Former Residents Return to The Duncan House

As you can see, we made some progress this week.  The colors you see are basically 'true', so it's gray with white trim.  The colors were analyzed by a paint specialist from Williamsburg.  One of the samples had NINETEEN coats of paint...and another had 17.  That's from 158 years.  The base color of the house is Gull Wing Gray and the trim is "Timid White."

But we have bigger news!  We have former residents returning to The Duncan House, and no, it's not General Rosecrans nor General Beauregard ....it's Tom and Nita Parson, former residents of The Duncan House.  Months ago we had a meeting of the minds and all agreed that they would return and be residents again, as soon as it was possible.

National Park Service Ranger Tom Parson is one of my favorites, and as you know, he is one of the most knowledgeable people around concerning the Siege and Battle of Corinth.  Tom has published 118 articles about Corinth's war history in the Daily Corinthian.  It's only fitting that he and Nita would be able to call this historic house their 'home'.

I asked Tom to allow me to post a bit about him and his background.....and it's most interesting.  Take a look below:

Thomas (Tom) Parson is a native of Sylmar, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. Immediately out of high school he enlisted in the US Navy for a four year hitch which turned out lasting for twenty years. While on leave in May of 1980 he visited his first Civil War battlefield: Shiloh. Tom was assigned to four ships and served in the First Gulf War during Desert Storm/Desert Shield. He retired in 1998 as a Chief Petty Officer. Not long after retiring he signed on with the National Park Service and has spent the last seventeen years with Shiloh National Military Park. He spent his first five years with the park maintaining the National Cemetery, the mass Confederate burial trenches and other sites across the battlefield. In 2004 Ranger Parson was assigned to the new Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center in Corinth, Mississippi. He is a certified Historic Preservation Maintenance Worker and has worked as a mason on preservation projects on parks from coast to coast. In addition he has fought wild-fires throughout the western states.

Tom’s personal research focuses on military activities in North Mississippi and West Tennessee. Tom has been living in Corinth since 2005 with Nita, his wife of 36 years.

N
ita, a native of Walnut Grove, TN is a familiar face in the downtown area; she has managed the bookstore of the Interpretive Center as well as holding positions at the Crossroads Museum, Corinth Tourism and the Curlee-Verandah House. She recently moved to the Corinth Public Library and truly loves her work.

BOOKS:

Work for Giants: The Campaign and Battle of Tupelo/Harrisburg. Kent State University Press, 2014.

Bear Flag and Bay State: The Californians of the Second Massachusetts Cavalry Regiment. McFarland Publishers, 2001.

IN PROGRESS:

Forrest Victorious: The Battle of Brice’s Crossroads.

The Civil War Journal of Chaplain Elijah Edwards, 7^th Minnesota Veteran Volunteers.

ARTICLES:

Blue & Gray Magazine

Hell on the Hatchie: The Fight at Davis Bridge, Tennessee. Dec. 2007.

Stopping Grant in Mississippi: The Holly Springs Raid. 2010.

Final Stand in Mississippi: Tupelo, the Campaign and Battle 1864. July, 2014.

NEWSPAPERS:

Daily Corinthian (Corinth, MS) 118 articles on Corinth during the Civil War.