CHARLES LEE PARSONS	IDA JEPSON
1872--1929	1875--1967

 
Charles Lee Parsons, son of Eugene and Catherine Heaton Parsons was born March 21, in 1872, in Shasta County. Parsons were pioneers; ancestors landed in Maryland in the 1630s. Succeeding generations moved to what is now West Virginia and then to Iowa. From there, Eugene joined a wagon train west; he met and married Catherine in Shasta County. Charles was the youngest of their six children.

Ida Laura Jepson was born April 2, 1875 in Onawa, Iowa. In 1880, John Jepson moved his family to Southern California; they were on the way to Oregon when they decided to settle in Shasta County.

The Parsons place was on Churn Creek and the children attended Pacheco School and the Jepson ranch was on Stillwater Creek and the children attended Olive School; there were schools about every five miles so children could walk to school. Charles and Ida met at dances at a neighbors and were married August 6, 1893. The couple had seven children:
 

Myrle	b. July 26, 1894	d. July 28, 1894
C. Wayne	b. Sept. 10. 1895	d. March 14, 1977	m. Maude Kramer
Phyllis	b. Oct. 15, 1897	d. April 4, 1990	m. Roy F. Mark
Ray Kermit	b. Aug. 12, 1901	d. Nov. 13, 1996	m. Mayme Fisher
Margree Ida	b. April 9, 1904	d. Dec. 22, 1997	m. Hugh W. Smith
Lawrence	b. Sept. 4, 1907	d. Oct. 3, 1954	m. Melba Duncan
Vernon Lee	b. Feb. 26, 1911	m. Alede Stocker

   
Raising their children and working the ranch kept the family busy. One day in August, the Hawes-Beatie threshing crew were working at the ranch. Ida helped serve dinner (at noon) and then had her second son in the afternoon. The threshing crew apologized for being there at such an inconvenient time; the Parsons were happy the threshing was done before a summer storm.

In 1917, during WWI, the Farm Bureau was started to improve farming methods and increase production. Charles and Ida both became active members. The whole family were active in the War effort; Charles sold Liberty Bonds, Lawrence and Vernon knitted mop rags using large wooden needles and coarse string, and though her intentions were good, the war was over before Margree finished knitting a pair of socks.

Charles died December 14, 1929; he had never enjoyed good health since a childhood bout with typhoid.

Ida sold the ranch and married Jess Leveroney in 1947. They moved to Red Bluff where she died June 6, 1967.

Source:  Shasta Historical Society - May 1996