John Howard Parnell (1843-1923) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree

John Howard Parnell

Born 1843 in Avondale, County Wicklow, Ireland

Ancestors

Son of John Henry Parnell and Delia Tudor (Stewart) Parnell

Brother of Sophia Katherine Elizabeth Parnell, Hayes Parnell, Emily (Parnell) Ricketts, Charles Stewart Parnell, Frances Isabelle Parnell, Henry Tudor Parnell, Catherine Anna Parnell and Theodosia (Parnell) Paget

[spouse(s) unknown]

[children unknown]

Died 3 May 1923 at about age 80 in Rathdown, Ireland

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Profile last modified 13 Mar 2024 | Created 20 Jan 2016

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1 Biography
- 1.1 Research Notes
2 Sources
- 2.1 See also

Biography

John Parnell is Notable.

John Howard Parnell was born in Ireland about 1843, the fifth child of John Henry Parnell, and Delia (Stewart). He was raised at Avondale, the family estate in Wicklow county, south of Dublin.^[1] John's younger brother was Charles Stewart Parnell, who became the leader of the Irish "Home Rule" movement. John was an educated gentleman, received a degree in geology, was a pioneering peach grower in Alabama, and served as a Member of the Irish Parliament.^[2]

John's education consisted of being tutored in Paris, attending the Chipping Norton School in Oxfordshire, UK, and the School of Mining in Dublin, Ireland where he received his geology degree.^[3]

When his father died in 1859, John received the Parnell family's Collure estate in County Armagh^[4], (in what is now Northern Ireland) and some monetary inheritance, but his younger brother Charles inherited the estate of Avondale, in Wicklow. John Parnell sought to increase his wealth by investing in the United States economy. Responding to an 1866 advertisement in a New York newspaper, he purchased 1,482 acres of land from Col. George Huguley for $12,000 in cash near River View in Chambers County, Alabama intending to establish a plantation. He brought with him William and Margaret Merna from Ireland to serve respectively as plantation manager and housekeeper. Parnell arrived in Alabama in 1867 and established the Sunny South Farm. Although not large compared to cotton plantations in Alabama's Black Belt region, the plantation employed local labor and became a significant agricultural enterprise in the Chattahoochee Valley.

In 1879, an offer appeared in the Farmers Magazine (London), which read: "To the tenants of John Howard Parnell's Colure estate in Armagh, Ireland, Mr Parnell wishes to allow tenants to purchase their respective farms". Various financing terms were offered, and details given.^[5]^[6] It seems Parnell was divesting himself of the family estate in Ireland, and in keeping with the family sentiments, was offering his tenants a leg up by becoming land owners. "Griffiths Valuation" for Armagh was taken in 1864, and recorded page after page of tenants living and operating small scale farms on land owned by John Parnell.^[7] The revision books (to update land records) in following years likewise contained many pages of farmers who rented small plots from John in the townlands of "Aghinlig" & "Keenaghan".^[8] The revision books can be searched using the info above, at the "Proni" (Public Records Office of Northern Ireland) website.^[9] He likely used the proceeds of land sales in Ireland to support his agricultural pursuits in Alabama.

The 1880 US census shows John as a 35 year old single fruit farmer in Alabama.^[10]

John Parnell returned to Ireland in the early 1890s and inherited the Avondale estate following his brother Charles death in 1891. John's acquisition of the estate was against the wishes of his brother, who had wanted to leave it to his wife Katharine (née Wood). He found the estate heavily mortgaged and eventually sold it in about 1900.^[11]

He was a Parnellite Nationalist Member of Parliament for South Meath between 1895 and 1900.^[12]

In 1901, the census of Ireland shows John is single, and living in Dublin.^[13]^[14]

He married Olivia Isabella Smythe, daughter of Colonel James Smythe, on 13 June 1907.^[15]

In 1911, the Irish census finds John and wife Olivia in Dublin.^[16]^[17] There are others in the home, but no children of John.

In 1914, John authored a book Charles Stewart Parnell, A Memoir about his more famous brother, that includes some family lineage and lots of stories of the family growing up at Avondale and beyond.^[18]

John Howard Parnell died in 1923^[19] and is buried in Deans Grange Cemetery.^[20]

His obituary in the New York Times reads:

"Dublin, May 3 (Associated Press) John Howard Parnell, brother of Charles Stewart Parnell, the famous Irish statesman died today. He was born in 1843 and spent many years in the United States, engaged in fruit and cotton growing. From 1895 to 1920 he was Member of Parliament for South Meath. He was married to Olivia Isabella Smythe in 1907 and is survived by one son."

His obituary in the Irish Times reads:

"Parnell, May 2, 1923, at his residence, Sion House, Glenageary, after three day's illness, John Howard Parnell, City Marshall. Deeply regretted by his sorrowing widow and relatives. Funeral private. No flowers by request. He is said to have sat in the House of Commons as a member from Meath, under his brother's leadership."^[21]