Governor Parsons

Andrew Parsons, born in Hoosick, New York, in 1817, settled in Shiawassee County in 1836 and at age nineteen was elected the county's first clerk. After serving in several county and state offices, he became a regent of the University of Michigan in 1852 and was elected lieutenant governor that same year. In March 1853, he became acting governor when Governor Robert McClelland resigned. The formation of the Republican Party in 1854 badly split the Democratic forces and may have contributed to his failure to win the gubernatorial nomination, after which he was elected from Shiawassee County to the state legislature. He became ill during the legislative session of 1855, returned to Corunna, and died there on June 6, 1855.

Corunna, Michigan · United States