Harrison County, West Virginia Biography of Thomas Jefferson PARRISH ************************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: Material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor. Submitted by Valerie Crook, , March 2000 ************************************************************************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 252-253 THOMAS JEFFERSON PARRISH. Through a life that began the year Abraham Lincoln was first elected to the presi- dency and came to the responsibilities of manhood more than forty years ago, Thomas Jefferson Parrish has attained to broad experience and successful achievement. A native of Harrison County, he has been a farmer, merchant, tim- ber and lumber man, and has not only attracted within the sphere of his activities important material concerns but has also fulfilled in generous measure the obligations that fall upon the citizen, the home-maker and the father of children in whose training for usefulness he has never been remiss. Four of his sons followed the path of duty that led them into places of danger in the great war. Mr. Parrish was born on a farm near Wallace, Harrison County, April 5, 1860, son of Silas Newton and Rebecca Ann (King) Parrish, the former born in what is now Marion County, in February, 1835, and the latter in Greene County, Pennsylvania, March 13, 1836. The grand- father, Richard Parrish, was born in Maryland, about 1810, and married a Miss Tetrick, a native of West Virginia. Mr. Parrish was an early settler in Marion County, a pros- perous farmer and influential citizen, joined the republican party at its organization, and he and his wife were mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They lived out their lives at the old homestead, and were the parents of fourteen children. Silas Newton Parrish after his marriage located on a farm in Harrison County, and in addition to farming, which was the chief business of his long and successful career, he had other interests, including a lumber business at Wallace, being associated with his son, Thomas J., in that enterprise. Silas N. Parrish died in 1915, at the age of eighty years, and his widow died in her eighty-sixth year. They reared three children: Thomas J., Harriet L., and Florinda B. Florinda is now deceased. Silas Newton Parrish was a loyal and forward looking citizen, who was always ready to assist in progressive movements for the benefit of his home community and county. He was an unreserved republican, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. On the home farm Thomas J. Parrish spent his child- hood and early youth, attended the public schools, and during these years he acquired a really adequate training for a responsibility that began with manhood. He mar- ried at the age of twenty-one, and for a number of years following he devoted his time between farming and mer- chandising at Wallace. While there, as an associate of his father, he began logging some timber stocks and convert- ing the timber into manufactured lumber. In the fall of 1894 he removed to Beverly, Randolph County, and was engaged in the lumber business there for a time. He re- turned to Wallace in the spring of 1897, and continued his interests as a merchant in that community until 1910. In the meantime, in 1908, he had established his family home at Clarksburg, in order to give his younger children better school advantages in the county seat. In later years Mr. Parrish has had a wide variety of busi- ness and financial interests. His associates appreciate his sound judgment, his integrity and his enterprise, qualities that have made him a welcome and valuable member of a number of organizations. For several years he has been interested as a producer in the oil, gas and coal industries, and among several concerns with which he is associated the most important are those represented and controlled by the firm of Groves & Parrish, of which he is senior mem- ber. He has employed his individual experience and cap- ital in promoting the success of several financial institu- tions. He helped organize in 1903 the Wallace Bank at Wallace, Harrison County, and from the beginning has been its president. He is a director and stockholder in the Union National Bank, a stockholder in the Empire National Bank of Clarksburg, is president and general man- ager of the Port dark Coal Company, a director and stockholder in the Champion Collieries Company, presi- dent and a large stockholder in the Green River Coal Min- ing Company of Kentucky, and vice president and a stock- holder in the Bond County Gas Company of Greenville, Illinois. Hand in hand with the excellent success that has at- tended his various business activities has gone the utmost civic loyalty. In the welfare and advancement of his home locality he has devoted twelve years to his duties as a member of the Harrison County Board of Educa- tion, and in 1921 he was elected a member of the Clarks- burg City Council and has cooperated with all the plans and measures undertaken to give the city an adequate ad- ministration. Mr. Parrish is a republican, a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Clarksburg Country Club the Alleghany Club, and the Cheat Mountain Club. In Masonry he is a Knight Templar, a member of the Commandery of Clarksburg, has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, is a Mystic Shriner, and also a, member of the Knights of Pythias. In 1881 Mr. Parrish married Miss Mary J. Morgan, daughter of Coleman and Rachel Morgan. She was born in Doddridge County, was a mere girl when her parents died, and she passed away in 1900. Of the seven chil- dren born to Mr. and Mrs. Parrish one died in infancy, and those who reached maturity were Raymer, Charles P., Roy Earl, Lester Glenn, Clair Nelson, and Wilbur Dee. The son, Charles, died at the age of twenty-two. Boy Earl made the supreme sacrifice while serving as a young officer with the American Expeditionary Forces, and a special memorial sketch of him appears above. Lester Glenn was also in the overseas service in the army, and two other sons, Clair N. and Wilbur Dee, were in the navy. The oldest son, Raymer, is associated with his father in business, giving his chief time to the Fort dark Coal Com- pany. Mr. Parrish in 1902 married Miss Elsie L. Deem. She died in 1913, and is survived by one daughter, Vera Grove.