Timothy Parsons was born on July 15, 1837, in Newfield, New York, to Jared and Polly Parsons. His father was a shoemaker who owned $100 of personal property by 1860. He grew up and attended school in Newfield, and by 1860, he was working as a day laborer.
He enlisted in the Union army on September 14, 1861, and he mustered in as a corporal in Battery M of the 3rd New York Light Artillery on November 28. The regiment took part in the Seven Days’ Battles, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Overland Campaign, and the siege of Petersburg. He was reduced to the ranks for an unspecified offense on May 21, 1863, and imprisoned in the New Bern, North Carolina, jail. He mustered out on October 9, 1864.
Parsons returned to his parents’ household in Newfield after the war. By 1870, he was working as a carpenter, and he owned $200 of personal property. He married a woman named Pernelia around 1874, and their son Alan was born around 1876. By 1900, he was working as a cobbler. His wife died on January 15, 1920, and he passed away in Newfield on February 26, 1927.
Image: Timothy Parsons (New York Cartes-de-visite, 1860-1865, available from Ancestry.com)