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Jasper County, Iowa
Historical and Genealogical Data Exchange
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George
D. Parmenter Holding
prestige among the successful agriculturists and stock raisers of Jasper County,
George D. Parmenter, now of Grinnell, Iowa, is entitled to more than passing
notice in the biographical history of this locality, for her he labored long and
arduously until he became one of the substantial men of his Township and one of
its largest land owners, improving his home place until he brought it up to a
high and successful state of cultivation, in fact, rendered it one of the
choicest farms of this section of the state.
He is a man of essential worth, very energetic and industrious and by
diligent devotion to his vocation he has succeeded in accumulating a liberal
competence, besides much valuable land in other localities than this.
His life has been led along such conservative lines as to insure the
winning and retaining of the confidence of all with whom he has had dealings in
any way and he has ever stood ready to lend what aid he could in furthering the
general interests of his vicinity. Mr.
Parmenter was born in Rock Island County, Illinois, January 25, 1849, the son of
Lorenzo and Kezia (Robbins) Parmenter, the father born in Massachusetts and the
mother in Pennsylvania. They came
to Illinois in their youth, single, he with his sister and three brothers, and
she with her parents and family, being one of a large family.
One sister located in Ohio, but later in life came to Iowa, where her
death occurred. Mr. and Mrs.
Lorenzo Parmenter married in Illinois. He
had learned the tailor's trade when a boy, but he turned his attention to
farming in Illinois and was very successful, becoming an extensive farmer,
owning about three hundred acres and there he and his wife spent the rest of
their lives. Their family consisted
of four children. In
politics he was a Republican and was very active in party affairs, having held
several local offices, including County Supervisor. His death occurred in
September 1896, his widow surviving until November 1899.
They were good and useful people and were highly honored in their
community. Mr. Parmenter's
great-grandfather was in the Revolutionary war.
Oliver Robins, a brother of Mr. Parmenter's mother, was in the Mexican War. George
D. Parmenter enjoyed the advantages of a liberal education, having passed
through the common schools and spent two years in the Iowa State University.
He came to Jasper, County, this state, and located on one hundred and
sixty acres of wild land which his father had previously purchased. Here he went
to work earnestly, broke the land and improved it, soon having one of the choice
farms of his Township. He prospered
by reason of close application to his individual affairs and by good management
he is now the owner of four hundred and forty acres in this County besides
eighty acres in Poweshiek County, Iowa, and three hundred and twenty acres in
North Dakota. His Jasper County
farm is a model in every respect and he here carried on general farming and
stock raising on an extensive scale. In
1893 he moved to an eighty-acre farm a mile west of Grinnell in Poweshiek
County, but sold this in 1902, retiring from active life and moving to a
beautiful home which he purchased at No. 1228 Main street, Grinnell, where he
still resides. He is a Republican in politics, and has held a number of local
offices, including that of Township trustee.
He and his wife are members of the Baptist church. Mr.
Parmenter was married on December 31, 1874 to Lydia Roberts, who was born in
Rock Island County, Illinois, the daughter of Arthur P. and Maribee (Freeman)
Roberts. The father was a member of
the famous band of forty-niners who sought gold in California.
He returned to Illinois where he lived until his death, in November 1887,
at an advanced age, having been born on November 30, 1809.
His wife was born on September 13, 1810, and her death occurred on March
30, 1867. They were the parents of
ten children, five of whom are living, three daughters and two sons. One of the sons, Isaac N., was a soldier in the One Hundred
and Second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and his death occurred in the hospital,
of measles contracted while in the service.
Two of his cousins also went to the front, one of them being killed.
Mrs. Parmenter's grandfather, Ebenezer Roberts, was a soldier in the War
of 1812, having enlisted from the state of Maine. After the war he settled in Indiana. Arthur P. Roberts, father of the subject's wife,
devoted his life to farming. He was
successful as a gold miner in the west and returned to Illinois with enough
money to buy a fine two hundred acre farm. After the death of his first wife he
married Mrs. Mary E. Woods and she is still living, making her home at Cedar
Falls, Iowa. Four
children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Parmenter, namely, Marcus served in
Company K, Fiftieth Iowa Infantry, in the Spanish-American war, and he now lives
on a farm in Poweshiek County; Rosella is the of O. J. Worcester, connected with
the Grinnell Herald; Josephine and Florence are both at home. The Past and Present of Jasper County, Gen. James B. Weaver, Editor-In-Chief, 1912 B.F. Bowen Co., Indianapolis, IN, p. 673. |
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