The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1906-02-25
Ten Acres of Land
Decided TO the Lord
7 EAR Worcester there Is q strip OF
! ten acres of land once owned
by the Lord God. Not in the

n /
ten acres of land once owned
by the Lord God. Not in the
spiritual sense that He controls
ell the created world, but His BY right
Of deed duly made cut in legal terms.
duly paid for. and finally carved deep
into stone. where It remains 10 this day.
a silent witness 10 the honest intent OF
the donor. Solomon Parsons, OF Wor-
cester
The boulder upon which this quaint
deed is carved lies on the old Hermitage
property, now owned by Henry Batter.
OF New York, who purchased Il when
that magnificent estate of the late A
Swan Brown, Wildwood Park was
broken up The deed reads,
Know all men by these presents. that
] William &. Hall OF Worcester. in the
county Of Worcester and commonwealth
Of Massachusetts. in consideration Of
1z5 dolls paid by the hand OF Solomon
Parsons OF the same Worcester, the re-
ceipt whereof 1 do hereby acknowledge.
do hereby give. grant. sell and convey
unto God. through the laws OF Jesus
Christ, which are made known 70 man
by the TeCkOTd OF the Rev Testament
recorded by Matthew. Mark. Luke. john
the Evangelist this land u gOVernd by
the above mentioned laws and together
with the spirit Of God The said tract
OF land is situated IN Worcester above
mentioned. the sCuthwesteTlE part con
tanning ten acres more or less ana
bounded as follows VIZ. Beginning at
the Southwest corner of the lot at a
stake and stones by land OF +, D4 4jl,Is,
rhanse easteriy by land Of : Perry
about 3.1s rods TO q corner OF the renee,
theuse noTtherly by the land or l.
cater about a rods 10 a corner OF the
fence: theuse westerly by l. ii OF hears
OF J. Fowler about Il rods 10 a chestnut
tree in the wall al the corner OF the
land Of said Daniels. and a heap OF
stones by the side OF II IhenSe South-
eTix- 10 the bounds first mentioned.
'Tbis solomon Parsons, who took this
means 10 express his deep religious
feeling was born OCTOBER -. leVo- -
Z young man he was eccentric. WINE
one of the founders of the MethoolSL
Church in Worcester, he Withdrew from
that orga nfzation because OF his strong
of,iecfi0n TO wine drinking even at com
In those days it was the custom OF
this church 10 meet az ulIiS Ii ~ Sc
of the members for the celeoTatlon OF
communion When II came MIR. Pdf-
sons turn he offered as a SUBSTITUTE
for wine a brew of STEPPED TaiSins- ms
80 ir@ersed some of The leaders that
thev took him severely to task fof 50
daring an Innovation -.
Thereupon he withdrew ms support
from the church purchased this strip
of land and had the warranty deeu
Csr-ed llpon the rock by Ellis sylvester,
He then erected q small tempe IlOuSi-
"a affsr SoIorron-s Tempie-at first
80, aff1ir of stone pillars with a
rim roof The seats were stones from
and worship with him: told them TO
come in their old working clothes, 10
come in rags if they wished In time
he gathered quite little congregation
Among other beliefs he held Mr. Par
cons was A strict vegetarian carrying
his theory so far as not even 20 wear
leather boots. He used TO go about in
1.Ifhbers giving as his reason the Iact
If was not right to Stay animals Tor
tbair hides and that in rubber ne ran
- cilance of crushing small insects
under foot He even attempted 20 con-
str1,cf his harness out OF straw and
rope. He firmly beileNed ti5at : az - Illt
creatures had their use anu U.s. seu
his man for having killed snake
In the early days OF autumn. Nhen
the frosts number the Wasps ana pes pes;
ne could be often seer gong abou.
among the trees collecting theTn 4La
nIacing them in the sunlight during
tries of corn for the birds;
STr Parsons Sabbath began az
o'clocI, SATURDAY. and lasted until sun
day evening bgPl1f 6,, tii nc most nee
essary work to be done upon MS IaTlH.
No hooking was allowed nOthlhS buS
tho feeding of the livestock
Tafrr i'm life Mr.. Parsons made many
SAILING trims with his son-in-iaW, Angus
Henderson, one of these TOOK MN 70
The Orient. There, on a snort eNcur-
sion. he sailed on "a snip whose crew
and Messengers We're all mohamiaedans
H. t.;,,., aoneiderabie money with him, he
was n1Uen frightened. looking upon these
peopIe such as he would upon band OF
cannibals But when, as night approach
I'd and at the setting of the sun, every
faithful follower of Allah sank TO his
Knees. faced the west and raised his
voice in prayer. Mr.. Parsons drew a
II knew that I was safe" he said, for
no people who will pray as they did
comic be guilty of murder or robbery
He made visit to the Holy Land ana
returned to Worcester.
on the ten acres of land owned by the
Lord Cod there lived for a long Tina
ar old Indian sQuaW who earned heS
living by selling herbs Parsons liked
her because she lived so close to nature.
and allowed her to remain even on this
consecrated ground. He built a hut for
her and provided for her until she dieA.