PARSONS, THEOPHILUS (1750-1813), American jurist, was born in Byfield (Mass.), on Feb. 24, 1750. He graduated from Harvard college in 1769, was a schoolmaster at Falmouth (now Portland) (Me.), from 177o to 1773, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1774. In 1800 he removed to Boston. He was chief justice of the supreme court of Massachusetts from 1806 until his death in Boston on Oct. 3o, 1813. In politics he took an active part as one of the Federalist leaders in the State. He was a member of the Essex county convention of 1778, called to protest against the proposed State constitution, and as a mem ber of the "Essex Junto" was probably the author of The Essex Result, which helped to secure the rejection of the constitution at the polls. He was a member of the State constitutional con vention of 1779-80, and one of the committee of 26 which drafted the constitution ; he was also a delegate to the State convention of 1788 which ratified the Federal constitution; and according to tradition was the author of the famous "Conciliatory Resolutions," or proposed amendments to the constitution, which did much to win over Samuel Adams and John Hancock to the side of ratification. His Commentaries on the Laws of the United States (1836) contains some of his more important legal opinions. PARSONS, WILLIAM BARCLAY , Ameri can engineer, was born in New York city on April 15, 1859. He
entered the service of the Erie railroad, but resigned to take up general practice in New York city in 1885 as consulting engineer. He became deputy chief engineer in 1891 to the rapid transit commission of New York city and was chief engineer of the com mission, 1894-1904. As such he designed and supervised the construction of the first part of the subway system there. He was connected professionally with railway construction in various parts of the world, and with many hydro-electric developments. He was a member of the Isthmian Canal commission, 1904; ad visory engineer to the Royal commission on London traffic, a member of the board of consulting engineers of the Panama canal, 1905 ; chief engineer of the Cape Cod canal, 1912-14, and chairman of the Chicago transit commission, 1916. He served during the Spanish-American War as chief of engineers, National Guard of New York, and in the World War was major and later lieutenant-colonel and colonel of the nth U.S. Engineers at tached to the B.E.F. and A.E.F. in France. After the war he was made brigadier-general of engineers and placed on the retired list. His publications include Turnouts (5884) : Track (1886) ; Rapid Transit in Foreign Cities (1895) An American Engineer in China (1900) The American Engineers in France (592o) ; Robert Fulton and the Submarine (1923).