PARSONS
PARSONS
(Loxley) Rhees and of Col. Benjamin Loxley, a
Revolutionary patriot. He was graduated from
Cornell, B.C.E., 1873 ; engaged in railway en-
gineering, 1873 ; worked in a rolling mill, 1874 ;
taught a district school, and afterward French,
mathematics and drawing in the high school,
Southbridge, Mass., 1874-81. He was admitted to
the Massachusetts bar, 1881 ; was in New
Mexico in the railroad business, 1881-84 ; was
employed as chief clerk by a leading Boston law
firm, and engaged as a legal text writer for
Little, Brown & Co., 1885-97. In 1890 he obtained
a lectureship in Boston University Law school,
and w^as a member of the faculty of the Boston
Y.M.C.A., lecturing on English literature. He
lectured on economics and sociology, and was
professor of history and political science in the
Kansas Agricultural college,1897-99,and in 1899 as-
sumed the same chair in Ruskin college, Trenton,
Mo. In 1900 he was called to testify on railways
before the U.S. senate committee on interstate
commerce, and the next year the U.S. Industrial
commission sent for him to testify on railways,
telegraphs, telephones and municipal monopolies.
In 1901-02 he spent about eight months traveling
in Great Britain, France. Switzerland, Italy,
Austria, Germany, Belgium and through the
United States, studying railways, cooperative
industry, municipal monopolies, government and
labor conditions in preparation for w^orks on trans-
portation, cooperation and municipal govern-
ment. In 19C2 he lectured in the leading cities
of the west under the auspices of the Chicago
University association. He was elected to
membership in the American Academy of Poli-
tical and Social Science, the American Social
Science association and other organizations ;
became president of the National Public Owner-
ship league and of the National Referendum
league ; director of the Co-Workers' fraternity,
and vice-chairman of the National Non-Partisan
Federation for Majority Rule. He is the author
of : TJie World's Best BooJcs (1892) ; Ovr Country's
Need (1894); The Drift of Our Time (1898);
Rational Moneij{18dd) ; TJie New Political Economy
(1899); The Power of the Ideal (1899); TJie City
for the People (1900 and 1902); Direct Legislation
(1900); The Bondage of Cities (1900); Great
Movements of the Nineteenth Century (1901);
Public Ownership (1902), and many contributions
to periodicals.
PARSONS, James Russell, jr., educator, was born in Hoosick Falls, N.Y., Feb. 20, 1861 ; son of James Russell and Ellen Edgerton (Hinds- dill) Parsons ; grandson of Seth and Carolina Althea (Edgerton) Parsons, and a descendant of Dr. Jonas Fay (q.v.;. He was prepared for college at Bede Hall, Cooperstown, N.Y. ; was graduated as valedictorian at Trinity college,
Conn., A.B., 1881 ; A.M., 1884: was secretary to
Bishop Williams of Connecticut, 1882-85 ; school
commissioner in Rensselaer county, N.Y., 1885-
87 ; U.S. consul at Aix-la-Chapelle, Germany,
1888-90 ; inspector of academies, University of
tlie State of New York, 1891 ; of teachers' train-
ing classes. New York department of public
instruction, 1892 ; director of examinations. Uni-
versity of the State of New York, 1892-97 ;
director of high school and college departments
from 1898, and secretary of the university from
1900. He was married, Feb., 18, 1896. to Frances
Theodora (Smith) Dana (q.v.). Trinity gave
him the degree LL.D. in 1902. He is the author
of : Prussian Schools through American Eyes
(1891); Academic Syllabus ; or, Outlines of Work
for New York Secondary Schools (1891); French
Schools through American Eyes (1892); Revised
Academic Syllabus (1895) ; Professional Educa-
tion in the United States (1900).
PARSONS, Lewis Eliphalet, governor of Alabama, was born in Broome county, N.Y., April 28, 1817. He was a great-grandson of Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758). He studied law under Frederick Tallmadge of New York, and G. W. Woodward of Pennsylvania, settled in practice in Talladega, Ala., in 1840, and in 1841 associated himself with Alexander White. He was a presi- dential elector on the Fillmore and Donelson ticket in 1856, and representative in the Ala- bama legislature in 1859. Hei'; was a delegate to the Demo- \ cratic national convention at Charleston, S.C., and Balti- more, Md., in 1860, and a rep- resentative in the state legislature in 1863. where he opposed the militia system of the state, as the Confederate government had full power of con- scription. He was appointed provisional governor of Alabama by President Johnson, June 21, 1865, and devoted himself to the work of reconstruc- tion until Dec. 20, 1865, when he was elected to the U.S. senate ; but not being allowed to take his seat, he resumed the practice of law. He served several terms as a representative in the state legislature, and was speaker of the house in 1872. He died in Talladega, Ala., June 8, 1895.
PARSONS, Mosby Monroe, soldier, was born in Charlottesville, Va. , May 21 , 1822. He removed to Cooper county, Mo., with liis parents, in 1835, and subsequently settled in Jefferson City. He completed his education in St. Charles college, and was admitted to the Missouri bar in 1846. He practised in Jefferson City, and at the out- break of the Mexican war raised a company ; joined the regiment of General Doniphan, and served under General Kearny in New Mexico, receiving honorable mention for his conduct at
