John E. Parsons, Jr. Print History Collection

John E. Parsons Jr. was born on January 11, 1938, the youngest of three children of John E. Parsons and Fanny Haven Wickes. Although very little is known about him, an invoice accompanying the book collection, dated November 5, 1978, indicates that he lived on his family estate of four generations, Lounsberry, in Rye, New York. The collection was purchased to be added to the estate’s library. John E. Parsons, Jr. was already deceased at the time of the death of his mother, Fanny Wickes Parsons, in 1987.

Fanny Wickes Parsons married John E. Parsons in 1927. They made Lounsberry their primary residence and raised three children in the house. John E. Parsons died on July 20, 1976 in Harrison, New York, and Fanny Wickes Parsons died on August 18, 1987 at Lounsberry.

The Parsons Family is known as one of the major benefactors to the development of Rye in Westchester, New York. John E. Parsons, the elder, was a collector of American antique firearms and wrote the catalog Percussion Colt Revolvers and Conversions for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1942, later publishing The Peacemaker and its Rivals, Henry Deringer's Pocket Pistol, The First Winchester, and Smith & Wesson Revolvers, all books praised for their authoritativeness and objectivity. He was a vice president of the New York Historical Society and contributed many articles to its quarterly. He was a member of the Lenox Library Association of Lenox, Massachusetts for nearly 50 years and was senior trustee at the time of his death. Herbert Parsons, John E. Parsons, Jr.’s grandfather, was a Republican U. S. Representative from New York. The family was well regarded and the Lounsberry estate is still run by descendants of the Parsons.