Eben Parsons (1879–1919)
Between 1910 and 1919, Gloucester amateur photographer Eben Parsons made over 750 negatives, documenting an important period in Gloucester's history. While Parsons was particularly fond of photographing Gloucester's waterfront and its fishing fleet, his collection touches on a wide range of subjects. The Parsons Collection provides a unique and historically valuable record of life in Gloucester during an era of rapid change.
left Eben Parsons at the helm of the yacht Calinda in Gloucester Harbor, undated. Photograph likely taken by Chester N. Walen or Ruth I. Parsons. right Eben Parsons at George M. Wonson's farm, July 16, 1911. Photograph by Chester N. Whalen. Both from the collection of the Cape Ann Museum Library & Archives, Gloucester, MA.
Eben Parsons was born in Gloucester in 1879, the second of three children born to Thomas Henry and Euphemia Jane (Grant) Parsons. His mother, a native of Nova Scotia, came to Gloucester shortly after the Civil War. There she met and eventually married Thomas Parsons. The Parsons family was among the pioneers in the establishment of the fishing business in East Gloucester. Eben's grandfather, Thomas L. Parsons, was a fisherman during early manhood and later a part-owner of William Parsons 2nd and Company. Eben Parsons' father, Thomas H. Parsons, was also a fisherman, working for many years in the family business as commander of the schooner Ocean Ranger. Despite this strong family tradition and an obvious fascination with the fishing industry, Eben Parsons was one of the first men in his family to choose a career unrelated to the fisheries.
Educated in local schools, Eben Parsons took his first job in Gloucester in 1896 at the Cape Ann Printing Company, publishers of the daily newspaper The Cape Ann Breeze. Shortly thereafter his new job with the Southgate Printing Company in Boston placed Parsons among a small but growing number of young men and women commuting between Gloucester and "the city." Parsons kept an apartment in Boston on Allston Street which he used during the week. He returned to his parents' home at 14 Chapel Street in East Gloucester on Friday afternoons via the railroad. Virtually all of the photographs Eben Parsons made between 1910 and his death in 1919 were taken in Gloucester on weekends, holidays, and vacations.
Eben Parsons was an amateur photographer in the truest sense of the word. With no formal training in photography - and apparently no previous experience - Parsons purchased his first camera in January 1910 at the age of thirty-one. His meticulous notes on the time, light conditions, exposure data, and the subject of each of his photographs reveal that over the next nine years hardly a weekend passed during which Parsons did not shoot several photographs of his family, friends, and neighborhood.
Lack of darkroom facilities frequently forced Parsons to process his nitrate-based negatives in the kitchen sink of his parent's home. Outlining and retouching on many of his negatives, especially those of sunsets over the harbor, show that despite a curious and appealing naiveté which characterizes much of his work, Parsons did experiment with his photography, sometimes creating very contrived scenes. Scrapbooks of his work reveal that he also experimented with color, hand painting vivid reds and blues onto many of his black and white prints. Parsons' photography was done for his own enjoyment; no evidence exists indicating that he exhibited or sold any of his work.
According to Ruth I. Parsons, Eben Parsons' younger sister, she frequently accompanied her brother when he went out photographing, especially when he went in the family launch. She remembers maneuvering the small gasoline-powered craft close as possible to an incoming salt barque so her brother could get a good photograph. Parsons also photographed with Chester N. Walen, a fellow East Gloucester native and camera enthusiast. Many of the 125 negatives of the Walen Collection, also at the Cape Ann Museum, are nearly identical to Parsons'.
The range of subjects represented in Eben Parsons' photographs covers many aspects of life in Gloucester during the first two decades of the 20th century. There are numerous views of Gloucester's waterfront: a large number of negatives of Parsons' salt wharf, of fishing vessels under way, of fishermen "dressing down" and unloading fish, and of flakes covered with acres of drying fish. Also included in the Collection are photographs of Parsons' family, many giving us rare glimpses of the interior of a middle-class, single-family home in the early 20th century; of the Southgate Printing Company in Boston; of the Parsons' sloop Calinda and numerous other small craft in Gloucester harbor, and of Parsons' neighbors and friends.
Eben Parsons died in Gloucester on May 20, 1919, at the age of thirty-nine. Although little information about his life remains, his photographs and the notes he kept about them provide unique and irreplaceable information on Gloucester between 1910 and 1919.
Eben Parsons (1879–1919)
Between 1910 and 1919, Gloucester amateur photographer Eben Parsons made over 750 negatives, documenting an important period in Gloucester's history. While Parsons was particularly fond of photographing Gloucester's waterfront and its fishing fleet, his collection touches on a wide range of subjects. The Parsons Collection provides a unique and historically valuable record of life in Gloucester during an era of rapid change.
left Eben Parsons at the helm of the yacht Calinda in Gloucester Harbor, undated. Photograph likely taken by Chester N. Walen or Ruth I. Parsons. right Eben Parsons at George M. Wonson's farm, July 16, 1911. Photograph by Chester N. Whalen. Both from the collection of the Cape Ann Museum Library & Archives, Gloucester, MA.
Eben Parsons was born in Gloucester in 1879, the second of three children born to Thomas Henry and Euphemia Jane (Grant) Parsons. His mother, a native of Nova Scotia, came to Gloucester shortly after the Civil War. There she met and eventually married Thomas Parsons. The Parsons family was among the pioneers in the establishment of the fishing business in East Gloucester. Eben's grandfather, Thomas L. Parsons, was a fisherman during early manhood and later a part-owner of William Parsons 2nd and Company. Eben Parsons' father, Thomas H. Parsons, was also a fisherman, working for many years in the family business as commander of the schooner Ocean Ranger. Despite this strong family tradition and an obvious fascination with the fishing industry, Eben Parsons was one of the first men in his family to choose a career unrelated to the fisheries.
Educated in local schools, Eben Parsons took his first job in Gloucester in 1896 at the Cape Ann Printing Company, publishers of the daily newspaper The Cape Ann Breeze. Shortly thereafter his new job with the Southgate Printing Company in Boston placed Parsons among a small but growing number of young men and women commuting between Gloucester and "the city." Parsons kept an apartment in Boston on Allston Street which he used during the week. He returned to his parents' home at 14 Chapel Street in East Gloucester on Friday afternoons via the railroad. Virtually all of the photographs Eben Parsons made between 1910 and his death in 1919 were taken in Gloucester on weekends, holidays, and vacations.
Eben Parsons was an amateur photographer in the truest sense of the word. With no formal training in photography - and apparently no previous experience - Parsons purchased his first camera in January 1910 at the age of thirty-one. His meticulous notes on the time, light conditions, exposure data, and the subject of each of his photographs reveal that over the next nine years hardly a weekend passed during which Parsons did not shoot several photographs of his family, friends, and neighborhood.
Lack of darkroom facilities frequently forced Parsons to process his nitrate-based negatives in the kitchen sink of his parent's home. Outlining and retouching on many of his negatives, especially those of sunsets over the harbor, show that despite a curious and appealing naiveté which characterizes much of his work, Parsons did experiment with his photography, sometimes creating very contrived scenes. Scrapbooks of his work reveal that he also experimented with color, hand painting vivid reds and blues onto many of his black and white prints. Parsons' photography was done for his own enjoyment; no evidence exists indicating that he exhibited or sold any of his work.
According to Ruth I. Parsons, Eben Parsons' younger sister, she frequently accompanied her brother when he went out photographing, especially when he went in the family launch. She remembers maneuvering the small gasoline-powered craft close as possible to an incoming salt barque so her brother could get a good photograph. Parsons also photographed with Chester N. Walen, a fellow East Gloucester native and camera enthusiast. Many of the 125 negatives of the Walen Collection, also at the Cape Ann Museum, are nearly identical to Parsons'.
The range of subjects represented in Eben Parsons' photographs covers many aspects of life in Gloucester during the first two decades of the 20th century. There are numerous views of Gloucester's waterfront: a large number of negatives of Parsons' salt wharf, of fishing vessels under way, of fishermen "dressing down" and unloading fish, and of flakes covered with acres of drying fish. Also included in the Collection are photographs of Parsons' family, many giving us rare glimpses of the interior of a middle-class, single-family home in the early 20th century; of the Southgate Printing Company in Boston; of the Parsons' sloop Calinda and numerous other small craft in Gloucester harbor, and of Parsons' neighbors and friends.
Eben Parsons died in Gloucester on May 20, 1919, at the age of thirty-nine. Although little information about his life remains, his photographs and the notes he kept about them provide unique and irreplaceable information on Gloucester between 1910 and 1919.
Selected Works by Eben Parsons
 |
Eva Standing Artist: Eben Parsons Date of Work: August 1910 Medium: Negative Accession Number: 2357 Credit Line: Gift of Ruth I. Parsons and Joseph E. Garland Collections: Photo Archives |
View CAM's Rights and Reproduction policy
Selected Works by Eben Parsons
|
Eva Standing Artist: Eben Parsons Date of Work: August 1910 Medium: Negative Accession Number: 2357 Credit Line: Gift of Ruth I. Parsons and Joseph E. Garland Collections: Photo Archives |
View CAM's Rights and Reproduction policy