Lowndes County GaArchives Biographies.....Parrish, Ansel A. 1846 - living in 1913 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 17, 2004, 7:22 pm Author: William Harden p. 741-742 ANSEL A. PARRISH. Among the active and prosperous business men of Valdosta is Ansel A. Parrish, born in that part of Lowndes county that is now Berrien county, Georgia, and a representative of one of the prominent pioneer families of this section. The family originated here with Henry Parrish, the grandfather of Ansel A., who took a leading part in the public affairs of his community and at one time was a member of the Georgia state legislature. Ansel A. Parrish was one of the many brave and loyal youth who, yet in their teens, so gallantly went to the defense of their beloved Southland in 1861-65, and he is one of the few remaining actors in that great struggle. Henry Parrish, who was of North Carolinian stock, was reared and married in Bulloch county, Georgia, and removed from thence into southern Georgia in a very early day, locating in that part of Irwin county which later was transferred to Lowndes county and still later became Berrien county. He bought land about six miles east of the present site of Cecil and entered actively and prominently into the public life of this section. He died in middle life. His wife, who was a Miss Nancy Williams before her marriage, bore him twelve children and survived him fifty years, passing away at a remarkably advanced age. Ezekiel W. Parrish, born February 16, 1818, in Bulloch county, Georgia, son of Henry and father of Ansel A., was very young when his parents removed to southern Georgia and after his father's death he remained with his mother until his marriage, when he bought land one mile from where is now located the town of Cecil and there engaged in farming and stock-raising. In 1864 he sold his farm and received its value in Confederate money, which he still held when the war closed, but fortunately he had retained about seventeen hundred acres east of Hahira in Lowndes county. He settled on the latter estate, erected the necessary buildings and made it his home until his death on September 1, 1887. Martha C. (Wootten) Parrish, his wife, born in Taliaferro county, Georgia, had preceded him in death, her demise having occurred in June, 1871. She was a daughter of Redden Wootten and wife, the latter of whom was a Miss Bird before her marriage. Ezekiel W. and Martha C. (Wootten) Parrish were the parents of twelve children, namely: Nancy E., Redden B., Susan, Ansel A., James H., Joel W., Matthew R. A., Mary A. A., Ezekiel W. J., Martha M., John E. W. and Absolom B. Ansel A. Parrish, born February 20, 1846, the fourth in this family, was reared amid pioneer scenes, for in his youth there were no railroads in this section of Georgia and his father went to Albany, Georgia, sixty miles away, to market his cotton. All cooking was done before the open fire and his mother would card, spin and weave the wool into homespun cloth which her deft fingers would then convert into garments for her family. Mr. Parrish received such educational advantages as the public schools of his day afforded, and when old enough took up duties on the farm. In May, 1864, he enlisted in Company B of- the First Florida Special Battalion for service in the Confederate army and was assigned to the commissary department, where he continued until the close of the war. Returning to his Georgia home, he took up farming and also taught school to earn money, the money with which to advance his education. He was a student in the Valdosta Institute when occurred the death of Professor Varnedoe, then president of the institution. For sometime after concluding his studies there he clerked and then engaged in the mercantile business independently, continuing thus for seven years. He then took up the sale of sewing machines and when bicycles came into use he engaged in their sale and repair. One of the first in his city to see the future of the automobile, he opened a garage for the repair, storage and sale of automobiles and has continued in that line of business to the present time. On July 16, 1874, Mr. Parrish was united in marriage to Mary Emma Peeples, a native of Berrien county, Georgia, and a daughter of Judge Richard A. and Sarah (Camp) Peeples, more specific mention of whom will be found in the sketch of 0. B. Peeples appearing on other pages of this volume. Seven children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Parrish, namely: Carrie May, Maggie Alline, Charles E., Irene A., Ansel A., Richard E. and Edwin Willard. Carrie May is now Mrs. Francis H. Ramsey, of Valdosta, Georgia, and has one son, Francis H.; Maggie A., now Mrs. Albert N. Swain, resides in Richland, Georgia, and has three children, Albert N., Ansel Parrish and Emeliza; Charles E., married Julia Collier and has two children, Collier E. and Margaret; Irene married Dr. A. L, Smith, of Empire, Georgia and they have three children, Mary E., Dorothy and Samuel A.; and Ansel A., married Nona Hester and has a daughter, Caroline. Mr. and Mrs. Parrish are members of the Tabernacle Baptist church at Valdosta and both are ardent advocates of temperance. Additional Comments: From: A HISTORY OF SAVANNAH AND SOUTH GEORGIA BY WILLIAM HARDEN VOLUME II ILLUSTRATED THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY CHICAGO AND NEW YORK 1913 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/lowndes/bios/gbs273parrish.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/gafiles/ File size: 5.8 Kb