JOHN NAPOLEON PARSONS

JOHN NAPOLEON PARSONS ("DeDe"/"Poly") was born on October 11, 1880, in Crab Orchard, Lincoln County, Kentucky, the third oldest of seven children: Adolphus ("Dolph"), b. 1873, d. 1917; John Napoleon and twin sister, Annie, b. 1880, d. unknown; George Greene, b. 1883, d. unknown; Eleanor, b. 1886, d. unknown; Carrie, b. 1888, d. 1889; and Calmaeus "Cal", b. 1891, d. unknown. John Napoleon's parents were William Parsons, b. 1841 in Virginia, d. unknown; and Mary Elizabeth Underwood, b. 1853 in Kentucky, d. 1929 in Lexington, Kentucky.

Grandpa "DeDe" grew up reading brother Dolph's dime store Wild West novels describing the excitement and thrills of residing in the great territory of Texas. DeDe decided at a very early age that he would one day leave the knobs of Kentucky and make his way West and see for himself if everything those books alluded to was true. At age 16,he did just that, leaving behind his parents, siblings, and struck out on his own, never to look back again.

His first "real" job was that of a telegrapher ("Expressman") for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L & N), which was headquartered in Harlan, Harlan County, Kentucky. That only took him a few miles south of where he was born, but it was the first leg in his quest to find adventure. It was during this time, as the family stories go, that he began his lifelong battle with alcoholism. From "Bloody Harlan," he was transferred to Knoxville, Tennessee.

Shortly afterward, he changed jobs and went to work for the Texas & New Orleans Railroad (T & NO), and was sent to New Orleans, Louisiana, which was quite a bit closer to Texas and the fruition of his dream. He asked for a transfer from New Orleans to Houston, which was granted.

DeDe hopped aboard a freight train heading toward Houston. He fell asleep on the train and awoke in a lonely, dismal place called Dayton, Texas, where he had been unceremoniously "dumped" out alongside the tracks. He opened his bleary eyes, looked around him, and he saw NOT the pictures painted in his mind through the words of his brother's books, but a low, swampy area with deep, mosquito-infested ditches on either side of the tracks, and the wild and thick weeds that grew up over everything. He took particular notice of the long and slithery snake which was sunning itself on the tracks just a few yards from where he was standing. DeDe, a man who "just did NOT curse," surveyed his environment and exclaimed, "JESUS GOD! SO THIS IS TEXAS!!!"

But, he WAS in Texas. The end of the line. The end of a dream. He decided to make the best of things and started to explore the area a little, vowing to "get even" with his big brother if he EVER got his hands on him again! His job as telegrapher put him in a high tower alongside the tracks, and was of no comfort to him when he discovered that the many steps he had to climb to reach his "tower office" was the favorite resting place for all of the snakes in the area! He made many fearful treks up and down those steps, hopscotching, sidestepping, and slowly creeping around the intruders. That experience in Dayton resulted in a life-long obsession with snakes.

DeDe transfered to an area called Belt Junction which was located near Aldine, just north of Houston. It didn't take long from there to get fed up with the railroad life and all it entailed (especially the snakes). He took a job as a grocery store clerk in Houston for a Mr. Cobb. After working there for a short time, he begn working at a larger grocery store, Kelly's, owned by Mr. W. O. Kelly. It was during this time that he met his future bride, my grandmother, Pearl Margaret Van Horn, b. June 17,1898 in Osawatomie, Miami County, Kansas, d. December 23, 1990, Jenks, Tulsa County, Oklahoma. They married on November 17, 1912, in Houston and rented their first home, which belonged to Mr. Kelly, just two lots down from the grocery store. The only thing separating the two structures was a horse lot.

Shortly after their marriage, DeDe and Pearl decided they could do a lot better if they opened their own grocery store. Parson's Grocery was located in a storefront owned by "Mr. Gould." They moved into the little house owned by Mr. Gould, which was located on the corner of Clark and Noble Streets, just a couple of blocks down from Kelly's.

Owning their own establishment was NOT a happy beginning for a new marriage. Pearl told of the roving bands of gypsies coming through town. Their approach to the area was always preceded by merchants and residents running into the streets yelling at the top of their lungs: "THE GYPSIES ARE COMING! THE GYPSIES ARE COMING!" Pearl told of the gypsy children's habit of carrying small coins in their mouths, and after choosing a piece of penny candy, would spew the wet penny on the counter top, leaving HER to pick it up and put it in the cash drawer.

Another unnerving habit of these trancient "customers" was their custom of moving about the store with such a flurry of skirts, bangles, foreign chatter, and loudness that the proprietors could not keep up with what they were doing. Like a whirlwind they came in, checked everything out, and disappeared in the same cloud of confusion in which they entered.

Parsons' Grocery soon folded, and DeDe went back to work for Mr. Kelly. DeDe and Pearl once again moved into their first home, the little house owned by Mr. Kelly, next to the horse lot. On January 27, 1914 their first child, a daughter, Mary Frances, was born to them.

DeDe worked for Mr. Kelly for about another year and then changed jobs again and worked for Mr. Gerlach's Baking Company, using a mule-drawn wagon to deliver bread daily to the local grocery stores. Each store had a big wooden box sitting on the porch beside the front door, and that is where DeDe would deposit loaves of fresh bread, rolls, and pastries each morning for that store's sales.

One day, Old Toby, the mule that pulled the bread wagon, kicked DeDe and the kick broke DeDe's arm. He could no longer lift the racks of baked goods, so Mr. Gerlach fired him! While waiting for his arm to heal, the "Panic" hit -- a short-lived depression. Hard times were upon them.

DeDe, temporarily having only one good arm with which to work, finally got on as a water boy, hauling buckets of water to the workers digging the pipeline between Houston and Ohio. Each morning he had to get up early, walk seven miles to Green's Bayou to his job, haul water with his one good arm all day, and then retrace his seven mile trek home each night.

After DeDe's arm healed, Mr. Gerlach hired him back to deliver bread, but this time, instead of using the mule-drawn wagon, Mr. Gerlach had purchased an old Ford truck for DeDe to use in his deliveries. One morning DeDe went out to start his rounds, cranked the handle located on the front of the truck to start the engine, the crank back-kicked, and broke the same arm again! Again, Mr. Gerlach fired him! Mr. Gerlach died shortly after that incident, and DeDe went to work for the Texas Bread company, which later became the Hostess Baking Company.

The year was 1918 -- the soldiers were returning from fighting in World War I, and brought with them the Pandemic Flu that took lives by the thousands all over the world.

The Parsons family was still living in Mr. Kelly's house. Pearl was carrying her second child when, on Thanksgiving Day, 1918, she came down with the dreaded flu. Her mother, Mary Frances Canfield-Van Horn, and Pearl's youngest brother, John Francis Van Horn, moved from their home in Magnolia park on West Street to live with her daughter and family during this time to help nurse Pearl back to health. Sixteen-year-old John Francis also contracted the flu during this time and died on January 13, 1919. Pearl was bedfast for seven months, but did survive, although her recovery was a slow one. Her fever reached such high levels that as her once coal-black hear grew in, the new hair was snow white! She even had to learn to walk over again.

After Pearl got strong enough, the Parsons family moved out of Kelly's house on Clark Street and moved two doors down from the home of Mary Frances Canfield-Van Horn on West Street. A few weeks later, on July 24, 1919, the second child of John Napoleon and Pearl Margaret Parsons was born . . . a son, whom they named Virgil Thomas. Two more sons followed: George Ernest and Glenn Carlton, born on June 2, 1924, and December 31, 1928, respectively.

They next moved around the corner onto Mill Street. Then on to Quitman Street. While residing on Quitman Street, they made a trip back to Kentucky to visit DeDe's mountain relatives. His mother, Mary Elizabeth Underwood-Parsons, now a widow, had moved into Lexington, Kentucky. His brother, George Green Parsons had married Bess Preston, and they with their children lived in Falmouth, Kentucky, where they owned and operated a grist/flour mill and grocery store on the banks of the Licking River. DeDe's sister, Ella (Eleanor), and her husband, Matt Preston (Bess Preston's brother) lived in Covington, Kentucky, which is right across the river from Cincinnati, Ohio.

Matt Preston and one of his sons, James, owned and operated a mechanic's garage in Covington. Matt was severely injured one night when a car that he was working under fell off of its supports. The sudden weight of the car upon his body left him with crippling injuries. James, always carrying a load of guilt over the accident, began drinking heavily, and wound up arrested and put in the Covington City Jail. There he died by hanging. Officially it was called suicide. One of his aunts, however, who saw his remains after death, claims he was also beaten badly, and she feels he was murdered. Unfortunately, we'll probably never know the truth. However it happened, it was a tragic time in the Preston family.

DeDe's red-headed, twin sister, Annie, was married to John Walls, and was still living in Lincoln County, Kentucky, where all of the Parsons children were born. "Dolph" had taken his Western books and moved with his bride, Emma, to the Lexington, Kentucky, area. Calmaeus was a train-hopping hobo and nobody ever knew where he was, although he would show up once in a while for clean clothes and some money, which he knew his Momma would always provide for him. Calmaeus' train-hopping adventures had cost him one arm. Little sister Carrie had died at the age of 12 months.

The Parsons family moved to the Heights area of Houston onto Arlington Street, and then to 912 West 25th Street, where they lived until Pearl and DeDe divorced in 1934. All four of the Parsons children attended and graduated from Heights School.

After the divorce, which was one filled with hurt and anger due to DeDe's alcoholism, our family lost track of him except for the occasional contact made by his oldest son, Virgil Thomas. He assured us all that DeDe never regretted his move from Kentucky, and lived the remainder of his life in his beloved Texas, in Houston, until he died in March of 1962, being 81 years old.