The following article appeared in the Orange County Post on Thursday, January 26, 1967
'BIG' LITTLE BRITAIN: The Parshalls of Parshall Lane
By Margaret V.S. Wallace
LITTLE BRITAIN, - - On early maps Drury Lane is called Parshall Lane. Who were these Parshalls and what has become of them?
Much of the information for this study is taken from HISTORY OF THE PARSHALL FAMILY FROM THE CONQUEST OF ENGLAND BY WILLIAM OF NORMANDY, A.D. 1066 TO THE CLOSE OF THE 19th CENTURY by James Clark Parshall, 1903.
The first Parshall (Pershale) we know of, accompanied William of Normandy to England and fought in the battle of Hastings 1066. The Parshalls (Pershalls) stayed in England, lived in Staffordshire and several of them were knighted.
James Parshall, the emigrant to America, was born in England about 1650. He came to the Isle of Wight, later called Gardiner's Island, at the east end of Long Island. He was a gentleman in the sense in which the word was used in Colonial times, and a man of considerable wealth which he probably brought with him from England. He married Elizabeth, daughter of David Gardiner. They had two daughters and three sons. James died in 1701.
Lion Gardiner, 1599-1663, was an Englishman, but an engineer in the service of the Prince of Orange in the Netherlands, by whom he was engaged to build a fort at the mouth of the Connecticut River. He landed at Boston in 1635 and drew a plan for a fort there for his English countrymen, and then went on to his assignment. He built and commanded Saybrook Fort and lived there four years, where he and his Dutch wife had a son David and daughter Mary. In 1639 he bought an island from the Indians and moved there. He named it Isle of Wight, but it has long been known as Gardiner's Island. He was lord of the manor comprising the whole island of 3,300 acres. His island was entirely independent of the rest of the colonies. He made and enforced the laws. He was the first English planter within the limits of the present New York state. His daughter Elizabeth was born on Gardiner's Island and was the first white child to be born in what is now New York state.
David Gardiner was educated in London was married there to Mary Lerringman, and returned to Gardiner's Island. Their child in whom we are interested was Elizabeth, granddaughter of Lion Gardiner, and not to be confused with Lion's daughter Elizabeth. David died suddenly in 1689 while on a business trip to Hartford. His grave stone reads "Well, sick, dead in one hours space."
The middle child of James and Elizabeth Gardiner Parshall was David, 1682 or 3 - 1725 or 6. He married his cousin Mary Gardiner, daughter of David and Martha Youngs Gardiner. Her dates are 1685-1725. He was a large land owner, a wealthy man. They had two sons and four daughters.
The land that James and David Parshall owned was on Long Island. Ownership of Gardiner's Island remained completely in the Gardiner family and does to this day.
The younger son of David and Mary Parshall was Jonathan, horn 1715 or 1716 He came to Little Britain in 1737 an bought an estate of 607 acres as stated in a deed of 1807. Robert S. Finley Little Britain has the record of a survey made by James Clinton in 1772 which shows the estate had been increased 750 acres by that time. Jonathan returned to Long. Island to marry Ellizabeth Booth and brought her to Little Britain in 1739. They had two sons, Jonthan and David. His wife died young, an he deeded his estate to his two sons and went to Pennsylvania. The record about him there is confused. He did not return to Little Britain.
Jonathan, the older son 1740-1816, lived on his part of his father's estate. He married Jemima Knapp, 1738-1825. He was a soldier in the Revolution. 2nd Regiment, Ulster County Militia. When James Clinton made the survey in 1772 of the Parshall estate, the only building indicated was where Robert S. Finley lives now. This, then, may be where ho Jonathan Parshalls lived.
Jonathan and Jemima Knapp Parshall had four sons and a daughter. Three sons moved to western New York. They must have gone before Jonathan made his will, for he left $1000 to each of them and $800 to the daughter. He divided the land between his sons Moses and Jesse.
Moses Parshall, 1777-1818 lived where the Axtells now live. For years after him this was known as the Drury place. He was born and died in Little Britain. The oldest part of the house dates from his time. He married Ruth Miller. Their one child was Jemima, 1806-1895.
Dr. John Waldo Drury was born in Worcester, Mass. in 1791, studied medicine in Vermont Medical College, fought in the War of 1812, and came to Little Britain to practice medicine in 1818. He married Jemima Parshall. The $2800 left to the two sons and daughter was to be paid out of the estate. Dr. Drury made these payments. In 1827 he bought Jesse Parshall's part of the farm. So he owned much of the Moses Parshall farm. He died in 1847.
What is now the Finley farm was bought from the wife and daughter of Moses Parshall by Robert Finley in 1859. At that time it was a farm of 104 acres. Robert Finley was not a Parshall descendant, but he married Mary Ann Drury daughter of Dr. John Drury and Jemima Parshall Drury, and thus kept the farm its Parshall connection. That Robert Finley was the grandfather of Robert S. Finley who lives on the farm now. He, his son Robert A. Finley and the latter daughter Elizabeth are the only descendants of the Parshalls living in Little Britain now. The names Parshall and Drury have disappeared entirely from Little Britain. This has happened with many the old families.
The Drury farm, the Finley farm and one other account for most of the origin Parshall tract. David Parshall, son the first settler Jonathan, was deed that part of his father's estate which became the Justice Cooley farm, and later was owned by the Klinkowizes. David Parshall lived in Little Britain all his Life. We do not know his dates nor whom he married. Some dooryard roses along the Cooley lane may mark the site of his house. In 1807 he deeded his farm to his son David "in consideration of love and affection and for $100, a certain parcel of land in Little Britain, part of a certain tract of 607 acres formerly conveyed by John Markham and Catherine us wife to Jonathan Parshall, father of Jonathan and David Parshall." In this deed, Jonathan and David Parshall's houses are both mentioned.
David Parshall Jr. married Christina Kidd of Walden and moved to Walden. He had nine children and many grandchildren. He directed in his will that the Little Britain property be sold to settle the estate. It is of interest to note that it was sold on the steps of the Orange Hotel, Newburgh to the highest bidder. The buyer was Justus Cooley, and his bid was $10,708.82.
A few Parshall stories are worth telling. Jemima Knapp Parshall made a will in 1823 in which she gave "to the Baptist church in which Elder Wright preaches at the big pond so called the sum of ten dollars." She left the rest to son James. She had four other children. James died in 1826. Perhaps he had some special need.
The children of Dr. Drury and Jemima Parshall Drury were Erasmus Darwin, 1823-1872, and Mary Ann, 1825-1863. Darwin married Mary E. Finley and Mary Ann married Robert Finley, 1815-1863. Brother and sister married sister and brother.
Jemima Parshall Drury lived to a good old age. She outlived husband, son and at least one grandson. When things were not entirely to her liking up on the hill, she built herself the white house opposite the end of the lane on the east side of Parshall Lane, called Drury Lane by that time. This is now owned by the Collettes.
Such were the Parshalls, from Normandy by way of England and Gardiner's Island to Little Britain. Little Britain was like a magnet in early days drawing many fine folks to live here.
Created by Elizabeth Finley Frasier
Created June 6, 2000
