MASTER PARKINSON. 215
��MASTER PARKINSON.
��BY R. PARKINSON.
A tombstone at Canterbury bears this inscription : " Henry Parkinson : Long an excellent Classical Preceptor : Died May 28, 1820, aged 79, Hibernia me genuit : America nutrivit : Nassau Hall educavit. Docui, mili- tavi, atque manibus laboravi. Sic cursum meum finivi ; et nunc terra me occupat, et quiete in pulvere dormio quasi in gremio materno meo. Hue ades, amice mi care ; aspice, et memento ut moriendum certe sit tibi. Ergo vale, et cave."
This epitaph was written by himself. Among the Revolutionary patriots wno, with firm reliance on divine Providence, pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor in defence of self-government, and redeemed the pledge by jeoparding their lives unto the death upon the high places of the field, he was one of the earliest in New Hampshire. He was a pioneer in the State in promoting liberal education, and he left to it the noblest legacy a citizen can bequeath — the enduring fruits of talents improved' by hberal culture, and beneficently occupied in the duties of good citizenship and in promoting human welfare. As in life he shared the principles, counsels and friendships of Stark, Reid, Dearborn, Webster, the Nesmiths, and other patriots in the Provincial army ; and with them endured the hardships, privations, perils and sufferings of camp, march, battle, and winter-quarters, it is meet that he should share the gratitude and veneration due to them from succeeding generations. The duty of enbalming the history of this builder, who wrought bravely and wisely, as soldier and educator, in laying the foundations of the Republic, has been so long neglected that the once abundant materials in manuscript, military and family papers, and in the memories of associates, children, and pupils, are rapidly approaching the vanishing-point. Such hngering and scattered rem- nants as I have been able to collect are here presented.
According to tradition, William and Esther (Wood) Parkinson were natives of Scotland. They were kin to the Scotch Livingstons, who settled in New York and New Jersey. In 1741, they were residents of Londonderry, Ireland. In that year and city their oldest child, Henry, was born. In 1744, they emigrated to Londonderry, N. H. They removed thence to Princeton or vicinity, in New Jersey, but at what date is not ascertained. In June, 1776, William Parkinson united with others in Londonderry in pledging "to the utmost of their power and at the risque of their lives and fortunes, with arms to oppose the hostile proceedings of the British fleets and armies against the United American Colonies." Whether this was William, Senior, or Junior is uncertain. The former had five sons born in this country : Aaron, Jonathan, Reuben, Sylvanus, and William ; and five daughters : Esther, Elizabeth, Kath- erine, Mary, and Susan.
Little is known of the parents. That little indicates a claim to grateful remembrance. They were among the settlers of New Hampshire, who with hardy endurance and heroic self-sacrifice toiled and suffered in the hope of achieving for posterity a better lot than their own. They were God-fearing and liberty-loving. Their fellowship was with the pure in heart and the upright in life. In spirit, aims, and efforts, they did nothing to hinder, and the best they could to help, the primitive settlers in making the wilderness and the solitary place glad for them, and the desert blossom as the rose. They were among the few first settlers who had the wisdom, frugality, and self denial
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