In the News
By Don Taylor
In the News” is my reporting of discovered newspaper articles and advertising regarding ancestors I am researching. Chester Parsons is a fourth great-grandfather of mine. The information found in newspapers often raises more questions and more research areas, but invariably provide fresh texture to understanding the life of an ancestor.
Chester Parsons’ Lawsuit
This week from The Statemen, (Marshall, Michigan) dated 11 December 1885, Column 4, Paragraph 4.
Circuit court convened Monday afternoon and up to date the following cases have been disposed of: … Chester Parsons vs. Eva E. Jewett, settled; ….
So, we don’t know what their beef was, that will take further research with the circuit court, but it might be interesting to learn.
Chester Parsons’ Real Estate Sale
This week from The Daily Chronicle, (Marshall, Michigan) dated 11 December 1885, Column 4, top item.
REAL ESTATE FOR SALE—State of Michigan, County of Washtenaw—as.
In the matter of the estate of Chester Parsons deceased.
Notice is hereby given, that in pursuance of an order granted to the undersigned administrator of the estate of said Chester Parsons by the Hon. Judge of Probate for the County of Washtenaw, on the twenty eighth day of January A. D. 1888, there will be sold at public vendue to the highest bidder, at the front door of the store building on the premises below described in the city of Marshall, in the county of Calhoun; in said State, on Wednesday the 21st day of March A. D. 1888, at two o’clock in the afternoon of that day (subject to all encumbrances by mortgage or otherwise existing at the time on the death of said deceased the following described Real Estate, towit:
All that certain piece or parcel of land situated in the city of Marshall, in Calhoun county and State of Michigan, known and described as follows towit: Commencing at a point seventy (70) feet and three inches east from the south west corner of block thirteen (13) according to the recorded plot of said city, running thence north one hundred and twenty two (122) feet to an alley thence west along the north line of State Street to the place of beginning.
Dated, Ann Arbor, January 28, 1888
COMSTOCK F. HILL
Administrator
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Marshall, Michigan, Block 13, showing the property described above.
Chester Parsons died in 1887, so his property going into probate sale in 1888 makes complete sense. From this article, I learned that besides the farm out on Clinton Road, Chester owned property in nearby Marshall. Looking at the Sanborn Fire Map from the year indicates that he owned a restaurant.
Today, the (apparent) location is “The Mole Hole” a unique gifts shop.
Follow-up
Who was Eva E. Jewett and what was the lawsuit that Chester and Eva settled?
What was Chester Parsons’ interest in the property in Marshall?