Charles Asbury Parsons was born about 1745 at Queens Anne County, Maryland.  In 1763, he moved to the South Branch of the Potomac River, an extensively farmed, fertile, land which that provided much of the food for the Continental Army.  He settled for a time at Buchanon.  In 1764, he married Elizabeth Chestnut.  Together, they reared six children, the oldest, William Louther Parsons, “Captain Billy,” who fought in the war of 1812.  In 1775, Charles traveled north to Romney, Hampshire County, where he enlisted to fight in the Revolution as a private in the Virginia Rangers Militia, under the command of Captain John Harness.  After the Revolutionary War ended, he was called into service again as a scout and Indian fighter.  All during the Eighteenth Century, Indians committed hostile acts against settlers in an effort to drive them from the region of present-day West Virginia.  In 1794, Charles' wife, Elizabeth, died.  He married Nancy Flesher Sleith, a widow, in 1797.  Together, they also raised six children.  About 1800, Charles and his family moved to Warth's Bottom, south of present-day Ravenswood.  They soon moved again, near Sycamore Creek.  His final move was to Frozen Camp.  After a life of adventure and service to his country, Charles Asbury Parsons passed away in 1823.  His resting place was provided by his son, Elias, who owned the ground in which his father was buried.  Charles Parsons was the first of many Parsons to be buried at the Parsons Cemetery.  The cemetery is now known as the Baptist Grove Cemetery and is under the supervision of a descendant, James Parsons of Ripley.  Besides his service to our fledgling nation, Charles Asbury Parsons was one of many settlers who were instrumental in opening the country west of the Allegheny Mountains.  Finally, he was the patriarch of multiple generations of family members at Jackson and the surrounding counties of West Virginia, and throughout the nation.