During his course of studies at the University, Shadrach Parsons died of dysentery at the age of twenty. His fallen stone in Mt. Hope still reads:

Sacred to the Memory of S. Warner Parsons,
Only surviving son of Joseph H. & Mary M. Parsons, of Rochester.
The deceased was a dutiful son, a loving brother,
And faithful friend.
As a member of the senior class of 1864 at the University of Rochester,
He was beloved by his classmates, and respected by his teachers,
For his promise, his scholarship, and his Christian virtues.
He died September 3, 1863,
Aged 20 years, 3 Mo. & 12 days.
"Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God."