John Edward Parsons was born on October 24, 1829 in New York, Manhattan, New York, United States. He was the son of Edward Lamb and Matilda (Clark) Parsons. His father was English, his mother a member of a prominent family of Wallingford, Connecticut.
John Edward Parsons received his early education at a private school at Rye, New York, and at the University of the City of New York (now New York University), from which he was graduated, third in his class, in 1848. His ambition on leaving college was to become a banker, but John Edward Parsons was unable to find a suitable position. To employ his time he read law in the office of James W. Gerard and James N. Platt and fulfilled the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at New York University.
Shortly after reaching his majority, John Edward Parsons invested nearly all of a considerable inheritance in stock of a Nicaragua canal company, which soon afterward became worthless. Realizing that he must earn his living he obtained admission to the bar in 1852 and began to practise law. At first he intended to devote his attention to abstracting titles and other routine work, but when offered an appointment as assistant district attorney about 1854 he accepted it after some hesitation. In this position, which required that he draw all the indictments and try nearly all the cases which arose in the county, he gained experience of great value in his subsequent career. At the height of the power of the "Tweed ring" he became one of the original members of the city bar association, formed to combat corruption in the courts. He was of counsel for the association in its proceedings against Justices Barnard, Cardozo, and McCunn, and lawyer for the managers of the impeachment of Barnard. His activities in this period established him as a leading member of the New York bar. Parsons was an ardent champion of the principle of industrial combination.
In 1887 he drew up the trustee agreement which formed the Sugar Refineries Company, and after a state court decision had declared the charter of one of the participating companies forfeited, he originated the American Sugar Refining Company, in 1891, which soon controlled ninety-eight per cent. of the refining of sugar in the United States. He successfully defended the company in antitrust proceedings before the Supreme Court of the United States which held that manufacturing is not commerce and hence not within the scope of federal powers. In 1903 the American company acquired a controlling interest in the Pennsylvania Sugar Refining Company. Since it was not dissimilar to earlier acquisitions upheld in the Knight case, successive attorneys-general took no action upon it. But in 1909, during the excitement which followed the exposure of frauds in the industry, Parsons and other directors of the company were indicted by a federal grand jury for having made the contract of 1903. After three years the case was brought to trial. It resulted in a disagreement of the jury and was not retried. Parsons died at his residence in New York City on January 16, 1915.
John Edward Parsons was the president of the New York City Bar Association (1900 - 1901). He served as President of Cooper Union (1905 - 1915). He was a member of the University Club of New York, the Century Club, the Players Club and the Metropolitan Club.
John Edward Parsons had an almost unerring memory, keen intelligence which enabled him to seize at once upon the essential facts of every case, and the ability to make almost flawlessly logical presentations of cases in the courtroom, but he was somewhat lacking in imagination. In his relations with others he was cold and formal.
John Edward Parsons was twice married: on November 5, 1856, to Mary Dumesnil McIlvaine, who died in 1896, and on March 12, 1901, to Florence (Field) Bishop. By his first wife he had five daughters and a son, Herbert, who became a member of Congress.
