About Margaret M. Parsons (1856–1927)
Margaret M. Parsons, Grand Rapids Herald, February 2, 1908.
Margaret M. Parsons was born in Seneca Falls, New York just 9 years after the convening of the historic Seneca Falls Convention. Led by abolitionists and suffragists Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the Convention is often referred to as the first women’s rights convention in the United States and the birthplace of the women’s suffrage movement. It would not be surprising if the seeds of Parson’s later activism were planted during her childhood there. Parsons ran in the Second Ward for the Grand Rapids Board of Education on September 1, 1890. Running against Thomas D. Bradfield and R.M. Montgomery, she polled in second place with just two votes.
Clearly Parsons did not win a spot on the Grand Rapids Board of Education, but she did find other avenues of influence. In 1891, she and nine other women from Grand Rapids submitted a petition asking for the “favorable consideration” of a municipal suffrage bill presented by the Michigan Equal Suffrage Association. Parsons was a charter member of the Grand Rapids Political Equality Club when it organized in 1892, and in 1893 she was one of several delegates representing the club at a Michigan Equal Suffrage Association convention in Lansing. In 1900, Parsons was elected recording secretary of the National Legislative League, an organization dedicated to obtaining women’s equal legal, municipal, and industrial rights. Nationally prominent suffragists Lillie Devereux Blake and Elizabeth Cady Stanton also served on the board of the National Legislative League.
Parsons was also interested in women’s clubs. In 1894, she was elected corresponding secretary of the Grand Rapids Ladies’ Literary Club. Parsons also served as president of the Eaglesfield Literary Club, which was named after Elizabeth Eaglesfield, another woman who ran for the Grand Rapids Board of Education in 1894. The two women were close, even sharing a residence for many years. Their relationship, however, soured in 1917 when the two women engaged in a contentious legal dispute over the ownership of a motorcycle business.
In her later years, she moved to Brookline, Massachusetts to live with her sister. She is buried at Forest Hills Cemetery in nearby Jamaica Plain.
About Margaret M. Parsons (1856–?)
Margaret M. Parsons, Grand Rapids Herald, February 2, 1908.
Margaret M. Parsons ran in the Second Ward for the Grand Rapids Board of Education on September 1, 1890. Running against Thomas D. Bradfield and R.M. Montgomery, she polled in second place with just two votes.
Clearly Parsons did not win a spot on the Grand Rapids Board of Education, but she did find other avenues of influence. In 1891, she and nine other women from Grand Rapids submitted a petition asking for the “favorable consideration” of a municipal suffrage bill presented by the Michigan Equal Suffrage Association. Parsons was a charter member of the Grand Rapids Political Equality Club when it organized in 1892, and in 1893 she was one of several delegates representing the club at a Michigan Equal Suffrage Association convention in Lansing. In 1900, Parsons was elected recording secretary of the National Legislative League, an organization dedicated to obtaining women’s equal legal, municipal, and industrial rights. Nationally prominent suffragists Lillie Devereux Blake and Elizabeth Cady Stanton also served on the board of the National Legislative League
Parsons was also interested in women’s clubs. In 1894, she was elected corresponding secretary of the Grand Rapids Ladies’ Literary Club. Parsons also served as president of the Eaglesfield Literary Club, which was named after Elizabeth Eaglesfield, another woman who ran for the Grand Rapids Board of Education in 1894. The two women were close, even sharing a residence for many years. Their relationship, however, soured in 1917 when the two women engaged in a contentious legal dispute over the ownership of a motorcycle business.
Campaign Information
Political Office: Board of Education
Election Year: 1890
Party Affiliation: Nonpartisan race
Elected: No
Biographical Information
Full Name: Margaret M. Parsons
Life Dates: September 24, 1857–November 6, 1927
Birthplace: Seneca Falls, New York
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Unknown
Party Affiliation: Unknown
Social Reform Activism: Women’s Suffrage, Women’s Clubs
Sources
“Bits of the Social Life.” Grand Rapids Evening Press, May 16, 1902.
“Conservatives Won, Results of the Election in the Ladies’ Literary Club.” Grand Rapids Herald, May 10, 1894.
“Delegates to Lansing.” Grand Rapids Herald, January 19, 1893.
Find a Grave. Find a Grave®. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/239783657/margaret-maude-parsons.
“For the Fair Sex.” Grand Rapids Herald, April 21, 1892.
Grand Rapids Herald, June 24, 1906.
“Mrs. Eaglesfield Loses Suit Long in Court.” Grand Rapids Press, September 14, 1917.
“Officers of Eaglesfield Ladies Literary Club.” Grand Rapids Herald, February 2, 1908.
“School Trustees.” Grand Rapids Telegram-Herald, September 2, 1890.
“Women’s National League.” New York Times, March 29, 1900.