My Genealogy Hound

JAMES W. PARSLEY, one of the oldest pioneers of the county now living, is a native of Rutherford County, Tenn., born September 19, 1805, being one of two surviving members of a family of fourteen children born to the marriage of Abraham Parsley and Elizabeth Gray. He grew to manhood in his native State, receiving no education in his youth, but after his marriage, he learned to “read, write and cipher.” In 1829 he came to this county with his parents, and settled on the land where he now lives. He cleared and improved the place, undergoing all the hardships of a pioneer life, and provided for his parents as long as they lived. August 15, 1839, he married Sarah Moran a native of Kentucky, by whom he is the father of twelve children, six of whom, William F., Emiline A. (wife of L. C. Frisbie). George W., Andrew J., Richard M. and Mary J. (widow of A. L. Carlisle), are living. Mr. Parsley has always been an enterprising and prosperous farmer, and now owns a farm of 200 acres. He is a member of the Baptist Church, and his wife is a Methodist. It is needless to add that they are highly esteemed by the community in which they have so long lived.