Biography

09/01/1799 - 09/23/1882

Anson Virgil Parsons (Whig23) Armstrong, Cambria, Clearfield, Indiana County 1838-1839

Early Life:

Anson Virgil Parsons, born September 1, 1799, Granville, Hampden County, Massachusetts; son of Joel and Phebe Robinson, Parsons; local public school education; Tapping Reeve’s, Litchfield Law School, Litchfield, Connecticut; came to Pennsylvania, 1826, studied law under Andrew Porter, Lancaster, Pennsylvania; attorney, private law practice, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 1826-1840; elected, Whig, Pennsylvania State Senate, vacancy, Alexander Irvin resigned, 1838-1839; President Judge, Court of Common Pleas, Harrisburg, 1840-1843; gubernatorial appointment, Secretary, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 1842-1843; gubernatorial appointment, First Lieutenant of Lycoming Cavalry, Lycoming Volunteers Battalion; moved to Philadelphia; Associate Judge of Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, 1843-1850; published, Select cases in equity, argued and determined in the Court of Common Pleas of the first judicial district of Pennsylvania; resumed, law practice, 1851, admitted to practice before, Supreme Court of the United States, 1860; married, Mary Hepburn Parsons, 1831 (d. 1853), married, Sarah Myer Parsons, 1858; died, September 23, 1882 (aged 82), Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania; interment, Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. 

Professional titles; business ownership; board memberships; local government; club memberships:

Member, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Delta Phi Literary Society of Delaware College; manager, Institute for the Blind.

Authored:

Select cases in equity, argued and determined in the Court of Common Pleas of the first judicial district of Pennsylvania from 1841 to 1850 / reported by A.V. Parsons. Philadelphia: T. and J.W. Johnson, 1851.

Pennsylvania Politics: 

Alexander Irvin had been elected, 13th district, Lycoming, Centre, Clearfield, McKean, and Potter Counties, 1836, listed under the 23rd District, Senate Journal for 1837-1838, rather than under the 12th District, which held the remnants of the old 13th District. This district had been dismantled in reapportionment process, subsequently he resigned.

Elected, Whig, 23rd district, Pennsylvania State Senate, Armstrong, Cambria, Clearfield, Indiana County 1838-1839.

President Judge, Court of Common Pleas, Dauphin, Lebanon, Schuylkill Counties, 1840-1842.

Gubernatorial appointment, Secretary, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Governor David Rittenhouse Porter, 1842-1843. 

Gubernatorial appointment, Governor David Rittenhouse Porter, First Lieutenant of Lycoming Cavalry, Lycoming Volunteers Battalion.

Associate Judge of Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, 1843-1850.

Cited:

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members P". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Catalogue of the Litchfield Law School (Hartford, Connecticut: Press of Case, Tiffany and Company, 1848), page 21. 

Litchfield Ledger - Student (litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org) 

Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) September 25, 1882.

Anson Virgil Parsons (1799-1882) - Find a Grave Memorial