Frank Nesmith Parsons

Frank Nesmith Parsons
Frank Nesmith Parsons
Member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives
	In office; 1925–1928
Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court
	In office; 1902–1924
Associate Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court
	In office; 1895–1902
Mayor of Franklin, New Hampshire
	In office; 1895
Member of the Executive Council of New Hampshire
	In office; 1893–1894
Personal details
Born	September 3, 1854; Dover, New Hampshire
Died	August 9, 1934 (aged 79); Franklin, New Hampshire
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Helen F. Pike (m. 1880; died 1914)
Education	Pinkerton Academy; Dartmouth College;
Occupation	Jurist

Frank Nesmith Parsons^[a] (September 3, 1854 – August 9, 1934) was a lawyer, politician, and Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court from 1902 to 1924.

Biography[edit]

Parsons was born in Dover, New Hampshire on September 3, 1854, the son of Rev. Benjamin F. Parsons, a prominent New Hampshire Congregational minister.^[2]^[3] He was educated at Pinkerton Academy in Derry, New Hampshire and at Dartmouth College, graduating in the class of 1874.^[4]

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.^[4]

Parsons was appointed the State Law Reporter in 1891. A Republican, from 1893 to 1894 he served on the New Hampshire Executive Council.^[4] 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.^[1] In 1912, Parsons was also president of the New Hampshire Bar Association.^[5] From 1925 to 1928 he served as a state representative.^[6] In 1889^[7] and 1930 he represented Franklin at state constitutional conventions, serving as president of the convention in 1930.^[8]

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.^[4]

He died at his home in Franklin on August 9, 1934.^[3]

Notes[edit]

^ Some sources spell his middle name "Naismith".^[1]

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b "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".
^ Reno, Conrad (1901). Jones, Leonard A. (ed.). Memoirs of the Judiciary and the Bar of New England for the Nineteenth Century. Vol. I. Boston: Century Memorial Publishing Co. p. 17. Retrieved March 1, 2023 – via Google Books.
^ ^a ^b "Judge Frank N. Parsons". The Boston Globe. Franklin, New Hampshire. August 10, 1934. p. 17. Retrieved March 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Metcalf, Henry Harrison; Abbott, Frances M., eds. (1919). One Thousand New Hampshire Notables. The Rumford Printing Company. p. 329. Retrieved March 1, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
^ "Past NHBA Presidents". New Hampshire Bar Association. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
^ "Dartmouth Men in the State Government". The Dartmouth Alumni Magazine. Vol. XVII, no. 4. February 1925. p. 323. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
^ Manual of the Constitutional convention of 1918. State of New Hampshire. 1918. p. 199. Retrieved March 1, 2023 – via Google Books.
^ "New Hampshire Constitution Convention of 1930". American Political Science Review. XXIV (4): 1022. November 1930. Retrieved March 1, 2023 – via Internet Archive.

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[2] Some sources spell his middle name "Naismith".^[1]

[Portraits-1] "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".

[3] Reno, Conrad (1901). Jones, Leonard A. (ed.). Memoirs of the Judiciary and the Bar of New England for the Nineteenth Century. Vol. I. Boston: Century Memorial Publishing Co. p. 17. Retrieved March 1, 2023 – via Google Books.

[GlobeObit-4] "Judge Frank N. Parsons". The Boston Globe. Franklin, New Hampshire. August 10, 1934. p. 17. Retrieved March 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[Thousand-5] Metcalf, Henry Harrison; Abbott, Frances M., eds. (1919). One Thousand New Hampshire Notables. The Rumford Printing Company. p. 329. Retrieved March 1, 2023 – via Internet Archive.

[6] "Past NHBA Presidents". New Hampshire Bar Association. Retrieved October 5, 2021.

[7] "Dartmouth Men in the State Government". The Dartmouth Alumni Magazine. Vol. XVII, no. 4. February 1925. p. 323. Retrieved March 1, 2023.

[8] Manual of the Constitutional convention of 1918. State of New Hampshire. 1918. p. 199. Retrieved March 1, 2023 – via Google Books.

[9] "New Hampshire Constitution Convention of 1930". American Political Science Review. XXIV (4): 1022. November 1930. Retrieved March 1, 2023 – via Internet Archive.

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