John and Jane Layman Parrott were among the earliest settlers at Soddy, arriving in time to be included in the 1830 census. Three of their sons marched away to Kentucky to join the Union Army in the Civil War.
The Parrotts trace back to Francis and Frances Parrott, who went from Virginia to Chowan County, N.C., about 1694. Samuel, Joseph and Francis Parrott had arrived in Virginia in September 1665 and settled at Rappahannock County, Va. Francis Parrott was a justice in Chowan County, serving until 1711. He died in 1713 and Frances died in 1715. Their children are listed as John, William, Jacob, Francis and Thomas who married Elizabeth Johnson. Some of those Parrotts made their way to Dobbs County, N.C., and to Lenoir County.
A John Parrott from North Carolina fought on the Patriot side in the Revolution and was granted 640 acres of land for “84 months of service.” John Parrott in December 1785 took up a 640-acre grant in the section of Greene County, Tenn., that became Jefferson County. That was on Clear Creek of the French Broad River. That John Parrott was a justice of the peace in Jefferson County. His neighbors there included the Ganns and Laymans who later moved with the Parrotts to Hamilton County. In the case of State vs. Elizabeth Gann in Jefferson County in 1816, Henry and John Parrott were called as witnesses. John Parrott sold 127 acres of his land to Isham Christian for $500 in 1796 - the year Tennessee became a state.
The John Parrott who came to Hamilton County married Jane Layman in Jefferson County in December 1816. In 1836, when Indians still controlled the land south of the Tennessee River, a Jacob Parrott was living next to the John Parrotts. John Parrott in 1839 acquired 50 acres near Soddy from William Clift and Robert McRee. The children of John and Jane Parrott included Mary, Sarah who married a Douglas, Louisa, Nancy, George, John Anderson, Monroe and Henry. George married Elizabeth Jane Manning, daughter of Thomas Manning.
On Feb. 25, 1862, George, Anderson and Monroe Parrott went to Harrison to enlist with Co. C of the Fifth Tennessee Infantry. They made their way to Barboursville, Ky. All three became ill and George Parrott died. He died June 2 at Barboursville at age 32. The widow, Elizabeth, was left with children William Monroe, Emily, Margaret and Thomas Andrew. Anderson, who was 21 when he went into the war, was reported sick at Nashville on Jan. 17, 1863. He was in a hospital there Feb. 19, then he was discharged with a disability status on July 27. He had “chronic diarrhea and general disability.” Monroe in November 1863 was “left sick at Sale Creek.” He had been just 16 when he marched away.
Henry Parrott married Marzelia Penney, daughter of Thomas and Malinda Penney, in 1866. Their children included Lewis, James R. and George.
Monroe and his wife, Elizabeth, stayed on in the Soddy area. Their children included John A., Thomas A., Tennessee E., Phoebe J., Dollie A. and Jennie. When Monroe Parrott died in 1929, his three living children were John A., Dollie Nelson and Jennie Carden. Dollie had married John A. Nelson. In his will, Monroe Parrott gave Dollie all his chickens and corn and the feather bed. Jennie received the bed that had belonged to his wife. John was given a large wooden chest. John A. Parrott is said to have fathered 21 children. His last wife was Sarah Penny. John A. died at Soddy in 1949 at the age of 84. His children include Ben, Clecia, Orphie, Mutt, Effie who married Bill Wicks, Millard, Reba who married Gleason Smith, Ruby who married J.F. Walker, John William “Red” who married Ruby Skiles and then Linda Hindman, Imogene who married Floyd Shadwick, Aldine who married Thomas Parrott, James Cecil “Eugar” who married Georgia Skiles, Dorothy who married James Carter and Betty Jo who married Ray Rice.
Elizabeth, widow of the George Parrott who died in the war, took William James McDaniel as her second husband. His first wife, Jemima Liles, had died. Margaret, daughter of the George Parrott who died in the war, married Thomas Miller in 1875. Her brother, William Monroe Parrott, married Amanda Jane Ford. They moved to Milam County, Texas. William Monroe died in Milam County in 1943 and Amanda Jane died in 1907. Their children were Jennie Emerline, Robert W., George W., Margaret Elizabeth, Amos Ervy, Charles Monroe, Eula May and Luther H. This family spells its name Pairett. Thomas Andrew Parrott, another son of the George Parrott who died in the war, remained in Hamilton County. He married Mary C. Alexander, but she died of tuberculosis. He then married Elizabeth Emily Roy. His third wife was Mary Cannon Burns, widow of Washington Burns. Children of Thomas A. Parrott included Molcy who married Ned Thomas, Pearl who married Robert Barnard, and George Lee who married Daisy Belle Scoggins.
George Lee Parrott died at Harrison in 1947 at the age of 63. His children were Lottie who married William Oscar Green, Clara who married Charles Sledge, Grace, Clifford, Carl who married Mary Springfield, Jess who married Frances White, and Tom who married Louise Romine.
George and Maggie Parrott resided at Soddy. This George Parrott died in 1956 at the age of 75. A son, William H., married Lucille Penney and lived at Dayton. Their children were Roy, George, Gene, Mildred and Imogene. Other children of George and Maggie Parrott were Thomas who married Aldine Parrott, Mitch, Bob and Ralph.
Another family of Parrotts at Soddy was that of James and Mary Parrott. Their children included Alice, Addie who married Tom Reece, James Thomas “Tom” who married Beulah Childs, and Fred Monroe “Jack” who married Eva Gooden. Children of Tom and Beulah Parrott include Betty who married Johnny Minnis, Eugene Henderson “Corky,” Sidney and Paul Ed, who was an officer of the Pioneer Bank at Soddy. Children of Jack Parrott include Elizabeth who married Paul Manning, Sam, Lillian who married Randolph Smith, Louise who married Clifford Penney and Robbie who married Clifford Smith. Sam Parrott resides on Lightfoot Mill Road and is a veteran mechanic and bus
driver.