San
Bernardino County
Biographies
HARRY H. PARSONS
In the spring of 1932, San
Bernardino gained a valuable addition to its citizenship in Harry H. Parsons,
who came here from Missoula, Montana, where he had practiced for thirty years and
won recognition as a brilliant and resourceful lawyer. He was born in Brownsville, now known as
Sweet Springs, Missouri, June 25, 1872, a son of Dr. W. Buchanan and Lydia J. (Mockbee) Parsons.
The father lived for many years in that state and was accounted one of
its leading surgeons. Of English origin,
the Parsons family was founded in this country about the year 1635. As descendants of Lieutenant General Parsons
and Lieutenant General McCarty, who served with distinction under General
Washington, Dr. W. B. Parsons and his wife were eligible for membership in the
Sons of the American Revolution and the Daughters of the American Revolution,
respectively, but were not affiliated with these organizations. The latter was a daughter of Cuthbert Mockbee, who was an officer in the Mexican War, holding the
rank of colonel.
In his native town, Harry H. Parsons
attended the grammar and high schools and Doyle’s Academy. His higher education was acquired in the
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he first took a literary course, and
in 1895 was graduated from the law school of that institution. Feeling the strain of his studies, Mr.
Parsons then came west to recuperate and here remained for two years,
rebuilding his health. In 1897 he went
to Marshall, Missouri, where he entered upon his professional career, having as
a law partner Colonel Samuel Boyd, who was the senior member of the firm of
Boyd & Parsons and who died a year later.
Mr. Parsons continued to serve the firm’s clients until 1902 when he
located in Missoula, Montana. While
identified with the legal fraternity there he successfully handled some of the
most difficult cases ever tried in the courts of that district and his practice
steadily increased, due to his prestige as an attorney and counselor. He never entered the courtroom without close
study and thorough preparation, spending many hours in his law library, which
was considered one of the best and most complete in the state of Montana. He served as president of the Montana State
Bar Association, as a member of the advisory council of the American Bar
Association, and represented the Montana Supreme Court before the Washington
Bar Association in 1922.
Keenly interested in politics, Mr.
Parsons became one of the leaders of the Republican Party in Montana. In 1898 he was nominated for member of
congress from the seventh judicial district of Missouri and gave his opponent a
lively race for that office. As census
supervisor for the Missoula district in 1900 he made a good record, and in 1916
he opposed Thomas Walsh in the contest for a seat in the United States
Senate. He and Senator Walsh tried many
cases together, both as associates and opponents. During the World War Mr. Parsons was chairman
of the western Montana Liberty Loan drive and raised over eight million dollars
for war purposes.
From early manhood Mr. Parsons has
displayed talents for leadership and initiative and he has been the originator
of many ideas of worth which have been recognized by universal adoption in the
cities interested. As an instance of
this insight and originality it may be mentioned that, while pursuing his
studies at Ann Arbor, Mr. Parsons, who was very active in college athletics and
early recognized the importance of training along the lines now in use in
government practice, was an influential factor in the organization there of the
American College of Republican Leagues, which has since become an important
part of the activity of all students in every leading college of the country. Another idea that originated with Mr. Parsons
while at Ann Arbor and that has been adopted by many large colleges and
universities was the formation of a miniature model of our national house of
congress. In this one of the university
professor’s acts as president and the student members transact the business of
the country in exactly the same manner as it is done in Washington, D. C. The value of such work as this as training
for actual work in that line or for an intelligent understanding of the
processes of law making and government business methods is obvious and it is
doubtful if the idea developed by Mr. Parsons could be improved upon. At the request of President Duniway of the University of Montana, he spent some time
lecturing before the students of that institution in the year 1910. He now maintains a law office in the Fox
Theatre Building at San Bernardino and has already become well established in
practice here. His brother, Dr. H. H.
Parsons, is one of the city’s prominent physicians and surgeons.
In 1900 Harry H. Parsons was married
to Miss Ethlyne Jackson, a member of one of the old
and aristocratic families of the south.
She is related to Governor Breathitt of Kentucky; is a niece of Governor
M. M. Marmaduke, and a cousin of General John S. Marmaduke, both of Missouri;
and a granddaughter of Missouri’s famous war governor, Claiborne Fox
Johnson. Mrs. Parsons’s father, William
S. Jackson, was a gallant Confederate officer who served with the rank of
colonel. Mrs. Parsons is a Daughter of
the Confederacy and by special appointment as sponsor for Missouri, with a maid
of honor from each congressional district; she represented that state at the
Confederate reunions held throughout the south.
She has one child, Ethlyne A., who resides
with her parents in Redlands.
Mr. Parsons belongs to the Masonic
and Elks lodges and to an aerie of Eagles.
His college fraternities are the Delta Chi and Phi Delta Phi and of the
latter he is honorary member. In his
legal work he has always in mind the dignity and responsibility of his
profession and exemplifies its highest ethics in his practice.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. IV, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 85-88, Clarke Publ.,
Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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NUGGET'S SAN BERNARDINO
BIOGRAPHIES