BIOGRAPHIES:  Thomas PARKS, Oak Grove Township, Barron County, WI

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This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by:  
Vic Gulickson <vic@indy.net>  7 January 2002	
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Thomas Parks, now deceased, was a well known figure in Barron County life
for more than thirty years. He was one of the real leaders of the township
in which he lived, his judgment was always to be relied upon, and he was
one of those thorough-going steady men upon whom rests the stability of
agricultural life in the Northwest. In his home he was all that a husband
and father should be, and his death was sincerely mourned. He was born June
6, 1842, in Burgess, Ontario, Canada, and was there reared and educated. In
1873 he came to the United States and settled in Pierce County, this state,
where he bought 80 acres of land and carried on general farming. In 1881 he
sold out and came to Barron County, where he took a homestead of 80 acres
in section 13, Oak Grove Township, and devoted sixteen years to its
development. He cleared 40 acres, erected a set of buildings and bought
suitable equipment. In 1897 he sold out and purchased 240 acres in section
35 in the same township. There he cleared 120 acres of land. He put up a
good set of buildings, which, when they were destroyed, he replaced with
another set. He was at the height of a successful career when he died Aug.
19, 1913. He was a valued member of the county board, and also served for
many years on the town board and on the school board of his district.
Fraternally he was a member of the Catholic Knights. He and his family were
communicants of the Roman Catholic church. Mr. Parks was married Aug. 23,
1869, to Bridget Darcy, born Feb. 2, 1847, in Canada, daughter of Michael
and Bridget (Donley) Darcy, both now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Parks have had
four children: Andy, Thomas, George and Frank. The last mentioned died Feb.
13, 1918.

--Taken from: History of Barron Co., Wisconsin, H. C. Cooper, Jr., & Co.,
1922, pg. 355.