Hubbard Parnell's California Dream
Hubbard Parnell's past was always a bit mysterious. Many of his descendants believed that he had been born in Ireland, but this was not true. In fact, he was born May 7, 1859, in Salisbury, Rowan County, North Carolina. He was the fourth child of William Parnell (1819/25- 1873) and Rosetta Swink (1826-1871).
When Rosetta died, Hubbard was only 12 years old. His brother Sidney Lock "Joe" Parnell recalled that when their mother died in 1871, the children were separated "at her grave side" and given to other families to raise. Apparently the Parnell children lost track of each other after that. (In later years, though, Joe found brothers Cicero "Dick" and William Mumford Parnell.) It is not known what family raised Hubbard after his mother's death.
Hubbard never spoke of his family back in North Carolina except for one story. He told of living in a log cabin in North Carolina when his sister was about 8 months old. He said she saw a snake lying on a log and that is when she got up to walk for the first time. He didn't say if she got up to go towards the snake or to run away from it!
Family tradition says that Hubbard left North Carolina on horseback (about 1880-81) with only what he could carry. He was headed for California, but he never made it there. Somehow he ended up getting caught by the winter weather in Illinois in 1881 and went to work in the coal mines in Macoupin County, Illinois. He stayed in that area for the rest of his life.
Apparently it wasn't the mines that convinced him to stay, however. On April 6, 1882, he married Macoupin County native Sarielda Lancaster. Hubbard continued to work in the coal mines as they raised their 10 surviving children (2 died in infancy). By 1900, according to the U.S. Census, Hubbard and his family were living in Litchfield, Montgomery County IL (just east of Macoupin County).
According to the recollections of his granddaughter Irene (Parnell) Odle (daughter of Sidney Parnell and Esther Conley), Hubbard's large handle-bar mustache was always stained because he would sip his coffee through his mustache in order to strain out the grounds! Irene's husband, Everett Odle, remembers being Hubbard's paper boy in Litchfield. He often saw Hubbard with his horse, Old Mae, that he had taught to do tricks. On signal, Old Mae would grab Hubbard's hat from his head and "hand" it to him.
On April 24, 1938, Hubbard died in his Litchfield home on Adams Street, just across from the home of his son and daughter-in-law, Rex and Cecile Parnell. He would have turned 79 in just two weeks. He and Sarielda (who died in 1944) are buried side by side in Kinder Cemetery near Hornsby, Illinois.
Hubbard never finished his trip to California, but his great-great-grandson
(my son) has long had the dream of going there. In December of 1998 he
graduated from college in Wisconsin, and in March 1999 his dream was realized.
Of course, he went to California riding something more comfortable, though
less entertaining, than Old Mae! It took 117 years, but Hubbard's California
trip was finally completed. (Now if we can just find him a nice woman like
Sarielda . . . )
Other Surnames on this Page (link to first occurrence)
Beeker Blackwelder Burke Click Cloud Coleman Conley Ferguson Lancaster Law
Parise Robbins
Roberts Schnell
Swink Taylor
Voyles
Descendants of William Parnell & Rosetta Swink
b: 1819-1825 in NC * (abbreviations chart)
d: 1873 in Rowan Co., NC
(Photo of cemetery)
+Rosetta Swink
b: 1826
d: December 9, 1871, in Rowan Co., NC
m: Unknown
........ 2 John H. Parnell (no more information
available)
b: Abt. 1850
d: Unknown
........ 2 William
Mumford Parnell (more
information)
b: January 16, 1852 in NC
d: August 17, 1928, in NC
............ +Margaret R. Blackwelder
b: September 24, 1845
d: January 1914 m: November 11, 1873 in Rowan Co., NC
m: Unknown
........ 2 David Parnell (more
information)
b: Abt. 1854
d: Unknown
............ + (Unknown)
........ 2 Hubbard
Parnell
b: May 07, 1859, in Salisbury, Rowan Co., NC
d: April 24, 1938, in Litchfield, Montgomery Co., IL
............ +Sarielda
Henchman Lancaster
b: February 09, 1861 in Macoupin Co., IL,
d: June 28, 1944, in Litchfield, Montgomery Co., IL
m: April 06, 1882, in Macoupin Co., IL
........ 2 Sidney
Lock "Joe" Parnell (more
information)
b: August 18, 1861, in North Carolina
d: January 16, 1958, in Davidson Co., NC
............ +Amanda Barbara Beeker
b: January 31, 1871
d: July 18, 1938
m: Unknown
........ 2 Rosanna Parnell
b: Abt. 1865
d: Unknown
........ 2 Cicero
F. "Dickie" Parnell (more
information)
b: Abt. 1867
d: September 1945 in Rowan Co., NC
(Photo of grave)
............ +Winnie Click
b: Unknown
d: Unknown
m: Unknown
........ 2 White Parnell
b: Abt. 1869
d: Unknown
*2nd Wife of William Parnell:
+Margaret E.
b: Unknown
d: Unknown
m: Unknown
Descendants of Hubbard Parnell & Sarielda Henchman Lancaster
........ 3 Walter Parnell
b: Abt. 1883 in IL
d: Abt. 1883 in IL
........ 3 William Parnell
b: Abt. 1883 in IL
d: Abt. 1883 in IL
........ 3 David Hartwell
Parnell
b: January 22, 1884 in Litchfield, Montgomery Co., IL
d: February 09, 1951 in Memphis, TN
............ +Laura Ferguson
b: Unknown
d: Unknown
m: Unknown
*2nd Wife of David Hartwell Parnell:
............ +Ozzie Coleman
b: Unknown
d: October 27, 1911
m: June 27, 1906, in Litchfield, Montgomery Co., IL
*3rd Wife of David Hartwell Parnell:
............ +Bertha Mae Roberts
b: December 16, 1907, in St. Francis Co., AR
d: January 29, 1975, in St. Francis Co., AR
m: 1928-1929 in DeValls, Bluff Co., AR
........ 3 Drenen Patrick Parnell ("Pat;"
a.k.a. Calvin Drennan Parnell)
b: August 30, 1885, in IL
d: 1956 in Litchfield, Montgomery Co., IL
............ +Nellie Mae Schnell
b: Unknown
d: Unknown
m: in East St. Louis, IL
........ 3 Hector Marston Parnell
b: December 1886 in IL
d: Unknown
............ +Zola (Unknown)
b: Unknown
d: Unknown
m: Unknown
........ 3 Neva Enola Parnell
b: November 1888 in IL
d: December 1918 in Litchfield, Montgomery Co., IL
............ +JohnRobbins
b: Unknown
d: Unknown
m: November 29, 1906 in Montgomery Co., IL
........ 3 Leeta Pearl Parnell
b: April 03, 1890 in Litchfield, Montgomery Co., IL
d: December 25, 1940, in Litchfield, Montgomery Co., IL
............ +James Alfred Cloud
b: July 28, 1886 in Gillespie, Macoupin Co., IL
d: March 01, 1962 in Milwaukee, WI
m: May 16, 1909 in Montgomery Co., IL
*2nd Husband of Leeta Pearl Parnell:
............ +William L. Law
b: Unknown
d: Unknown
m: September 1913
*3rd Husband of Leeta Pearl Parnell:
............ +William H. Taylor
b: Unknown
d: Unknown
m: August 11, 1936
........ 3 Gilbert "Gib" Parnell
b: March 1892 in IL
d: Unknown
............ +Evelyn Voyles
b: Unknown
d: Unknown
m: July 14, 1913 in Montgomery Co., IL
........ 3 Sidney
Charles Parnell
(author's
b: February 03, 1894 in Litchfield, Montgomery Co., IL
grandparents) d: January 28,
1928 in Litchfield, Montgomery Co., IL
............ +Esther
Emma Conley
b: August 31, 1898 in Hillsboro, Montgomery Co., IL
d: September 28, 1978 in Elgin, Kane Co., IL
m: January 23, 1917
........ 3 Leota Irene
Parnell
b: 1897
d: Unknown
............ +Don Burke
b: Unknown
d: Unknown
m: Unknown
*2nd Husband of Leota Irene Parnell:
............ +Raymond
Conley
b: May 10, 1896 in Irving, IL
d: 1947 in Hillsboro, Montgomery Co., IL
m: 1929
*3rd Husband of Leota Irene Parnell:
............ +Dominic Parise
b: Unknown
d: Unknown
m: Unknown
........ 3 Leo George
Parnell
b: October 1897 in Litchfield, Montgomery Co., IL
d: June 30, 1963, in Hillsboro, Montgomery Co., IL
............ +Doris
Azella "Dode" Conley
b: June 11, 1902 in Hillsboro, Montgomery Co., IL
d: August 15, 1970 in Hillsboro, Montgomery Co., IL
m: February 22, 1921 in Hillsboro, Montgomery Co., IL
........ 3 Rexford
Franklin Parnell
b: March 13, 1900, in Litchfield, Montgomery Co., IL
d: August 22, 1981, in Springfield, Sangamon Co., IL
............ +Cecile
Conley
b: 1904 in Hillsboro, Montgomery Co., IL
d: (living)
m: July 26, 1924, in Litchfield, Montgomery Co., IL
1, 2, 3 = Generation no.
AR = Arkansas
IL = Illinois
NC = North Carolina
TN = Tennessee
WI = Wisconsin
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Lynn Boyd Reener for much of the research into the Parnell family, especially the origins in North Carolina.
Special thanks also goes to Cathy Vance
for scanning the picture of Hubbard Parnell and e-mailing it to me.
Give
your e-mail message to Don Quixote
and his worthy steed, Rosinante. It WILL get through!
Parnell and related links
Jack C. Parnelle's Parnell(e) GenealogyCathy Vance's Parnell Genealogy
Joel Swink's Family Tree Maker Page
Rowan County, North Carolina - Rootsweb
Montgomery County, Illinois - Rootsweb
Macoupin County,
Illinois - Rootsweb
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This web site created by:
Michael Odle
Original materials copyrighted and may not be sold or used for profit in any way, but may be copied for personal use only by permission of web site author. Copyright © 1999 Michael A. Odle