Parsons, Samuel Holden, 1737-1789

In January 1789 the Connecticut General Assembly appointed Samuel Parsons, legislator and revolutionary major-general, and James Davenport, lawyer and judge, as commissioners to purchase Indian land titles held in the Connecticut Reserve in Ohio.

From the description of Letter : Philadelphia, to his excellency Governor [Samuel] Huntington, 1789 Apr. 6. (Newberry Library). WorldCat record id: 39287161

Army officer.

From the description of Orderly books of Samuel Holden Parsons, 1778 Apr. 18-Sept. 15. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 82984525

Samuel Holden Parsons (1737-1789), American revolutionary war general. He was promoted to Brigadier General in October 1776. In winter and early spring of 1778, Parsons was in charge of construction at West Point.

From the description of Orderly book of Samuel Holden Parsons, 1778, Feb. 16 - Apr. 29, Highlands, N.Y., West Point, N. Y. (Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens). WorldCat record id: 228736089

Parsons held the rank of Major-General (Connecticut) in the Continental Army at his retirement in April 1782 due to poor health. He was appointed Territorial Judge after the war, and drowned in the Ohio River 17 November 1789.

From the description of Letter, 1782 January 11, Middletown [Conn.] to Capt. Moses Greenleaf, Newburyport [Mass.]. (New England Historic Genealogical Society). WorldCat record id: 50844663

Connecticut lawyer, legislator and militia colonel who became a general and commander of the 6th Connecticut Regiment of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.

From the description of Samuel Holden Parsons papers, 1760-1830. (Rhinelander District Library). WorldCat record id: 17725150

From the description of Samuel Holden Parsons papers, 1760-1830 [microform]. (Rhinelander District Library). WorldCat record id: 46959914

From the description of Samuel Holden Parsons papers [microform] : in the Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio 1760-1830. (Ohio Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 46318108

• May 14, 1735: Born in Lyme, Connecticut, third son of Jonathan Parsons and Phebe Griswold Parsons.
• 1756: Graduated from Harvard University, studied law under his uncle Matthew Griswold of Lyme, Connecticut
• 1759: Granted a Masters degree from Harvard University, admitted to the bar.
• 1761: Married Mehetable Mather by whom he had eight children
• 1762: Elected to the Connecticut General Assembly and continued as representative until 1774
• 1773: Appointed member of the "Standing Committee of Correspondence and Inquiry."
• May 1, 1775: Colonel of 6th Connecticut Regiment
• 1776: Colonel of 10th Connecticut Regiment
• August 9, 1776: Commissioned brigadier-general.
• 1779: Commander of Connecticut Division of the Continental Army.
• October 23, 1780: Commissioned major-general.
• May 1781: Yale University confers honorary degree.
• September 22, 1785: Appointed to Congressional commission to extinguish Indian claims to territory northwest of Ohio.
• March 8, 1787: Chosen as one of three directors of the Ohio Land Company.
• October 1787: Chosen as one of the first judges of the Northwest Territory.
• January 1788: Member of the Connecticut Convention to ratify the Federal Constitution.
• November 17, 1789: Drowned in the rapids of the Big Beaver River.

From the guide to the Samuel Holden Parsons Papers, 1760-1830, (Western Reserve Historical Society)