Frank findings: Frank Parsons and the Parson family.

 
  The historical portrait of Frank Parsons in terms of his early years 
  and family life has endured considerable speculation based on limited 
  information. At the 100th anniversary of his death, new information 
  has emerged to refute some of the widely held claims about Parsons 
  and his family life. It is time to move beyond the confines of 
  secondary sources to primary sources of information about Parsons. 
  The legacy of Parsons deserves a more thorough and accurate 
  examination. 

Although much has been written about the professional contributions of Frank Parsons to vocational counseling as well as counseling in general, his biography has remained fairly unexamined for decades. Perhaps it is time to reexamine what is known about the life of one of the most significant figures of our profession.

A number of scholars have written about Parsons. One of the most detailed and notable accounts of the current generation can be found in Davis's (1969) Frank Parsons: Prophet, Innovator, Counselor. The Davis biography has informed a significant number of writings regarding Parsons over the years and, thus, has contributed considerably to Parsons's legacy. Davis, like any good scholar, relied heavily on accounts of Parsons's life conveyed by colleagues and scholars of Parsons such as Benjamin Orange Flower (1901), John Brewer (1942), and Arthur Mann (1950), among others, as well as archival data, in penning the single-known biographical text of the founder of vocational guidance. Although Davis's work has advanced the factual account of Parsons, it has also informed myth, which can be expected on the coattail of legacy with any historic figure. It might benefit the profession, approaching a most historic anniversary, to reconsider some of what has so long been taken for granted.

Lost Boy: The Abandoned Only Child?

Davis (1969), in his definitive biography of Parsons, provided two pieces of information on the opening page of the first chapter that, when further explored, would unravel two popular, long-held myths about Parsons. First, Davis referred to Parsons as an only child, citing a newspaper article from the New Jersey Mirror in 1893 ("Frank Parsons," 1893). On closer inspection of this profile from the New Jersey Mirror, one finds no mention of Parsons being an only child but rather an overview of his life, including his birth in Mount Holly, New Jersey, in 1854. At first glance, Parsons's birth in 1854 seemed of little significance. However, that same profile in the New Jersey Mirror raises an equally interesting question about the marriage of his parents. According to the profile, Parsons was born 2 years after his parents were married in 1852. This conflicts with the announcement of the wedding of his parents in the New Jersey Mirror on March 16, 1854 ("Married," 1854). Parsons's parents, listed as Edward Parson (with no "s" on the end of his name) and Alice B. Rhees (referred to as the daughter of J. Loxley Rhees), were married in Mount Holly, New Jersey. If the date of Parsons's birth listed by Davis as November 14, 1854, is indeed correct, he would have been born within 9 months of his parents' wedding. Years later, Parsons may have felt a need to avoid public scrutiny in his home town about how quickly he arrived after the marriage of his parents. Also, perhaps Parsons was misinformed by his own parents. This perplexing bit of family history only adds to the mystery of Parsons's family life.

A second bit of information merits further inspection. Davis (1969) cited Parsons's home as Trenton, New Jersey, between the years of 1870 and 1872, based on information from Cornell University. Although Trenton, New Jersey, is not far from Mount Holly, New Jersey, it certainly does not fit with the long-held belief that Parsons was essentially raised by his maternal aunts in Mount Holly, New Jersey, whether left with them while the family moved west or after being sent to live with them upon his mother's death. Davis cited Brewer (1942) with regard to the death of Parsons's mother and the role of his aunts in his upbringing. Thus, the myth of the founder of vocational guidance as an abandoned, only child was born.

Not the Only but the Oldest