Thomas D. Parsons. "Fairview Farm," in Mooreton township, Richland county, is one the largest estates in that region, and is under the management of one of the progressive, intelligent gentlemen of the vicinity, the subject of this review. He is making a success of his work and has been entrusted with the entire management for several years past. He is yet a young man, but has shown marked ability for business, and is enterprising and careful in detail.
Mr. Parsons was born on a farm in Steele county, Minnesota, December 23, i860, and was the son of George and Mary (Paul) Parsons, both of whom were natives of Somersetshire, England. Our subject was one of nine children, as follows : Henry, Anna, Mary, William, Louisa, Thomas D., Charles H., Sarah F. and George F.
Thomas D. Parsons was reared in his native county and educated in the common schools, and later attended Pillsbury Academy at Owatonna. After leaving the school room he was employed by the Walter A. Wood Harvester Company as traveling salesman, and was in their employ as such for about ten years. He entered the employ of W. P. Adams in 1889, and after two years assumed the management of the entire farm, which comprises nine sections of land. During the harvest and threshing season one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five men are at work, and during the fall and spring forty to fifty men are under his employ. The farm is owned by W. P. Adams, of Chicago, and Mr. Adams entrusts every branch of the work to the management of Mr. Parsons. He has so well conducted the farm that he has made of it one of the best in the county, and his labors have been satisfactory in every way.
Our subject was married, at Milford, Massachusetts, November 24, 1892, to Miss Jennie L. Phipps, daughter of Waldo and Margaret (Claflin) Phipps, the father a native of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, and the mother of Holliston, Massachusetts. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Phipps, namely: Jennie L. and Maggie I. Jennie L., now Mrs. Parsons, was born in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, October 21. 1864. She is a lady of refinement and has inherited the housewifely instincts of the New England home. Two children have been born to bless the home of Mr. and Mrs. Parsons, upon whom they have bestowed the names of Robert Adams and Alary Margaret. Both our subject and wife are members of the Episcopal church, and Mr. Parsons affiliates with the Masonic fraternity. He is a gentleman who is entitled to much credit for the labors he has put forth for the advancement of his community, and is held in the highest esteem by a large circle of acquaintances. It is indeed no easy task for one to conduct as large an estate as has been placed in his care and bring pleasing results in every instance, and in the handling of those under his employ during the busy seasons he has shown great ability in a business way, and at the same time displayed a spirit of kindliness which has gained him many friends and assured him success. The
W. P. Adams farm is widely known and deserves the highest praise for its high state of cultivation, good crops and its neatness in every detail, and is one of the very best in the state, being almost entirely under cultivation.
Source: Compendium of History and Biography of North Dakota 1900 Page 220