George W. Parsons

George Whitwell Parsons
George W. Parsons
Born	(1850-08-26)August 26, 1850 Washington, D.C.
Died	January 5, 1933(1933-01-05) (aged 82) Los Angeles, California
Occupation	Attorney, banker
Known for	His detailed diary of life in the era of Virgil and Wyatt Earp

George Whitwell Parsons (August 26, 1850 - January 5, 1933) was a licensed attorney turned banker during the 19th century Old West. He is remembered due to his having kept a detailed daily diary of his life in the west, especially while he lived in Tombstone, Arizona Territory from 1879 to 1887. He described life in Tombstone in detail, including his interaction with individuals who became famous such as Wyatt Earp and Ike Clanton.

Parsons was born in Washington, D.C., and raised to practice law in his fathers law firm. However, he became disillusioned with that field of work, and for a time he worked as a salvager in Florida, salvaging shipwrecks, beginning around 1874. After a near death experience while working in Cape Sable, during a hurricane, Parsons decided to find another line of work, and moved to California, where he worked as a bank clerk for three years in Los Angeles, starting in 1876. He then began working for the National Gold Bank & Trust Co., but when the bank closed down in 1880 he found himself out of work.

He began keeping a diary in 1869 following the death of his mother, an event that profoundly affected him and which he noted on its anniversary every year. He wrote in the diary every day for sixty years, from 1869 to 1929.

Parsons moved with his friend Milton Clapp to the boomtown of Tombstone, Arizona. He worked as a laborer at first in the mines and later partnered with J. L. Redfern as mining agents. He became acaqinted with John Clum, who was mayor as well as editor of the The Tombstone Epitaph.