THE PARKISON FAMILY. A complete history of this representative, influential and numerous family would necessarily include a comprehensive outline of the settlement and growth of Monongahela and the adjoining country. Many years ago they located near Parkison's Ferry, which was thus called in honor of the earliest pioneer of that name. As a race the Parkisons have been men of energetic, sanguine temperament, possessing mechanical propensities, which have led them to choose manufacturing pursuits in preference to other branches of trade. The earliest pioneers of this illustrious family were of English birth, and came with Lord Baltimore to America, first settling in Maryland, where they became members of the historic "Conococheague" settlement. Between the years 1768 and 1770 five Parkison brothers Joseph, Benjamin, Thomas, James and William came from Virginia to the Monongahela Valley in Washington county, Penn. Many old letters, papers and memoranda, which were written in those days, are yet extant, and give ample proof that those early settlers possessed educational advantages and culture far surpassing the usual curriculum of the times. These documents are composed of coarse paper, but have been inscribed with the old-fashioned quill pen, some of the work being beautifully executed and tastefully designed. The Parkison brothers came to Pennsylvania in search of a valuable mill site, which was then the primary object of nearly all the earliest pioneers in that region. Mills were then being erected at all points along the river, and also on some of the smaller streams, which afforded more water power at that date than in the present day. The Parkisons were among the first to erect a river mill, at that time an undertaking of great magnitude, on account of the necessary expense. This fact, combined with the constant danger of their destruction by ice or floods, deterred many from investing their time and capital in so hazardous an enterprise. But if the mills were once completed with reasonable safety from destruction, they were a veritable mine of wealth to the fortunate owner. The brothers before mentioned devoted their energies almost without exception to manufacturing industries, and among the commodities then produced are named whisky, woolen goods, flour, furniture, guns, timber, boats, glass, and paper. Benjamin Parkison (a nephew of the Benjamin Parkison above mentioned, who was an active participant in the Whiskey Insurrection) was born in 1720, near Carlisle, Penn. He erected the river mills opposite Mingo, the location of which there is nothing yet remaining to indicate, although pilots on the steamer point daily with the course of the boats the "old chutes," which are now submerged by slack water, but yet afford the deepest channel. These dams were constructed with a long cribbing of logs filled in with stone, extending up stream on both sides of an opening in the dam, through which keels of flatboats could pass up or down. This was the "chute," and "running the chute" is an expression yet used on the river, though one looks in vain to see any break in the current. The dam itself was not more than three feet in height, and the power was obtained by placing an underchute or breast-wheel of about thirty inches in diameter immediately below the comb of the dam in such a position that the current striking it on the upper side, passed under it. These wheels were sometimes twenty-eight feet or more in length, and so great was the power obtained that no machinery attached ever stopped their movement. If it became disarranged, or choked and clogged, the trundle-shaft, ten or twelve inches in size, constructed of the strongest wood, was instantly twisted off, while the wheel continued to revolve in the current. As the smaller mills were stopped during the dry weather, the settler came from a distance of many miles to the river mills. They were often compelled to wait several days for their turn, meanwhile camping out or staying with the hospitable mill owner. Night and day, week in and week out, was heard the incessant clatter of the mill, and the swash of the wheel constantly mingled with the movement of the hurrying stream. Stories of wild animals, Indians, or the ghostly banshee furnished an unfailing supply of material for the many blood-curdling tales with which the men were wont to beguile their waiting hours. Thrice was the old Parkison mill torn from its foundations by ice gorges in the river, only to be rebuilt. Finally a boat load of salt was wrecked on the dam, and an interminable lawsuit followed, which was many times more expensive than the original value of the salt. This affair so impoverished the owner that when the ice again destroyed the mill it was never rebuilt, and thus this historical landmark faded forever. Several years later the old Parkison homestead, a large brick house of fourteen rooms, was burned, and many valuable relics and papers were then destroyed. Among the former were the remains of an English pipe-organ, and through the scattered reeds the wind drew weird music, so that those who heard the eerie strains declared the place to be haunted. Benjamin Parkison was married in 1796 to Olivia Rodgers, daughter of James Rodgers, who emigrated from the North of Ireland, and in 1786 located in Washington county, Penn. The parents died soon after their arrival, leaving a family of seven children, of whom are named: Moses, Andrew, Ebenezer and Olivia. Benjamin Parkison is described as a proud, stately man, very fond of personal adornment. Every morning his hair was powdered, and on special occasions silver buckles were worn; and when he rode, his horse was elegantly caparisoned, with mane and tail braided, as was then the style. Mrs. Parkison was no less remarkable for her love of display, and they were known as an unusually handsome and distinguished looking couple. He was accustomed to make annual trips with flour to New Orleans and the French settlements in Louisiana, and the silver obtained for each barrel of flour would, it is said, sometimes cover the top of the barrel. When making these trips by flatboat he took a horse on which to ride home, a distance of 1,200 or 1,500 miles. On one occasion, while crossing a bend of the Mississippi, he was taken prisoner by Indians, but a thunderstorm so terrified his captors that he was enabled to escape the same night. One who often visited at his house says that Mr. Parkison frequently carried a large amount of silver and gold coin from the mills in a bandanna handkerchief, and would playfully empty it into his wife's lap. William Parkison, son of Benjamin and Olivia Parkison, was born at the homestead in Allegheny county, Penn. He grew to manhood there, commenced early following the river, and at one time he and his brother, James, owned and ran several steamboats. He finally built a sawmill and carried on boat-building, then erected a paper mill at Elkhorn, just below the old homestead. He went to Alabama soon after the war, intending to conduct a lumber business on the Tennessee river, but finding the place near Decatur, where he had contemplated locating, was already occupied, he purchased a cotton plantation. Here he remained three years, aud then returned to Pennsylvania. When a young man he was united in marriage with Catherine M., daughter of Hon. James Rodgers, a representative of the Rodgers family above mentioned, who came to America in 1770. She bore him five children, viz.: A. R., Mrs. Ella J. Spriggs (of Creston, Ill.), Rosalie, Mary M., and Mrs. Olivia Kelly (deceased). For his second wife Mr. Parkison was married to Sophia Playford, of Brownsville, Penn. He was a man of untiring energy, and fearlessly undertook any enterprise with which he became favorably impressed. His wife survives him. A. R. PARKISON, son of William and Catherine M. (Rodgers) Parkison, is the sole living male representative of his family, and the only male descendant of the early pioneers of that name near Monongahela, where he is now in business.

Text taken from page 1355 of: Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893). Transcribed February 1997 by Neil and Marilyn Morton of Oswego, IL as part of the Beers Project. Published February 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.

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