The photograph above is a picture of my Great-great Grandfather James W. Parkhurst with his family. James is the twelfth generation from George-1 the first Parkhurst in America. He was born 10 June 1838 in Scriba, Oswego County, New York. His occupation was a farmer in a land that was tough to farm. The soil is very rocky which is why Scriba was often called "Stony Scriba". In fact the land was so littered with rocks that farmers had to drag or carry them to the perimeter of their pastures and fields to clear the land. There they used the rocks to build stone walls that are still in existence today. It was hard work that would have tested the best of men.

Scriba is located on the south shore of Lake Ontario, the smallest of the Great Lakes, east of Oswego. In wintertime the north winds blow across the lake picking up moisture then dropping it in the form of snow on the south shore. This is called lake effect snow; I call it a lot of shoveling. It isn’t unusual to have three foot of snow on the ground in winter, sometimes it could get up to six foot. The wind chill factor can get down to twenty and even thirty degrees below zero.

To build a farm with the simple tools of his day, raise a family, and make them prosper seems to me to be quite an accomplishment. Great-great grandpa was also a captain of Company C, One Hundred and Eighty fourth Regiment New York Volunteers during the Civil War. He died in 1912 and is buried in the North Scriba Union Cemetery, North Scriba, N.Y.

Seated next to Great-great grandpa James is his wife Harriet. Her maiden name was Whitford. She is the daughter of Hiram Whitford and Polly Lawton. Born 7 January 1839 in Scriba, Oswego County. Mother of six children, died 16 May 1903, in Scriba, Oswego County, N.Y. Buried in North Scriba Union Cemetery. So she is my Great-great grandmother.

Top left is Orla J. Parkhurst; born 1867 in North Scriba, Oswego County, N.Y. Orla married Carrie Marvin 14 January 1892 and they had one child Mildred Parkhurst. Orla was also a farmer who specialized in growing strawberries. Strawberries are a popular crop in the Oswego area. The soil and climate seem to agree with them. Orla died 20 January 1937, in Oswego Hospital, Oswego, N.Y. He is buried in New Haven Cemetery, New Haven, Oswego County, N.Y.

My great-grandfather Nelson Ulysses is standing next to Orla. He was born on 17 September 1872, in Scriba, N.Y. He married Augusta Pelow 12 October 1890. They had five children, Lloyd James, Blanche, (I can remember her when I was a child) Lula May, George Glenn, (he is my grandfather), and Kenneth U. Nelson is another Scriba farmer that I wish I knew more about. He died 5 October 1942 in Mexico, Oswego County, N.Y.

Next is Edgar L. Parkhurst born 29 July 1865 in Scriba, Oswego County, N.Y. He is the eldest son of James, married Evelma "Evvie" Hammond 12 June 1885. They had five children together Hattie Mae, Bessie B., James David, Ora "Toad", and William Lewis. He like his brothers was a Scriba farmer. Edgar died 15 January 1937, in New Haven, Oswego County, N.Y. and is buried in North Scriba Union Cemetery, North Scriba, N.Y.

Top right is Charles "Top" Ward Parkhurst, born 4 May 1874 in Scriba, Oswego County, N.Y. He married Clara Amelia Scoffield and they had eight children together. Ernest Barney, Ward A., Anna L. Harriet P., Laura "Duke" M., Richard Amon, Charles "Scoff" Scoffield, and Orlynn Glenn. There is a note here that Charles died at age 89 at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Garnet (Laura) Drake in Lycoming, Oswego, N.Y. on 30 October 1963. He in buried in North Scriba Cemetery, North Scriba, N.Y.

Bottom left is Pearl I. Parkhurst born 23 April 1881 in Scriba, Oswego County, N.Y. She married Homer F. Coon 5 March 1902 who is of coarse a farmer. They had five children Curtis F., Vernon H., Anita M., Floyd P., and Maurice C. Both Pearl and Homer are buried in North Scriba Cemetery, North Scriba, N.Y. Pearl died 22 May 1958.

Bottom right is Mary Jane "Mamie" Parkhurst born 1 November 1862 in Scriba, Oswego County, N.Y. She married Fred E. Lord 29 March 1882. They had three children Gertrude, Hazel, And George. My father has a note on the back of the picture that says George had a fruit farm on the Lake Road, North of Lycoming. Mamie died 3 January 1950 in Scriba, Oswego County, N.Y. and was buried in North Scriba Cemetery, North Scriba, N.Y.

I mentioned above George Glenn Parkhurst, son of Nelson Ulysses Parkhurst, is my Grandfather. Born 27 December 1899 in Scriba, Oswego County, N.Y. He married Florence Ivis Sheffield 15 June 1922. They had three children, Elliott Lester, Malcolm Glenn, (my Father) and Joyce Josephine. He was of coarse a Scriba farmer who unfortunately I never got to know. He died 21 March 1948 and is buried in Pecks cemetery, South Scriba, Oswego County, N.Y.

Malcolm Glenn Parkhurst is my father; he was born 18 August 1924 in Scriba, Oswego County, N.Y. He married my mother, Margaret Arlene Gilbert 29 May 1948, in St. Louis’s Church, Oswego, N.Y. They had three sons, Thomas Glenn, Gary James, (myself) and David Alan. My mother died 6 September 1987 and is buried at Pecks cemetery, South Scriba, Oswego County, N.Y. My father is still alive according to the latest reports.

I am Gary James Parkhurst born 26 November 1950 at Oswego Hospital, Oswego, N.Y. I married Mary Elizabeth Smegelsky 21 June 1969. We had two children, Stephen James, and Joshua Jason. Divorced about 1979 moved to Sacramento, California and married Teri Johnston. We had James Taylor Parkhurst who is the maintainer of this web site.

The above information was given to me almost in total by Peter G. Parkhurst our family computer genealogist. His hard work and his willingness to share his information with me will always be appreciated. I am in his debt.