Geneva Gazette
Geneva, Ontario County, New York.
Wednesday, February 12, 1823
Married in Canandaigua, on the 28th ult. Mr. E. S. Cobb to Miss Cornelia Parish, daughter of Capt. J. Parish.
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Geneva Gazette
Geneva, Ontario County, New York
Wednesday, July 27, 1836
DIED in Canandaigua, on the 13th inst., Jasper Parrish, Esq., aged 69. The early life of Capt. Parrish was marked by incidents that gave interest to his character. He was born at Windham, Conn. in March, 1767, and while a child emigrated with his parents to the Lackawaxen, Luzerne county, Penn. In 1778, at the age of 11 years, when the British and Indians, led on by those ruthless chiefs, Butler and Brandt, were waging an unrelenting warfare upon the peaceful inhabitants of the Wyoming Valley, he was made a prisoner by the party of Delawares, who had, a few days previous, committed the atrocious "Massacre of Wyoming." He remained a captive among the Indians seven years, during which time he was transferred from one tribe to another of the Six Nations, suffering privations incident to Indian life. He was released from captivity at Fort Stanwix, (now Rome) under the treaty of 1784. He had acquired, and could speak fluently, five different languages of these tribes, which enabled him to be useful in our subsequent intercourse with them, and he possessed, moreover, much of their confidence. Under Washington's administration, he was appointed Interpreter to the Six Nations, and afterward sub-agent; both of which offices he held more than thirty years, and until Jackson's administration. He was an early settler in Canandaigua, having resided here since 1792; and he well sustained the relations of husband, father and citizen.
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Jasper Parrish (1767-1836) was born in Windham, Connecticut, but as a child moved with his family to the head of the Delaware River in the Southern Tier of New York State, a region still owned by the Six Nations confederation (Iroquois League) of Indian tribes. In 1778, at the age of 11, Parrish and his father were captured by a group from the Munsee band of the Delaware tribe, near Painted Post, which is now in Steuben County, New York. The senior Parrish was separated from his son, turned over to the British, and later exchanged as a prisoner of war and returned to his family. His son, however, remained with the Indians for nearly seven years. The last five years were with the family of a Mohawk chief, David Hill. Hill welcomed Parrish into his family, even formally adopting him with a traditional ceremony.
In 1784, when Parrish was seventeen, he was surrendered along with other captives according to the terms of the Treaty of Ft. Stanwix. Although his adoptive family wanted him to stay, Parrish opted to leave what had become his home to find his birth parents and rejoin the culture in which he was born. Re-entering that world was difficult for Parrish, for although he was then fluent in the Delaware and Mohawk languages, he had lost most of his English. He spent several months in school relearning the language and continued his education on his own, catching up with the world he had become a stranger to.
In 1790 he was asked to serve as an interpreter for the United States government. He moved to Canandaigua and worked under General Israel Chapin, the U.S. Superintendent of the Six Nations. He spoke several Indian languages and interpreted for a number of important treaty negotiations, including the Pickering Treaty at Canadaigua in 1794, which established peace between the Six Nations and the United States and is still cited today in New York State Native American land claims. He remained in Canadaigua for the rest of his life, married and had six children, moved up in government ranks and became a important figure in local business and civic affairs.
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∼JASPER PARRISH - born in Windham, Connecticut, 1769. Captured when a boy by the Delaware Indians, soon after the massacre at Wyoming (1778), and sold by them to the Mohawks, with whom he remained seven years as a captive; was found among them on the opening of the settlement of Western New York. Settled in Canandaigua in 1789, where he died July 12, 1836.
Geneva Gazette
Geneva, Ontario County, New York.
Wednesday, February 12, 1823
Married in Canandaigua, on the 28th ult. Mr. E. S. Cobb to Miss Cornelia Parish, daughter of Capt. J. Parish.
********************************
Geneva Gazette
Geneva, Ontario County, New York
Wednesday, July 27, 1836
DIED in Canandaigua, on the 13th inst., Jasper Parrish, Esq., aged 69. The early life of Capt. Parrish was marked by incidents that gave interest to his character. He was born at Windham, Conn. in March, 1767, and while a child emigrated with his parents to the Lackawaxen, Luzerne county, Penn. In 1778, at the age of 11 years, when the British and Indians, led on by those ruthless chiefs, Butler and Brandt, were waging an unrelenting warfare upon the peaceful inhabitants of the Wyoming Valley, he was made a prisoner by the party of Delawares, who had, a few days previous, committed the atrocious "Massacre of Wyoming." He remained a captive among the Indians seven years, during which time he was transferred from one tribe to another of the Six Nations, suffering privations incident to Indian life. He was released from captivity at Fort Stanwix, (now Rome) under the treaty of 1784. He had acquired, and could speak fluently, five different languages of these tribes, which enabled him to be useful in our subsequent intercourse with them, and he possessed, moreover, much of their confidence. Under Washington's administration, he was appointed Interpreter to the Six Nations, and afterward sub-agent; both of which offices he held more than thirty years, and until Jackson's administration. He was an early settler in Canandaigua, having resided here since 1792; and he well sustained the relations of husband, father and citizen.
********************************
Jasper Parrish (1767-1836) was born in Windham, Connecticut, but as a child moved with his family to the head of the Delaware River in the Southern Tier of New York State, a region still owned by the Six Nations confederation (Iroquois League) of Indian tribes. In 1778, at the age of 11, Parrish and his father were captured by a group from the Munsee band of the Delaware tribe, near Painted Post, which is now in Steuben County, New York. The senior Parrish was separated from his son, turned over to the British, and later exchanged as a prisoner of war and returned to his family. His son, however, remained with the Indians for nearly seven years. The last five years were with the family of a Mohawk chief, David Hill. Hill welcomed Parrish into his family, even formally adopting him with a traditional ceremony.
In 1784, when Parrish was seventeen, he was surrendered along with other captives according to the terms of the Treaty of Ft. Stanwix. Although his adoptive family wanted him to stay, Parrish opted to leave what had become his home to find his birth parents and rejoin the culture in which he was born. Re-entering that world was difficult for Parrish, for although he was then fluent in the Delaware and Mohawk languages, he had lost most of his English. He spent several months in school relearning the language and continued his education on his own, catching up with the world he had become a stranger to.
In 1790 he was asked to serve as an interpreter for the United States government. He moved to Canandaigua and worked under General Israel Chapin, the U.S. Superintendent of the Six Nations. He spoke several Indian languages and interpreted for a number of important treaty negotiations, including the Pickering Treaty at Canadaigua in 1794, which established peace between the Six Nations and the United States and is still cited today in New York State Native American land claims. He remained in Canadaigua for the rest of his life, married and had six children, moved up in government ranks and became a important figure in local business and civic affairs.
********************************
∼JASPER PARRISH - born in Windham, Connecticut, 1769. Captured when a boy by the Delaware Indians, soon after the massacre at Wyoming (1778), and sold by them to the Mohawks, with whom he remained seven years as a captive; was found among them on the opening of the settlement of Western New York. Settled in Canandaigua in 1789, where he died July 12, 1836.
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