WI BIO - Dane Co - PARSONS, William K.
Biographical Review of Dane County, WI. Chicago: Biographical Review Pub. Co. 
1893, Vol II, pp 396-397

William K. PARSONS, a retired farmer of Marshall [Dane County], Wisconsin, 
was born in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, 30 October 1828. His grandfather, 
Simeon P., was a native of Massachusetts, born 12 May 1774, who removed to 
Pennsylvania and engaged in farming until his death, which occurred 17 
November 1841. His son, Urbane P., father of our subject, was born 20 
December 1801, and was the oldest child in a family of nine children born to 
the union of Simeon PARSONS and Nancy CARTER. This lady was born 23 July 
1781, in Massachusetts, and died in March 1848, in [the Territory of] 
Wisconsin. [WI became a state on 29 May 1848.] The marriage of Simeon 
PARSONS and Nancy CARTER occurred 18 February 1801, and the nine children 
born to Mr. PARSONS by his wife were as follows: Urbane; Nancy, deceased; 
William, now in California; Samuel Lincoln, deceased; Arabella L., deceased; 
Adelia, of Saratoga Springs, Massachusetts [Saratoga Springs, Saratoga 
County, NY?]; Gratia, deceased; Nancy, deceased [the second of that name]; 
and Simeon, deceased.

The father of our subject [Urbane P. PARSONS] worked at home on the farm 
until he was twenty-one years of age, and received his education in the 
common schools of Massachusetts. When seventeen [p 397] years of age he 
learned the cooper trade by apprenticing himself. On 10 January 1828 he 
[Urbane P. PARSONS] was married to Mary DEWEY, of Massachusetts. He owned a 
farm and he and his wife engaged in labor upon it until 1847, when they 
crossed the country with teams and wagons to Dane County, Wisconsin, settling 
in Medina Township, September of that year. In all, Mr. PARSONS worked at 
his trade of cooper for about forty years, as he also pursued it at a town in 
Ashtabula County, Ohio, for about seven years.

When the family crossed the plains, the trip occupied thirty-one days, and 
the party consisted of seven persons. After arrival Mr. [Urbane P.] PARSONS 
purchased village property in Marshall [Dane County, WI], and moved on it 
with his family. He also bought land near the village, which he improved, 
and this land is now owned by his son, the subject [William K. PARSONS]. 
There were three children by his [Urbane P. PARSONS'] first marriage, and two 
by his second: (1) William K.; (2) Nancy F., wife of J. C. CUMMINS, of 
Brookings County, South Dakota; and (3) Ann D. T., wife of John HART, of 
Buffalo County, Wisconsin. By the second marriage: (1) Harriet M., wife of 
Edward HART; and (2) Fannie E., wife of George E. ALLEN, a veterinary 
surgeon of Fort Atkinson [Jefferson County], Wisconsin.

Our subject [William K. PARSONS] was reared upon the farm, and attended the 
district school until he was twenty-three years of age, when he was married 
to Ann HART, 12 September 1852, and then removed to a farm in Medina Township 
[Dane County, WI], where he resided until 1887, when he rented his farm and 
removed to Marshall [Dane County, WI], where he may now be found. His farm 
in Medina he subsequently sold.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. PARSONS are: (1) Orlando, married Emma 
ROBBINS, of Wisconsin, and one child has been born to them; they now reside 
in Los Angeles [Los Angeles County], California, where he pursues his trade 
of carpenter; (2) Mary E., at home; (3) Charlie, deceased, 05 February 
1889, was married to Minnie DEIGER, who died 12 November 1889, leaving a 
child, Ruby, who is now living with her grandfather; (4) Laura N., married 
to Gus KISER, of Marshall [Dane County, WI], and has one child, Carl; and (5) 
Fannie E., wife of Clarence COLE, of Marshall, who has one child.

Mr. [William K.] PARSONS is a Republican, and has been prominently identified 
with the interests of the township. He has held the office of Supervisor a 
number of times; has been Treasurer two terms, and has been largely 
instrumental in the benefiting of the educational interests of the township, 
having served as director of the township. Mr. PARSONS' first wife [Ann 
(HART) PARSONS] died 24 August 1883, on the farm, one mile south of Marshall 
[Dane County, WI], and is buried in the Marshall cemetery. Mr. [William K.] 
PARSONS was again married, 28 January 1885, to Laura P. COLE, whose parents 
were from Ohio, and located in Wisconsin in 1844, making their first 
settlement in Medina Township [Dane County], on a farm on section 2, where 
the mother still resides. The father [Mr. COLE] died about 1884.

Mr. [William K.] PARSONS is one of the old representatives of the town and 
county, and is always ready to aid in any enterprise calculated to aid in the 
upbuilding of the town. He has never engaged in any private enterprise for 
private gain that would in any way interfere with the rights of others; has 
always been an exemplary citizen, a good neighbor, a kind friend, and a man 
any one could rely upon, as he was honorable in every respect.

Submitted by Cathy Kubly