Parry, Joseph Mellard Bibby; 1905 Bio, Pitkin County, Colorado http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/pitkin/bios/parryjmb.txt --------------------------------------- Donated May 2001 Transcribed by Judy Crook from the book: Progressive Men of Western Colorado Published 1905, A.W. Bowen & Co., Chicago, Ill. --------------------------------------- Joseph M.B. Parry No man is better educated than he who knows how to do, when to do and where to do, and who stands ready with a hearty will to do, whatever may be incumbent on him to do, perilous though it be, and apart from a sense of duty repulsive. Such as this is the education for life's duties shown by the record and career of Joseph Mellard Bibby Parry, of Aspen, manager of the Bonnybel mine near the town. When he has been unable to get employment in his chosen line of activity and in consonance with his special abilities, he has cheerfully accepted what he could get and has performed his service in that with all his energy and capacity: and when disaster and privation have been his portion he has risen superior to them and made even adverse circumstances minister ultimately to his advancement. He is a native of England, born at Barnoldswick in Yorkshire, on July 17, 1856, and the son of Dr. Hugh and Elizabeth (Lord) Parry, both natives of England, born in Lancashire, the father of Welch descent and belonging to families long resident in Flintshire in that country. Both parties were members of the church of England. During the Civil war in this country the father was a volunteer surgeon and rendered efficient service to the Union army. He was a Freemason in fraternal relations, and in politics supported the Conservative party. Their offspring numbered eight, two of whom died in infancy and a son named Thomas in 1900. The living are Ellen, Sarah, Joseph M.B., Arthur and Hugh. Joseph M.B., the immediate subject of these paragraphs, was graduated at Liverpool College in his native land in 1872, and his technical knowledge acquired in the classrooms was supplemented by practical work and experience in the construction of roads, docks and batteries in various parts of Great Britain. In the spring of 1880 he emigrated to America and settled in Canada, where he passed a year in various engineering projects and three in a vain attempt to find the route to wealth by raising cattle in the vicinity of Buffalo, New York. He soon found, however, that chasing cattle through the cranberry swamps of western New York, although exciting at time[s], had not enough of snap and liveliness in it to suit his active temperament, and accordingly the opening of 1884 found him on one of the large cattle ranges of northern Colorado and southern Wyoming. Two years of cow-boy life satisfied him that the fruits of his labor in that line were not commensurate with its magnitude and danger, and so he turned his attention to the mineral fields of Colorado with higher hopes. From 1886 to 1888 he dug and sweated and swore in the gulches and among the rocks of Colorado with much the same success that attends the average lessee of mines or prospector for lodes--that is to say, rumor credits him with showing up at Aspen in 1888 broke and hunting a job. An experienced observer has remarked that a man never fully appreciates life in Colorado until a turn of fortune's wheel leaves him penniless, sick and practically friendless. Then whatever of manliness there is in him comes to his aid and carries him through his difficulties. There is reason to believe that Joe Parry, as everybody calls him, experienced almost every vicissitude incident to the improvident, semi- vagabond life of a genuine prospector; and it is known that his cheerful, sanguine disposition never wavered or faltered, and that no thought of discouragement was ever entertained by him. His philosophy was that conditions not theories confronted him, and his manhood dictated that those conditions must change. So when he applied to the superintendent of the Bonnybel mine for employment and was told there was nothing there for him, he insisted that there must be something at which he could work. His persistency won and he was set to tending the masons in the construction of an assay furnace. It soon became apparent through his efficiency and diligence that he knew more about building assay furnaces than did the masons he was tending, and it was not long before negotiations were under way which resulted in a switching of jobs. This was the turn in Joe's fortunes, for the superintendent appreciated the value of the man who had thus come to him, and Parry's promotion was rapid and in full accord with his talents and capacities, he becoming miner, foreman, assayer, superintendent and finally manager of the mine in turn, and filling each place with conspicuous ability. He still holds the post of manager of the Bonnybel mine, where he was once a mason's helper, and the owners of the mine are proud of him because of his strict integrity and his successful management of their interests. On February 6, 1890, he married with Miss Nancy Little, a native of Carroll county, Illinois, the daughter of Joseph and Mary (Drollinger) Little, natives of Pennsylvania who migrated to Illinois in 1853 and a few years later moved to Cedar county, Iowa. She was one of their ten children, one of whom died in infancy. Her mother died in 1891 and her father in 1892. Mr. and Mrs. Parry have three children, Joseph M.B., Jr., Margaret G. and Helen W. The parents are members of the Episcopalian church, and the father belongs to the Woodmen of the World, the Royal Black Knights and the Brotherhood of St. Andrew. Since 1894 he has been president of the Citizens Hospital Association. =================================================== Contributed for use by the USGenWeb Archive Project (http://www.usgenweb.org) and by the COGenWeb Archive Project USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. 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