The Joseph and William Parsons papers are made up of 80 personal letters to brothers Joseph Badger and William Moody Parsons, originally of Gilmanton, New Hampshire. Family members and friends wrote about their daily lives in New Hampshire towns.
Joseph and William Parsons received letters on January 15, 1834 (1 item); from January 6, 1841-September 20, 1854 (71 items); and on February 3, 1875 (1 item). Seven additional items are undated. The brothers' siblings Emily, Lewis, Sarah, Daniel, and Charles frequently reported news from Gilmanton, New Hampshire, and acquaintances also wrote from elsewhere in New Hampshire, including Nashua, Hanover, Manchester, Bennington, Chester, and Concord. Some friends commented on life at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, including one who reported military drilling (September 26, 1847). Henry M. Hale wrote to William about his work as a schoolteacher (January 11, 1847). One of William's friends began a letter while intoxicated, recounting his recent exploits ([October 12], 1848). Joseph's letters contain a few references to medical practice, and one printed circular by a committee of the New Hampshire Medical Society encouraged him to become active in the group (April 25, 1851).
Josiah Parsons (1781-1842) and his wife, Judith Badger (1788-1876 or 1879), had eleven children: Joseph B. (died young), Emily P. (m. Charles Tenney), Sarah B. (died young), Mary Elizabeth (m. E. N. Hidden), Lewis Neal, Joseph Badger (b. 1818), Daniel Jacobs (1821-1897), Sarah Jane Rogers, William Moody (1825-1923), Hannah Cogswell (ca. 1823-1842), and Charles P. Joseph Badger Parsons became a physician in Bennington, New Hampshire. William Moody Parsons attended the Gilmanton Academy and first studied medicine under Dr. Nahum Wight while attending Dartmouth Medical College. He later attended Vermont Medical College, from which he graduated in 1851. After practicing medicine with his brother Joseph in Bennington (1851-1855), he began his own practices in Barrington, Antrim, and Manchester, New Hampshire. He served in the New Hampshire State Legislature from 1872-1873 and as assistant surgeon and surgeon for the New Hampshire National Guard's 1st Regiment in the 1880s. In November 1882, he married Marion J. Hosley; they had one daughter, Martha Sophia (b. 1884).
