different path in life than simply remaining on the farm.
By 1875, Joseph Kirby and his remaining children had also died and were buried at Oakland, leaving Parsons with only an elderly grandmother and three brothers in his immediate family. Before his death, William Buford advised his sons "to live together" and "be kind to each other", admonishing them to remain in agreement with one another when having to conduct business, relying on the guidance of the oldest brother, Alyes. Elisha Parsons was not quite 16 when his father died and, with little other than familial connections to keep him in the area, it was not long before he struck out into the world to pursue a career.
Exactly where Parsons obtained his skills as a carpenter or the tools with which he plied his trade is not known. As early as 1876 he was engaged in various carpentry jobs around the growing town of Conway, at first possibly as an apprentice to an older, more experienced carpenter. In one of his earliest ledgers he recorded a wide variety of jobs he performed, from framing and building houses, hauling lumber and other building materials, whitewashing houses and fences, building and hanging gates, and laying stone floors, to working with Richard H. Waterman on jobs on the courthouse grounds. Details of his partnership with Waterman are scant, but it is clear that the two men were given the contract to build Faulkner County's first courthouse in 1878. Waterman was born possibly in the St. Louis, Missouri, area about 1839 and appears in census records throughout his life as a carpenter. He may have taken the younger Parsons under his wing and taught him the skills needed to fulfill the types of jobs in demand around Conway. Parsons' work as a carpenter also led to a chance meeting with a then unknown George W. Donaghey. In his book Carpenter from Conway, historian Calvin R. Ledbetter Jr. relates an encounter between the future architect and Arkansas governor and a "friendly young carpenter" on a construction site around Conway. The carpenter was impressed by Donaghey's willingness to learn the trade and hired him at $1.50 a day. Though not specifically named by Donaghey, descendants of Elisha Parsons have related the story that he was the "friendly young carpenter". (This is supported by remarks in the 1934 Log Cabin Democrat article. According to family oral history, Parsons and Donaghey remained friends and it is believed that Donaghey may have accompanied Parsons and his son Ed when they traveled to the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.)
Parsons appears on the 1880 census in Conway, boarding along with four other career-minded men--a machinist, a lawyer, another carpenter, and a railroad clerk. In the early 1880s he made a move to Little Rock and was soon expanding his career from just carpentry work to include working for various foundries as a salesman and installer of cotton gin and sawmill equipment. Advertising himself as a contractor and builder and operating out of an office on 7th Street, between Izard and Chester streets, he would travel by train around central Arkansas representing companies such as D. R. Wing and Co., a foundry and machine shop founded in Little Rock in 1866. Manufacturing steam engines, boilers, sawmills, cotton gins and presses, woodworking machinery, steam pumps and pipe fittings, and brass goods, Wing and Co. would direct Parsons to a potential customer, naming the terms under which a deal could be finalized and paying him a commission for his efforts. Parsons would ensure delivery and installation of parts and machinery and may have performed some of the construction himself. This line of work complimented his partnership with his older brothers Alyes and James in a cotton gin/sawmill/grist mill that they oversaw in the Holland community.
Though he continued to work out of Little Rock throughout the 1880s, Parsons did not lose contact with his family both in and out of Faulkner County. He corresponded regularly with his brothers Alyes and James, staying appraised of business situations concerning the gin, property transactions, the status of family members, and general news items. He also regularly received letters from his first cousin, John W. James (1864-1939), who, like Elisha, was an unmarried professional during this time. James, a teacher who later operated a business college in Conway, routinely updated his cousin about the local social scene. In 1888, Parsons and his brother James traveled back to Alabama for a visit. While there they were able to reconnect with several of their grandfather Parsons' siblings as well as aunts and uncles on their McAlister side of the family. After returning home they remained in contact with various relatives who expressed their desire for Elisha and James to return again.
Life began to change for Parsons as the 1880s drew to a close. In 1889 he accepted a job overseeing the construction of a new church building at Oakland. Parsons had been a member of the church as early as 1872, though upon moving to Conway in the late 1870s he transferred his membership (he transferred his letter of membership back to Oakland in 1891). By 1889 the original log church built in 1863 by James Ford was no longer sufficient to meet the needs of the congregation. A building committee was selected and they chose Parsons as building foreman. In this capacity he directed the labor of men from the congregation and surrounding community, recording in his ledger the time each man spent working on the building. Construction began sometime in August and by the 30th of that month, work was done on the sills and stonework for the foundation. The church's pastor, Rev. John W. Head, reported in the Arkansas Methodist on September 18 that work on the foundation was complete and lumber had been bought to build a structure worth about $800. Parsons continued working on the building throughout the fall of 1889, recording that between August 1 and November 9 he had put in 67 1/2 days towards its completion. Not only did he utilize his contracting skills on the construction of the church building but he also used his talent for carpentry in building the pews and pulpit.
Building the church at Oakland was not the most significant undertaking for Parsons in 1889, however. While in Holland overseeing the church's construction, he boarded at the home of a local widow, Mrs. Mary E. Killough. Mrs. Killough was the daughter of Oakland's founder, James Ford. She and her late husband, William David Killough, had nine children before his death in 1887. By 1889 most of her older children were out on their own, leaving only her youngest two at home, so taking in a boarder was one way to help with income. With her home located about a quarter mile from the church, it was convenient for Parsons to stay there while supervising the construction job. His ledger indicated that the cost of his room & board was credited as her contribution toward the construction project. Though details of their relationship can only be surmised, a bond surely developed between the 33 year old bachelor carpenter and the 41 year old widowed mother of 9, for the two were married on Christmas Day 1889. With a ready family in place, Parsons moved permanently to his new wife's home. Though the older children had already left home, he was now step-father to his wife's youngest children. The couple became parents to their own child in 1891 with the birth of a son, William Edward "Ed" Parsons.
After moving back to Holland, Parsons' life revolved around his involvement in the church and community. At Oakland, the new building was often filled to capacity with the Sunday School and singing crowds. Parsons served as a Sunday School teacher to the youngest group of children for about three decades. When asked to recall their memories of the church nearly 80 years later, students from this class in the early decades of the 20th century recalled the "Card Class" taught by "Uncle Lish" Parsons. "We all called him 'Uncle Lish'," one lady remembered. He used the Olivet Picture cards printed by the Publishing House of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. These cost the church 75¢ a month. The class met at the front of the church on the right hand side, in the "amen corner" as another member recalled.
Oakland also served for many years as the location of the parsonage for the circuit on which it was included. In 1891, the Quarterly Conference for the Mt. Vernon Circuit met at Oakland and appointed Elisha Parsons, Tandy C. Harned, Rev. W. P. Hamilton, and A. H. Connell to a committee charged with locating a site for a parsonage for the circuit. "After consideration the parsonage was located at Holland, the committeeman from said place proposing to give $2.50." Rev. Hamilton, the pastor of the circuit, appointed Parsons, Thomas D. Grisham, Thomas T. West, L. V. Maddox, Francis E. Henry, D. H. Thornton, D. P. Forsythe, E. E. Jones, and Tandy C. Harned to a committee to build the parsonage. Again, Parsons' construction experience came into play. This building was located just south of the frame church at Oakland.
When a death occurred in the community, Parsons (who was the sexton for the cemetery) would ring the bell in the church belfry for a long time to get the attention of the community. He would then pause and toll the bell to announce the time for the funeral, the number of times the bell was tolled indicating the hour of the service. The grave would then be hand dug by men in the community. One individual related that, in the late 1920s or early 1930s, Parsons went to the school at Holland and requested a few students to come and dig a grave. As the boys were dressing down the sides of the grave they noticed the imprints of some rusty hinges in the dirt and the remains of a shoe heel in the bottom of the hole. They asked Parsons what they should do and he replied to just leave them be. The needed grave was already dug and, since there was no possible way of knowing the origins or identity of the interred, to just treat the grave with respect for the presently and previously deceased.
Church work wasn't the only endeavor Parsons was involved with during this time. He continued to work with his brother Alyes in the operation of the cotton gin and grist mill until economic considerations led to the closing of the gin about 1910. During the 1906-1907 ginning season, the brothers processed 426 bales of cotton, but recorded receiving cash payment for only 19 of those bales. In 1917, Parsons was elected secretary of a committee of citizens in the area for the purpose of building a stock dipping vat. The group voted to allow cattle owners to buy into the project for a minimum of $1 and to not charge "widow women" any fee for having their cattle dipped. The vat was built on Parsons' land near the boundary with his neighbor to the north, B. F. Lackey.
Though he had several step-grandchildren by his wife's children, it wasn't until the marriage of his son Ed that the possibility of having a grandchild of his own existed. On November 5, 1916, William Edward Parsons was married to Miss Nettie Arena Smith, daughter of Robert Henry and Mattie Lee (Ruple) Smith of Holland. After a honeymoon in Hot Springs, they made their home with his parents. It was here on July 1, 1918, that Parsons' first grandchild, named Vervian Henry Elisha Parsons, was born.
Following the death of his wife in 1921, Parsons continued to reside with his son Ed and his family. He shared a room with his grandson Vervian, and the two were very close. One story Vervian shared about his grandfather Elisha revealed the latter's kind and generous nature. As a young boy Vervian often went with his grandfather on his weekly trip to Holland for a shave at the barber shop. There was a particular type of candy bar that Vervian especially enjoyed and his grandfather would give him a nickel so that he could purchase one while waiting for his grandfather to get his shave. One Saturday, the nickel was procured, and candy bar purchased and eaten, but the line at the barber shop was longer than usual and his grandfather wasn't ready to return home. As is true with most young children even today, waiting is not a particularly strong character trait, and after a time he decided he would like another candy bar. Bravely he entered the barber shop and asked his grandfather for another nickel. Without hesitation or question the nickel was given. In a time and place where cash money for 'extras' was less common than today and children knew not to expect them unless it was a special occasion, this seemingly small gesture on the part of his grandfather left a lasting impression, enough so that Vervian shared the story with his own grandson over 60 years later.
Throughout the 1920s Parsons continued to work the farm with his son Ed, fulfill his duties at Oakland as Sunday School teacher and sexton for the cemetery, and for a brief time even operated a small business selling gasoline and oil products from the Louisiana Oil Refining Corporation (a surviving sales contract from October 1930 shows that Parsons agreed to purchase between 1,200 and 3,000 gallons of gasoline and sell it for between 16 1/2 and 19 1/2 cents per gallon.) Family continued to be important to Parsons as well. Until the death of his oldest brother Alyes in 1926 it was common for the extended families to have gatherings during the summer, where the two brothers served as patriarchs of a growing number of descendants. Ed and Nettie had another child in 1930, a daughter named Melba. She and Vervian would be the only grandchildren in the family. Though not quite four years old when her grandfather died, Melba's memory of him involves him allowing her to brush his white hair.
Early in 1934, at the age of 77, Parsons decided to apply for a job working on the construction of a new courthouse for Faulkner County (this is the present courthouse). His application drew attention for the fact that he had worked on both the first two structures and now, at his advanced age, was seeking to have a part on the third. An article in the Log Cabin Democrat entitled "Helped Build First Two, Wants Job On Third Courthouse" described him as erect and vigorous in his appearance. Parsons admitted to his skills as a carpenter and desire to have something to show for paying taxes for so long. Unfortunately he did not live to see construction begin on the courthouse. On November 19, 1934, Elisha Parsons passed away of congestive heart failure at his home of nearly a half century. Described as a pioneer citizen of Faulkner County, he was survived by a son, daughter in law, grandson and granddaughter, and brother. He was buried by his wife in Oakland Cemetery, in the community where he resided almost 70 years and across the road from the church building he had helped build.
The above was written in 2015 by Charles D. Parsons, great-great grandson of Elisha E. Parsons. It was published in the Faulkner Facts and Fiddlings, a publication of the Faulkner County Historical Society.
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