Parsons House Property: History of Ownership

circa 1654	Cornet Joseph Parsons (1620-1683) was granted a homelot of about 4 acres, recorded in the Proprietors Records in 1659, fronting what is now Market Street, with the current Bridge Street as the side boundary.
1683	Jonathan Parsons (1657-1694) inherited the eastern two acres of the homelot upon the death of his father in 1683.  John Parsons (1650-1728) was already in possession of the western two acres of the original homelot - the "front" portion of the lot facing Market Street. Joseph and Mary Bliss Parsons had returned to Springfield in 1679 or 1680.
1694	Jonathan Parsons died in 1694. His wife, Mary Clark Parsons, and her minor children inherited the two acres of property with housing from her husband to be divided by the children as they came of age.
1709	At age 22, Nathaniel Parsons (1686-1738) inherited the housing and homelot in the final settlement of Jonathan Parsons' estate.  In1714, Nathaniel married Experience Wright (1695-1715), who died the following year.  In 1728, he married Abigail Bunce (circa 1701-1789).
1738	Upon the death of Nathaniel Parsons in 1738, Abigail Bunce Parsons and her children, Nathaniel, Experience and Elisha, inherited the house.
1768	On May 18, 1768, the day before her second marriage, Experience Parsons Loomis sold for 30 pd to Nathaniel (1733-1807) "the house[,] Barn & homelot on which I and the said Nathanial now Dwell which was my Hond. Fathers Mr Nathaniel Parsons Late Decd". Nathaniel married Sarah Rust (1739-1806) on June 30, 1768. Elisha Parsons was living in the house in 1770 and by 1777 had moved.
1785	Nathaniel Parsons sold the northeastern half of his homelot to Luke Lyman on March 23, 1785.
1796	On June 1, 1796, Nathaniel Parsons sold the northeastern half of the remaining homelot to Seth Russell.  Nathaniel and Luther Parsons purchased the remaining portion from their father.
1807	Nathaniel Parsons, Sr. died in November 1807. One half of the undivided homestead was sold by Luther Parsons to Seth Rust to Ralph Huntington to Joseph Lyman to Chloe Wright (wife of Daniel Wright), all between January and April.
1808	The other half of the homestead was sold by Nathaniel Parsons to Horace Graves in May, who sold it to Ferdinand Hunt Wright in September.  Ferdinand Hunt Wright was the stepson of Chloe Wright.
1842	Olive Ames Wright and her minor children inherited the house from her husband.
1889	Anna Wright inherited the house from her mother.
1909	Arthur, Edgar and Anna Catherine Bliss inherited the house from their aunt. Anna Catherine Bliss (1848-1941) was the daughter of Theodore Bliss (born August 23, 1822) and Mary Wright Bliss (1824-1895) and lived in the house beginning in 1910.
1940	Edgar Sumner Bliss gave up his interest in the house to Anna Bliss.
1941	The Northampton Historical Society inherited the house upon the death of Anna Catherine Bliss on January 16, 1941 at the age of 92.

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