Parsons, James Ward

James Ward Parsons

BIRTH: Wetzel Co., WV, Bk DBR/L-Z, pg 69

AKA: Ward; Ward Parsons in the family Bible

OCCUPATION: Blacksmith, Gas Field worker, farmer, gristmill owner/operator, politician, self-taught veterinarian

MARRIAGE: 30 Mar 1912, Wetzel Co., WV, Bk 15, pg 273 or 275, by Rev. J.W.
Wilson (Church of Christ) at New Martinsville, WV.

RESIDENCES: From his uncle Robert E. Lee Guthrie he purchased a farm at the mouth of Pine Run near the foot of Laflen Hill. He also owned a grist mill and blacksmith shop there. This was near Hall's Mills, Proctor District, Wetzel Co., WV and about 15 miles east of New Martinsville. (Source: The Parsons-Yoho Families and Allied Lines, Eloyce (Parsons) Trader, 1990. p. 85)

BIOGRAPHY:
James Ward Parsons was 5 ft. 7 in. tall and weighed 150 lbs. He had sandy colored hair and blue eyes. Ward was known as a stern speaking individual, but he had a gentle heart. Many people who knew Ward were on the receiving end of the practical jokes he liked to play.

At one point he planned to move his family to Missouri. He sold his farm to Joseph Bland. He moved his family to is in-laws home at Alister, Green District, Wetzel Co., WV. While living with the Van Dynes he was stricken with acute appendicitis and bedridden for a month. The doctor visited him everyday during his illness. To make the visit he used a train and then horse and buggy to reach the Van Dyne's home. At the time there was a typhoid fever emidemic at the hospital in New Martinsville, making a hospital stay unwise. Because of the extensive medical bills the move to Missouri was abandoned.

Later Ward worked in the gas fields. When he had saved enough money he bought a farm on Reader Run, Green District, Wetzel Co., WV. He concentrated on the dairy and poultry business; selling dairy products to a nearby West Virginia state prison camp. (Source: The Parsons-Yoho Families and Allied Lines, Eloyce (Parsons) Trader, 1990. p. 85-86)