{"id":59,"date":"2023-01-11T16:47:50","date_gmt":"2023-01-11T21:47:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/soc16-ws23\/?page_id=59"},"modified":"2023-01-25T10:35:25","modified_gmt":"2023-01-25T15:35:25","slug":"abe-parsons-1900","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/soc16-ws23\/abe-parsons-1900\/","title":{"rendered":"Abe Parsons (?-1900)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A<\/a>

Spring, Leverett Wilson. A History of Williams College. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1917.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Obituary<\/a>

Death, May 8, 1900. Biographical File, \u201cParsons, Abraham.\u201d MC247, Box 69. Williams College Archives and Special Collections.<\/p><\/div>\n

Abraham Parsons (?-1900) features in Williams College memory and historiography as more a story than a man. During his lifetime and after his death, Parsons was embellished in town folklore; a frequent fixation was the strength of Parsons\u2019 ostensibly thick skull. The stories had material effects as students would pay Parsons to demonstrate his skull\u2019s strength by using it to smash various objects. There even exist stories (of uncertain credibility) that after Parsons\u2019 death, doctors and collectors of curiosities fought over the possession of his skull. One story claims it wound up on the mantle of the alumni club in New York City; another says it was found in a professor\u2019s attic.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

Sketch by student Edwin Riggins for yearbook, circa 1897. MC215, Box 77. Williams College Archives and Special Collections.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Joking<\/a>

Parsons jokingly awarded \u201cEmeritus Professor of Antique Garments and Terpsichore\u201d in 1874 Williams College Gulielmensian.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Request<\/a>

Property destruction and poverty, circa 1869. Biographical File, \u201cParsons, Abraham.\u201d MC247, Box 69. Williams College Archives and Special Collections.<\/p><\/div>\n

Outside of Williams folklore, we can discern that Parsons lived in Williamstown for about half a century with his family in the White Oaks neighborhood before being removed to the town poorhouse by Five Corners late in life.\u00a0He worked for the college on-and-off as a janitor, landscaper, and repairman. Notably, Parsons was among the laborers who helped renovate the campus cemetery in 1883. These documents are arranged in reverse-chronological order to gesture at an attempt to unravel Parsons\u2019 mythology in search of the kernel \u2014 Parsons himself.<\/p>\n

-Asher Gladstone<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

Parsons, Abraham. Photographic File. MC215, Box 77. Williams College Archives and Special Collections.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Abraham Parsons (?-1900) features in Williams College memory and historiography as more a story than a man. During his lifetime and after his death, Parsons was embellished in town folklore; a frequent fixation was the strength of Parsons\u2019 ostensibly thick …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-59","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/soc16-ws23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/59","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/soc16-ws23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/soc16-ws23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/soc16-ws23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/soc16-ws23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59"}],"version-history":[{"count":46,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/soc16-ws23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/59\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":168,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/soc16-ws23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/59\/revisions\/168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/soc16-ws23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}