Jonathan PARKHURST was born July 17, 1837 in Vermont and died August 11, 1922 in Maloy. He married Mary E. SENDLEY, daughter of Daniel SENDLEY and Mary CLARK. She was born January 1, 1856 [1845 on her gravestone] in Buffalo, New York and died September 3, 1921 in Maloy. Both are buried in the Platte River Cemetery near Maloy.

Jonathan and Mary came to Ringgold County, Iowa in 1867, from Knox County, Illinois, settling on Sectin 20 on the State Road. In 1870 they moved to a farm in Section 7 in Benton Township, which was then a wilderness area.

Their first friends in the area were the Luke SHAY family, who became life-long friends. A child of the PARKHURSTS had become very ill on the long journey to Iowa and after the family was refused help by an inhospitable woman at their first stop, they stopped at the Luke SHAY home. The older SHAYS were away, but their daughter Maggie welcomed them warmly. She insisted they spend the night, and old Luke SHAY used to laugh when he told how Maggie had tubled her brothers out of bed so that the PARKHURST family might have proper places to sleep after their long journey.

Jonathan bought his Iowa land, which adjoined the Luke SHAY property, sigh unseen from land speculators in the East.

Disappointed to find there were no buildings on the land as had been promised, Jonathan wept. The SHAYS again came to their rescue, letting them stay in a log cabin on their place until housing could be built on the PARKHURST property.

The land was not fenced in those days, and women often had to see to it that the livestock stayed out of the crop land. Mary and Mrs. SHAY would check the fields for stray cattle and then meet at their common property line and visit. Sometimes they would forget the time and have to run back to their homes to make sure no harm had come to their small children.

The Indian land had been purchased by the government some years before, but the Indians often returned, causing fear among the white settlers. One day Jonathan was plowing some distance from the house, and Mary and her two children were in teh cabin alone. The door opned and there stood two large Indian squaws. Mary, barely five feet tall, was frightened, but tried to remain calm as the squaws poked around the cabin, examining anything that caught their fancy.

Mary had just finished making herself a calico dress which was hanging on a wall peg. One of the squaws took the dress down and held it up to herself. Both squaws laughed because Mary was so much smaller than either of them. Meanwhile, Mary was trying to figure how she could get them out of her house without making them angry when she remembered her two berry pies which were cooling on the table. By gestering, she finally go tthem to understand that they could have the pies if they would leave. They agreed and one went to the table, picked up the pies, and rolling them up, stuck them down the front of her dress. Mary often wondered how long it took for the berry stains to disappear from the squaw's front side!

Mary was said to have the "healing touch," and spent much of her time caring for the sick. Neighbors called on her when a family member was ill, and soon the local doctor, hearing of her talents, began to stop for her when he had a patient who needed nursing. He usually stopped for her in his buggy, but when the roads were bad or a bridge was out, the doctor and Mary would ride double on his horse. Since undertakers were almost unheard of, she was often called to a home where there had been a death to wash and dress the body.

In 1897 Jonathan and Mary retired from farming and moved into Maloy. They ran the telephone exchange for many years.

Mary died in September 1921 and, less than a year later [Auust 11, 1922], Jonathan joined her in death.

Everybody loved these two dear gentle people. They measured their wealth in friends, not material goods. Most of the large crowd that attended Mary's funeral had had their lives enriched by Mary.

The PARKHURSTS were the parents of six children. Of these six, three (Etta Adella THELMLY, Margaret Ellen HARTSOOK and Lois [Louise Rowena] SOULL) married and moved on. The others lived in Benton Township and reared their families there.

Their only son John Edwin married Elizabeth BLACKMAN and farmed northwest of Maloy. John's son Everett was, for a time, a barber in Maloy and later was a mail carrier on the Benton Route.

Clara Lovina married Bud SCONCE, and, taking up where the PARKHURSTS left off, Bud and "Tootsie" were faithful operators of the telephone exchange.

Sadie married Tom JAMESON and they also farmed north of Maloy. Their daughter Freda married John COMBS from Redding. For many years, the COMBS family lived in Clearfield where both were employed. John retired in 1985. Their two children are Donald Dean, a long-time coach at Bloomfield, and Donna Mae HIATT. The HIATTS live on a farm near Allendale [MO].

Editor's note: Much of this story is taken from "The Story of the PARKHURST Family" written by Betty HINTON, granddaughter of John and Mary PARKHURST. The information was told to her by her grandmother, Melissa BLACKMAN PARKHURST, wife of John and Mary's son, John Edwin PARKHURST. It was submitted by Freda COMBS, daughter of Sadie, who furnished additional information.

NOTES: Jonathan's biography in the 1887 Biography and Historical Record of Ringgold County, Iowa states that he was born July 17, 1836, Windsor County, Vermont, the son of John and Hannah (JOHNSON) PARKHURST, the 12th of 13 children. It also states that he married Nancy SENDLEY on March 5, 1867.

John Edwin PARKHURST was born in 1871, and died in 1958. He was interred a Platte River Cemetery near Maloy.

Clara Lovina (PARKHURST) SCONCE was born September 25, 1878, and died May 13, 1931 at the age of 52 years. She was interred at Redding Cemetery. She married January 5, 1914, at Centerville to Edgar SCONCE.

William PARKHURST, son of John and Melissa (BLACKBURN) PARKHURST, was born June 21, 1905 near Clearfield, and died at the age of 82 years January 15, 1988. He was interred at Clearfield Cemetery. He married Reva NEVILL on August 15, 1936. She died in 1986.

SOURCE: Maloy, Iowa Centennial History: 1887 - 1987 p. 163.

Courtesy of Mount Ayr Public Library

Transcription and Notes by Sharon R. Becker, August of 2011