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BIOGRAPHIES
 Source:
A Standard History of Lorain County, Ohio
- Vol. II -
by G. Frederick Wright
1916
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C. F. Park, M. D. |
CHARLES FRANCIS PARK, M. D.
Source: A Standard History of Lorain County, Ohio
- Vol. II
by G. Frederick Wright - Publ. 1916 - Page 931 |
W. C. Park, M. D. |
WILLIAM CUSHING PARK, M. D.
Source: A Standard History of Lorain County, Ohio
- Vol. II
by G. Frederick Wright - Publ. 1916 - Page 932 |
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CHRISTIAN PARSCH.
Something more than half a century ago the late
Christian Parsch was known in Lorain
County only as a very industrious and capable
carpenter. He subsequently brought the scope
of his activities to work as a building contractor,
and from that developed one of the largest
establishments for the supplying of lumber and other
building materials, and for work in building
contracting lines in the entire county.
Christian Parsch was a splendid type of
the man who comes up from small things to large
accomplishments, and his record whether in business,
in private life, and in his attitude toward public
concerns is one that should be remembered in this
county.
When he died at his home in Elyria, July 17, 1905, he
had reached the age of seventy-two. Though
nearly all his life was spent in Lorain County, he
was born at Lammersdorf on the River Rhine, near
Cologne, Germany, Jan. 17, 1833. When only ten
years of age he came with his family to the United
States, and after a brief residence at Buffalo, New
York, they came on to Cleveland. It was in
Cleveland that Christian Parsch, who
in the meantime had gained an education partly in
the schools of Germany and partly in those of
America, took up the carpenter's trade. From
there he moved to Avon in Lorain County, was a
journeyman worker in that section, and in 1857
removed to Elyria. Not long afterward he began
taking independent contracts for building, and out
of that grew the large establishment which still
bears his name in Elyria.
The late Mr. Parsch was for many years
one of the active members and liberal supporters of
St. Mary's Catholic Church of Elyria, to which his
family also belong. His wife, Mrs.
Catherine (Hurbert) Parsch, died
at her home on East Broad Street in Elyria, July 20,
1907. She was at that time seventy-one years
of age, was a native of Ireland, but had lived
continuously in Elyria for fully forty years.
She became the mother of nine children, six of whom
survived her. There are now three sons and one
daughter living: William T., president of the
Parsch Lumber Company; Alexander P.,
vice president of the company; John C.; and
Mrs. Joseph Tyler of Elyria.
The daughter Mary, who married C. Esker
of Elyria, died after her mother, and the other
daughter, now deceased, was Lucy, Mrs.
James McCarvel. The son
William is also a director of the Machine Parts
Company of Elyria.
For a great many years the lumber and building business
was conducted under the simple name C. Parsch,
but in 1900 it was incorporated as the Parsch
Lumber Company, at which time Christian's sons,
William, Alexander and John, took
an active share in the business.
Source: A Standard History
of Lorain County, Ohio - Vol. II by G. Frederick
Wright - Publ. 1916 - Page 582 |
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JOHN C. PARSCH.
A product of Elyria by birth, education and
training, John C. Parsch has passed his
entire career in this city, where he is not only
known as a leading factor in business circles, but
as a citizen who has contributed of his tine talents
to the welfare of the community as the incumbent of
official position. He was born Aug. 16, 1870,
and is a son of the late Christian and Catherine
(Hurbert) Parsch, highly respected old-time
citizens of Elyria, a sketch of whose careers will
be found elsewhere in this work.
John C. Parsch was educated in the Elyria public
schools and St. Mary 's parochial school, following
which he took a course at the Oberlin Business
College. In 1900 he secured an interest in the
business which had been founded by his father many
years before, and at the same time his brothers,
William T. and Alexander P., became
members of the concern, the name of which was at
that time changed from C. Parsch to the
Parsch Lumber Company, Inc., although the father
retained an interest in the business until his
death, in 1905. The present officers are W.
T. Parsch, president; A. P. Parsch, vice
president; and J. C. Parsch, secretary
and treasurer. The Parach Lumber
Company deals in lumber, coal and builders' supplies
and maintains a planing mill, the office and mill
being located at Mill and Lodi streets, while the
yards are at Cedar and Tremont streets. In
addition to this concern, Mr. Parsch
is a director of the Elyria Foundry Company.
He is known as one of the progressive, enterprising
business men of the city, with large and important
interests, but has not allowed his private affairs
to interfere with the performance of his duties as a
good citizen. He entered politics in 1908,
when he became the republican candidate for the
office of councilman-at-large, and was elected and
served two years, and in the following election ran
for president of the council. He has been
elected to that office three times, his present term
expiring Jan. 1, 1916. In regard to his candidacy
for the mayoralty, the Elyria Chronicle of May 15,
1915, had this to say editorially: "As announced is
our columns the other day, John C. Parsch
will be a candidate for the office of mayor of
Elyria, subject to the republican primary. His
candidacy is one upon which all classes of our
citizens may well unite. He is the candidate
of no clique, no faction, nor, in the broadest
sense, will he be a mere party candidate. The
citizens of Elyria are to be congratulated that he
has been prevailed upon to allow the use of his name
in connection with the mayoralty. We have said
that he will not be a mere party candidate and this
is true. The day of such has passed. Mr.
Parsch's qualifications for the mayor's
office are not on the political order. He is
no politician. He is primarily a business man
mainly concerned in the conduct of one of Elyria's
principal enterprises. As his contribution to
the civic spirit of our community life he has indeed
held public office. He has for some years
occupied an honorable niche in our city government.
At first as a member and then for several terms as
president of the council, he has with conspicuous
success discharged his obligations to our municipal
government. His time and his trained business
judgment have ever been unstintedly placed at the
disposal of the city legislature and his wise
counsel has ever been gladly availed of by his
colleagues in that body. His course has
preeminently been that of the business man applying
the powers of his mind to the. public business.
In this he may have neglected the arts of the
politician, but we believe that the people will
think none the less of him for that deficiency.
Mr. Parsch was born in Elyria
forty-five years ago and has always lived here.
His life is an open book. He is known to his
neighbors, friends and associates as a man of kindly
spirit and generous impulses. Upright and
devout in his private life he is in public affairs a
man of liberal and enlightened views; no narrow
bigotry or sectarianism bounds his
intellectual horizon. His place in the
estimation of his fellow citizens is secure.
Although the candidacy of Mr. Parsch
is ui^ed on the score of his business
qualifications, he is and always has been a staunch
republican. It is through the instrumentality
of that party that he has been called to the public
posts he has hitherto filled. He therefore
naturally turns to his fellow republican electors to
endorse his candidacy, nor makes any apology in so
doing. It will be as the republican candidate
for mayor that he will make the run or not at all."
At the primaries, held Aug. 10, 1915, Mr.
Parsch was nominated for mayor on the republican
ticket by a comfortable majority, the vote standing
640 to 452. He defeated his opponent in every
precinct of the city, as shown by the following
figures: First Ward, Precinct A, Parsch 66,
Boyden 37; First Ward, Precinct B, Parsch
36, Boyden 17; Second Ward, Precinct A,
Parsch 59, Boyden 37; Second Ward,
Precinct B, Parsch 65, Boyden 52;
Second Ward, Precinct C, Parsch 20, Boyden
15; Third Ward, Precinct A, Parsch 73, Boyden
46 ; Third Ward, Precinct B, Parsch 43,
Boyden 25 ; Third Ward, Precinct C, Parsch
84, Boyden 75 ; Fourth Ward, Precinct A,
Parsch 91, Boyden 73; Fourth Ward,
Precinct B, Parsch 53, Boyden 48;
Fourth Ward, Precinct C, Parsch 50, Boyden
27. But even with the above flattering
majority Mr. Parsch was defeated at
the election held Nov. 2, 1915.
Mr. Parsch is a valued and popular member
of Elyria Council No. 774, Knights of Columbus, in
which he has occupied all the chairs; of Elyria
Lodge No. 465, Benevolent and Protective Order of
Elks; of Elyria Lodge of the Catholic Mutual Benefit
Association, in which he has held a number of the
offices; and of Elyria Lodge No. 431, Fraternal
Order of Eagles, and also holds membership in the
Elyria Chamber of Commerce and the Elyria Automobile
Club. With Mrs. Parsch, he is
affiliated with St. Mary's Catholic Church of
Elyria, and has been a leading member of the church
choir for twenty-eight years, or since he was
seventeen years of age.
At Cleveland, Ohio, Dec. 28, 1898, Mr. Parsch
was united in marriage with Miss Lottie M.
Greesheimer, who was born and reared at Elyria
and here educated in the parochial schools.
She is a daughter of the late Edward and Mary
(Becker) Greesheimer, early residents of Elyria,
both of whom are now deceased. Mrs. Parsch,
like her husband, is a general favorite socially and
actively interested in religious and club work.
Source: A Standard History
of Lorain County, Ohio - Vol. II by G. Frederick
Wright - Publ. 1916 - Page 583 |
Mr. & Mrs.
John G. Parsons |
JOHN G. PARSONS
Source: A Standard History of
Lorain County, Ohio - Vol. II by G. Frederick Wright
- Publ. 1916 - Page 989 |
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OTIS E. PEABODY.
One of the factors in the mercantile enterprise of
Oberlin is Otis E. Peabody, who belongs to
some of the stanch agricultural stock of Lorain
County, and who about fifteen years ago engaged in
business in the college town as a dealer in
implements and farm hardware. He gives his
best energies and time to the management of this
flourishing business, and has been very successful.
The family represented by this merchant has been
identified with Lorain County for more than seventy
years. Otis E. Peabody was born on a
farm in Lorain County Oct. 6, 1871, a son of
Harvey M. and Martha (Petty) Peabody. The
Peabodys are of old New England stock.
Grandfather David Peabody was born in Vermont
July 10, 1812, and settled in Lorain County in the
year 1843, when the inhabitants still were living in
the midst of comparative pioneer conditions and had
a heavy task to perform in clearing up the country.
David Peabody lived to be ninety-three years
of age. He was a very saintly man and the
esteem felt for him was not confined to one
locality. The maternal grandfather was
Thomas Petty, who was an Englishman and brought
his family over to America in a sailing vessel,
locating in Lorain County about 1840.
Harvey M. Peabody was born in Vermont Oct. 20,
1837, and was only six or seven years of age when he
came to Lorain County. His career was spent as
a farmer until 1897, at which date he retired and
moved into Oberlin. He owned a fine farm, and
was quite prosperous. He died Mar. 25, 1914.
In politics he was a republican and a member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church. His wife was born
in Lorain County in 1842, and is still living.
The parents were married in 1863. Their five
children were: William H., a farmer living at
Elyria; Clayton D., a Lorain County farmer;
Otis E.; Mattie B., wife of Harry
I. Squire, a coal dealer at Oberlin; and
Ethel B., wife of Homer Worcester, a
contractor at Youngstown, Ohio.
Otis E. Peabody grew up on a farm. His
education came from the district schools, with one
year in city grammar school and with a course in the
Oberlin Business College. He and a brother
managed the home farm for their father for a number
of years, but in 1902 Mr. Peabody came to
Oberlin and set up a business as a dealer in
implements and farm hardware. He was the only
dealer in that line when he first began farm
hardware. He was the only dealer in that line
when he first began and has since extended his trade
over a wide radius of country.
In 1893 Mr. Peabody married Laura
Wellman, a native of Lorain County.
They have two children, Doris W. and Lois
L., both attending school. Mrs. Peabody
died Nov. 5, 1910. She was a devout member of
the First Baptist Church. On July 24, 1913, he
married Louetta Siemens. She was also
born in Lorain County, and is a member of the First
Presbyterian Church, while Mr. Peabody is a
Methodist.
In politics he has been identified with the republican
organization since casting his first vote, and his
work and influence have not been without substantial
benefit to his community. He served as
township assessor eight years and is now in his
third successive term as a member of the city
council of Oberlin. Mr. Peabody
recently completed a splendid new home at Oberlin,
equipped with all the modern comforts and
conveniences.
Source: A Standard History of Lorain County, Ohio
by G. Frederick Wright -
Vol. II - Publ. 1916 - Page 1026 |
Mr. & Mrs.
Floyd M. Pelton |
FLOYD M. PELTON
Source: A Standard History of
Lorain County, Ohio by G. Frederick Wright - Vol. II
- Publ. 1916 - Page 968 |
Wesley Phipps |
WESLEY B. PHIPPS
Source: A Standard History of Lorain County, Ohio by
G. Frederick Wright - Vol. II - Publ. 1916 - Page
924 |
NOTES:
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