In the fall, he explored nearly the entire length of the Grand River valley by canoe, from Jackson to Lake Michigan.

He spent the winter working as a store clerk in Ionia County and in the spring went to Marshall to live with his brother, Luke H.

[1] Parsons became the tenth governor of Michigan when Robert McClelland resigned in March 1853 to become the Secretary of the Interior under U.S. President Franklin Pierce.

[2] During his twenty-two months as governor, tax laws were improved and the practice of depositing surplus state funds in banks was opposed.

[5] He soon fell ill and retired to his farm in Corunna where he died at the age of 37, just five months after leaving office as governor.