Alameda
County
Biographies
WILLIAM HENRY PARRISH
Examples are not wanting,
in any progressive city, of men who have risen to independence through the
exercise of persevering industry, without the influence of capital or friends. Noticeable in the list of prosperous citizens
of Oakland stands the name of William Henry Parrish, who for more than a
quarter of a century has been engaged in the truck and draying business in this
city. Beginning with a meagre equipment,
he now has five draft teams and modern wagons, as well as a force of eight men
to assist in hauling and moving. All of
the modern appliances necessary for safe moving may be found in his equipment,
as well as workmen skilled in such labor.
A number of large business houses have retained the services of Mr.
Parrish to relieve them of the details of freight and express. By his special system he pays all freight and
express bills, then presents the entire bill at one time when the goods ae
delivered to his patrons.
Mr.
Parrish was born in McHenry county, Ill., January 24, 1842, a son of Ransom and
Adelia (Lowell) Parrish natives of New York.
About 1862 his father came to California and secured employment as a
carpenter and mechanic. In an early day
he turned his attention from the trades to agriculture and settled on a farm in
Sonoma county. When ill health
necessitated the relinquishment of active cares, he came to the home of his son
in Oakland and died there at sixty-seven years of age. His wife died six months before his
demise. Of their children, Malinda died
at nineteen years; Norman, who owned the California planing mill in San
Francisco is also deceased.
The only survivor
of the family is William Henry Parrish, who passed the years of boyhood
principally in Wisconsin. At the age of
seventeen he went to St. Louis, where he secured employment in a store. On the outbreak of the Civil war he returned
to Illinois and at Rockford, July 13, 1861, enlisted in Company G, Forty-fourth
Illinois Infantry, in which he served for three years and one month, until
honorably discharged August 13, 1864, at the expiration of his period of
service.
October
29, 1864, Mr. Parrish arrived in California.
For about seven years he worked in a planing mill, and then turned his
attention to the draying and truck business, with which his name is now
associated. For a time he had a partner,
but since 1890 has been alone, and has his office at No. 428 Sixth street. His home is a
beautiful residence on Webster street, and besides
this place he owns other property. When
coming to California on the steamer Golden Rule, via the Nicaragua route, he
made the acquaintance of Miss Catherine Marchworth, a native of Buffalo, N.Y.,
and daughter of Adolph and Catherine Marchworth. The acquaintance thus formed ripened into
affection and culminated in their marriage four years later. They became the parents of six children, of
whom all but Arthur are living. Norman,
who is with the Marchworth Cornice Company of Buffalo, N.Y., had charge of the
architectural work of several of the largest building at the St. Louis Fair, in
which work he was assisted by his brother Clinton C. Charles C. acts as manager for his father’s
large business, relieving the latter of much of the responsibility and allowing
him more leisure than in former years was possible. The other members of the family are Louise
and Wilfred Edward, the latter a bookkeeper with his father.
On the
organization of the Lodge of Knights of Pythias in Oakland in 1870, Mr. Parrish
became identified therewith, and he is now sole surviving charter member of the
lodge. For many years he served in this
lodge as trustee and marshal. Lyons
Post, G.A.R., has his name enrolled in its membership. His Masonic record began May 11, 1883, when
he took the first degree in Lodge No. 61, F. & A. M. May 18, he rose to the second degree, and
June 22 received the third degree. In
December of 1884 he was elected marshal, a year later was chosen junior warden
and served in that office for two years, after which, in December, 1887, he was exalted to the rank of senior warden. At the expiration of his term of service, in
recognition of his efficient labors as an officer, he was made an honorary
member of the Veteran Association of the Pacific coast, his connection with
that body dating from October 13, 1887.
In addition, he is identified with the Chapter.
Transcribed by
Louise E. Shoemaker
April 25th, 2015.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages
527-528. The Chapman Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1904.
© 2015
Louise E. Shoemaker.
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