Frank Nesmith Parsons

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Frank Nesmith Parsons

| image = Frank Nesmith Parsons (1854–1934).png

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1854|09|03}}

| birth_place = Dover, New Hampshire

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1934|08|09|1854|09|03}}

| death_place = Franklin, New Hampshire

| resting_place =

| occupation = Jurist

| awards =

| spouse = {{Marriage|Helen F. Pike|October 26, 1880|March 6, 1914|end=d.}}

| children =

| education = {{Plainlist|

}}

| signature =

| party = Republican

| office1 = Member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives

| term_start1 = 1925

| term_end1 = 1928

| office2 = Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court

| term_start2 = 1902

| term_end2 = 1924

| office3 = Associate Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court

| term_start3 = 1895

| term_end3 = 1902

| office4 = Mayor of Franklin, New Hampshire

| term4 = 1895

| office5 = Member of the Executive Council of New Hampshire

| term_start5 = 1893

| term_end5 = 1894

}}

Frank Nesmith Parsons{{Efn|Some sources spell his middle name "Naismith".{{Cite web|url=http://www.nh.gov/nhdhr/publications/justices/parsons.html|title = Frank Naismith Parsons, Descriptions of Portraits of Justices and Others at the New Hampshire Supreme Court Building Concord, New Hampshire, New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources}}}} (September 3, 1854 – August 9, 1934) was a lawyer, politician, and Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court from 1902 to 1924.

Biography

Parsons was born in Dover, New Hampshire on September 3, 1854, the son of Rev. Benjamin F. Parsons, a prominent New Hampshire Congregational minister.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kGswAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA3-PA17 |title=Memoirs of the Judiciary and the Bar of New England for the Nineteenth Century |volume=I |first=Conrad |last=Reno |editor-first=Leonard A. |editor-last=Jones |location=Boston |publisher=Century Memorial Publishing Co. |page=17 |date=1901 |access-date=2023-03-01 |via=Google Books}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120006004/judge-frank-n-parsons/ |title=Judge Frank N. Parsons |newspaper=The Boston Globe |location=Franklin, New Hampshire |page=17 |date=1934-08-10 |access-date=2023-03-01 |via=Newspapers.com}} He was educated at Pinkerton Academy in Derry, New Hampshire and at Dartmouth College, graduating in the class of 1874.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/onethousandnewha00metciala/page/329/mode/1up |title=One Thousand New Hampshire Notables |editor1-first=Henry Harrison |editor1-last=Metcalf |editor2-first=Frances M. |editor2-last=Abbott |publisher=The Rumford Printing Company |page=329 |date=1919 |access-date=2023-03-01 |via=Internet Archive}}

After teaching for several years, Parsons studied law and passed the bar in 1879. He became the law partner of Austin F. Pike, a successful lawyer and politician; their partnership continued until Pike's death in 1886. Parsons married Pike's daughter Helen on October 26, 1880. She died on March 6, 1914.

Parsons was appointed the State Law Reporter in 1891. A Republican, from 1893 to 1894 he served on the New Hampshire Executive Council. In 1895 Parsons was elected as the first mayor of Franklin, and in the same year he was appointed an associate justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court. In 1902 he became Chief Justice, and continued in this post until 1924. In 1912, Parsons was also president of the New Hampshire Bar Association.{{cite web|url=https://www.nhbar.org/about-the-bar/past-presidents/ |title=Past NHBA Presidents|publisher=New Hampshire Bar Association|access-date=October 5, 2021}} From 1925 to 1928 he served as a state representative.{{Cite magazine |url=https://archive.dartmouthalumnimagazine.com/article/1925/2/1/dartmouth-men-in-the-state-government |title=Dartmouth Men in the State Government |magazine=The Dartmouth Alumni Magazine |volume=XVII |number=4 |page=323 |date=February 1925 |access-date=2023-03-01}} In 1889{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jshGAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA199 |title=Manual of the Constitutional convention of 1918 |publisher=State of New Hampshire |page=199 |date=1918 |access-date=2023-03-01 |via=Google Books}} and 1930 he represented Franklin at state constitutional conventions, serving as president of the convention in 1930.{{Cite journal |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_american-political-science-review_1930-11_24_4/page/1022/mode/1up |title=New Hampshire Constitution Convention of 1930 |journal=American Political Science Review |volume=XXIV |number=4 |page=1022 |date=November 1930 |access-date=2023-03-01 |via=Internet Archive}}

Parsons was actively involved in community affairs, serving on the Franklin school board and board of water commissioners, as president or director of several local banks, as president of the board of trustees at Pinkerton Academy, president of Franklin Hospital, and president of the New Hampshire Historical Society.

He died at his home in Franklin on August 9, 1934.

Notes

References

Category:1854 births

Category:1934 deaths

Category:19th-century mayors of places in New Hampshire

Category:People from Dover, New Hampshire

Category:Dartmouth College alumni

Category:New Hampshire lawyers

Category:Members of the Executive Council of New Hampshire

Category:Republican Party members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives

Category:Chief justices of the New Hampshire Supreme Court

Category:Pinkerton Academy alumni

Category:20th-century members of the New Hampshire General Court