PARRISH & NATIVE AMERICAN LINES continued

INDEX

SEVENTH GENERATION

72. Azariah Parish/ Parrish

73. Polly unknown


The Mystery of Silas Parrish's Parents


Karonghyontye:
Mohawk sachem who adopted
Jasper Parrish (a relative of (72) Azariah)
Portrait by Benjamin West

Evidence concerning Silas Parrish's biological parents consists of the following:

  1. DNA evidence
  2. Oral family histories
  3. A written family history, including the autobiography of Eugene Duncan,
  4. Record of a land transaction in 1805
  5. An 1826 obituary

The DNA evidence indicates that the compiler is 7% American Indian (Native American). I have scrutinized all my lines, and found them to be all European or Middle Eastern, within a reasonable doubt, except for four lines: (1) that of (79) Margaret, wife of (78) Guy Carlton Stevens, which appears to have been Seneca, (2) the line of (71) Lydia Van Sikel's mother, who may have been Lene Lenape, (3) the line of (76) Jonathan Wells's unknown mother, who was probably white, and (4) Silas's parents. The Parrish name was firmly established in New York State before the days of the American Revolution -- interestingly, with another Silas Parrish who lived in Colchester, Delaware Country. That Silas lived on the frontier, exposed to much contact with the Iroquois and their allied tribes.

No Parrish families appear in any Oneida County census until 1840, though evidence seems to indicate that (79) Silas was born there. An old Dutch register, "Familien und Verwand", shows him as having been born in "Bar...ill", which may have been Bardwell Mill or Babcock Hill in Oneida County. His wife Rosetta lived not far from the latter, and the Zopher Nelson family, into which he married after Rosetta's death, lived in nearby New Hartford.

The only Parrish to be found in early Oneida County records is the deeding of land there to John Parish by Daniel Green (see below).

A William Parish died 20 Sep. 1850 New Hartford, Oneida, NY, "Age 30", at the home of one Oliver Parish. That same year, a William Duncan, Age 40, lived with Morgan Edwards, also in New Hartford. (73ii) William Parrish aka Duncan is mentioned in the autobiography of (37iv) James Eugene Duncan:

"My father whose name was Silas Parrish was born in the state of New York in the year of 1818 and died 1872. He was adopted to a captain in 1821. My father had a brother William Parrish whose name was Duncan. My mother's name was Rosetta Ellis..."

The only Parrish of recorded in Oneida County who could have been (78) Silas' father was Azariah Parish, mentioned in the following obituary:

"Various Records from the Utica Intelligencer Published during 1826-1830
Typed just as they appear in the original newspapers -including any/all typos.
Copied from microfilm and submitted by Claire Grant.

From the UTICA INTELLEGNCER, [UTICA N.Y., ONEIDA COUNTY, N.Y.] -- Typed just as they appear in the original newspapers -including any /all typos.

"Dated August 29, 1826... On the 23rd., Polly, consort of Mr. Azariah Parish, aged 27. [b. 1798/99]..."

-- http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyoneida/towns/utica/intellengncer.htmlhttp://www.rootsweb.com/~nyoneida/towns/utica/intellengn cer.html

Polly's being listed as a "consort" fits in well with the theory that she was Native American, as marriages between Whites and Indians were often accorded this second-class dignity. Margaret Brant, sister of the famous chief, lived for years as a wife of Gen. William Johnson, bearing him several children; yet she was called his "concubine".
 

Captain Duncan

"Captain Duncan" was Samuel Duncan, s/o John, an innkeeper in Sangerfield, Oneida, NY in 1820. His father lived in nearby Augusta at that time. Both died in 1829 and were buried in Sangerfield Cem. John had been a Private in Doolittle's Artillery during the Revolution; but Samuel was indeed a Captain, in the Madison Co., NY Militia:

"MILITARY MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL OF APPOINTMENT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK (1783 - 1821)
"(The Minutes are arranged by date. The Minutes date from 1783. Madison County minutes begin in 1806, the year the county was formed.

"1811.
"p. 1232
"Lieutenant Colonel Jabez N. M. Hurd's regiment...
"p. 1234, continued
"... Samuel Duncan (Dunkin), captain, vice (John) Chambers, resigned..."

-- http://home.comcast.net/~ingallsam/MM/mmMinutes.html

When Samuel died, Silas and his brother William were probably put up with (74) Moses Ellis. The census results for 1830 and 1840 show three unidentified young males living with Moses -- two of whom were the proper age to have been Silas & William. Moses was a cabinetmaker, and it is likely that Silas learned his trade from him.
 

"(72) Azariah Parrish

"The brother of (145iii) Warren Parrish, one of the most successful early missionaries in the church beginning, 1833-1837... Azariah is known to have lived near Voree in 1850, and lived on Beaver Island, at least 1850 to 1854."

-- http://www.strangite.org/Famous.htm

Azariah Parish's family is listed immediately after that of James J. Strang, the "King" of Beaver Island, in the 1850 Census. Parish's occupation is listed as "not known", which may indicate that he was a close co-worker of Strang. Warren Parrish is known to have been a leader of the Mormon group in Missouri before it moved to Nauvoo. Azariah was apparently with him, claiming War of 1812 bounty land there:

Military Bounty Lands for the War of 1812

"This list is a work in progress, it should be in no way construed as a complete and total list of all bounty lands. If you have information to add, please email me!

"A list of persons receiving land in Missouri:

"Parish, Azariah
Parish, Zadock
...
Parrish, John
Parrish, Samuel" -- http://www.looktothepast.com/bountylands1812.html

EIGHTH GENERATION

144. prob. John Parish/ Parrish

145. Ruth Farr

On 2 May 1805, a John Parrish was granted property in Oneida County by Daniel Green.

-- Index of Deeds, Oneida Co., NY.

There were other deeds in Oneida County by the land speculator David Parish and his family, of Antwerp, Belgium. David returned to Europe in 1816, dying there in 1826 and leaving the land business to his family. David had lived in Ogdensburg, NY and had dealt through agents, and there is no evidence that either he or his family ever lived in Oneida County.

REF: http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:gj3N8RogvvYJ:www.stlawu.edu/library/libarc/mss.html+Joseph+Rosseel&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=3

Wikipedia article on(145iii) Warren F. Parrish:

"Warren Parrish (also Warren Parish) (1803–1887) was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint or Mormonism movement. He was a brother-in-law of David W. Patten and was baptized into the movement in May of 1833 by Brigham Young. Parrish subsequently participated in Zion's Camp and was made one of the Seventy. He was scribe and secretary to church founder and president Joseph Smith, Jr., primarily in Kirtland, Ohio from 1835–1837. In 1837 he became treasurer of the Kirtland Safety Society bank. When dissatisfaction with Smith grew over the failure of the bank, Parrish led a group of dissenters that formed a schism with Smith.

"Parrish's group initially believed that the early practice of Mormonism had been true, but that Joseph Smith had become a fallen prophet and subsequent practices had not been inspired. They returned to the church's original name and are known as the Church of Christ (Parrishite). By the beginning of 1838, the Parrishite church had taken control of the Kirtland Temple and Smith and his loyalists had gathered to Far West, Missouri. Parish later lost faith in the Book of Mormon, which caused a falling out between himself and other leaders, including Martin Harris. Parrish became a non-Mormon minister and left Kirtland altogether..."

References

-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Parrish

"The last we read of Warren Parrish was a meeting with Heber C. Kimball reported by George Albert Smith (nephew of the Mormon "Prophet", in 1844): `...Says he, "Elder Kimball, will you have the goodness not to say to the people here that I ever was a Mormon. I am a Baptist Minister. I am preaching at that meetinghouse for a salary of $500 a year. If they find out I have been a Mormon, it would hurt my influence very much indeed."'"

-- Grampa Bill's General Authority Pages http://www.gapages.com/parriw1.htm

INDEX

= siblings

PARRISH & FARR LINES continued

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