Matthew Parsons purchased a 200-acre Farm Lot in 1835 along with other pieces of land. The lot ran west from Dufferin St. to Keele St., half way between Eglinton and Lawrence Avenues. It originally was granted to Jacob Anderson. Parsons ran a mixed farm, which was worked by his sons and then his grandsons. The 200 acres remained in family hands until around 1955 and was one of the last working farms in York Township. A small lot was donated for the building of Fairbank Methodist Church (now Fairbank United) in 1889.
Many large pines, two to three feet in diameter, grew there; some remained until around 1900. There were clay deposits, which Parsons used for making the bricks for his own home and his neighbours. He also supplied bricks for the 1863 Fairbank School. In 1837, he was arrested as he was suspected of being a Mackenzie sympathizer, however he was quickly released.