Remembering Suwannee: Nancy Parshley, Part 1

Eric Musgrove Contributor Women have played a necessary but oft-neglected role in Suwannee County's history. Besides the traditional roles of raising children and supporting their husbands' endeavors, many women in the county's history have taken it upon themselves to be active in public and private life. Such is the case of Nancy Parshley. Nancy Maria Brown was born on Sept. 18, 1818, in the American Northeast. The 1870 Federal Census says that she was born in Massachusetts, and it appears that her family was well-off. She married John Parshley prior to 1841. The Parshleys had six children between 1841 and 1859: Maria, Georgeanna, Arabella, Emma, John (he often went by his middle name, H