History of the American Negro: West Virginia Edition

Joseph E. Parson

180 history american negro He is a member of the Baptist church and was at one time superintendent of the Sunday School. He is also active and prominent in the work of the secret orders and benevolent societies. In the Masons he is secretary; in the Pythians he is K. of R. & S., and D. D. G. C.; in the I. O. O. Red Men he is Sachem, P. Sachem and member of the Grand Council of West Virginia; in the Court of Calanthe he is P. W. C.; in the Mosaic Templars he is D. G. M.; and is identified with other smaller orders. It is as a politician, however, that he is best known, and devotes considerable time to party work and organization. He is, of course, a Republican, and has been elected a delegate from his county to every state convention of his party from 1900–1922. He was the only colored delegate that has ever been sent from Logan County. He has been the ardent friend of education in his county and has been a school trustee since 1898. Since that time great progress has been made in the facilities for the education of colored children, and Mr. Page has done his part. Mr. Page has studied conditions among his people as he has gone about his work and he believes that education, cooperation and the securing of property would do much to promote the progress of the race. He considers the greatest factors in his own success have been “square and honest dealing with all men and the application of the Golden Rule.” Joseph E. Parson For more than a quarter of a century Joseph Edward Parson has been one of the best known, and, so far as the criminal element is concerned , one of the most feared men in that section. He was born at Lynchburg, Va., on January 5, 1871, so it will be seen that he is now (1922) just turning into fifty. His parents were William Murrell and Mariah Steward. joseph edward parson 182 history american negro He grew up in Lynchburg, where he attended the public schools, which was the extent of his education, so far as books and school were concerned. In the practical affairs of life, however, he did not cease to learn. With the development of the Flat Top section of West Virginia, he came into the state and located in McDowell County, where he has since resided. In politics Mr.Parson is a life long Republican,and soon after coming into this territory, was made Deputy Sheriff of McDowell County, a position which he held for more than twenty years. In fact, for the last 27 years he has been either deputy sheriff or detective. In that time he has made a record that is unique and remarkable. Out of seventy arrests made for murder, there have been sixty-five convictions. He has had to deal with almost every class of crime, from murder down. This has brought into his hands what is said to be the largest single collection of criminal relics in the United States. During the SpanishAmerican war he enlisted as a private and rose to the rank of 1st sergeant . He is now (1922) in the employ of fourteen of the great coal companies. No one has ever questioned his courage either as an officer of the law, as a soldier or as a detective. Mr. Parson now has his own detective agency and has several men in his employ. He is a member of the Republican State Executive Committee. He belongs to the Baptist church and among the secret orders is identified with the Masons, Odd Fellows, Pythians and Elks. It is not strange that in his work he has traveled extensively, having been over the whole of the Unites States and much of Canada and Mexico. His favorite reading consists of the Bible and the Life and Work of Abraham Lincoln. On February 21, 1906, Mr. Parson married Miss Aileen Smootz, daughter of Beverly and Mary M. Smootz, of Huntington, W. Va. She was educated at Institute and was before her marriage an accomplished teacher. They have two children, Joseph E. Parson, Jr., and William Watson Parson. brown wesley payne 184 history american negro Mr. Parson has been able to observe conditions far and wide and he...