Charles H. Parker
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Charles H. Parker | |
|---|---|
| 5th & 21st Mayor of Beloit, Wisconsin | |
| In office April 1884 – April 1887 | |
| Preceded by | Carlos P. Whitford |
| Succeeded by | Erastus G. Smith |
| In office April 1861 – April 1862 | |
| Preceded by | John Bannister |
| Succeeded by | Roger H. Mills |
| Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly | |
| In office January 7, 1878 – January 6, 1879 | |
| Preceded by | Sereno Merrill |
| Succeeded by | Richard Burdge |
| Constituency | Rock 1st district |
| In office January 6, 1868 – January 3, 1870 | |
| Preceded by | Horatio J. Murray |
| Succeeded by | John Hammond |
| Constituency | Rock 4th district |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 16, 1814 Newton, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | March 3, 1890 (aged 75) Beloit, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Resting place | Oakwood Cemetery, Beloit |
| Party |
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| Spouse |
Eleanor Stone (m. 1839–1890) |
| Children |
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| Occupation | Machinist |
Charles H. Parker (November 16, 1814 – March 3, 1890) was an American cutler, manufacturer, politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was the 5th and 21st mayor of Beloit, Wisconsin, serving from 1861 to 1862 and from 1884 to 1887. He also represented Beloit for three terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly (1868, 1869, 1878). For most of his political career he was a Republican, but he was a Greenbacker for his 1878 legislative term.[1]
Parker was born in Newton, Massachusetts, on November 16. 1814, and received a common school education. His father was a sea captain, and died when Charles was a small boy. His family moved to Dedham, Massachusetts, when he was ten years old and to Canton, Massachusetts, when he was sixteen. He moved to Concord, New Hampshire, in 1837, where he was a cutler for some time. He "came west" in the spring of 1848, and first settled at Belvidere, Illinois, where he managed the farm of a Dr. Jonathan Stone near that city. He married Eleanor Stone, Dr. Stone's daughter (like him a native of Massachusetts, and a Universalist).
He took up work as a machinist in a Beloit reaper factory the next year for $1 a day, and would walk back home to his family in Belvidere on Friday evenings, returning to his job on the following Monday morning. In 1850 he permanently moved Eleanor and their family to Beloit. In 1852 he and his partner, brother-in-law Gustavus Stone, went into business together, building all the machinery necessary to their industry. They commenced by first making hoes and then expanding to such implements as grain sickles and blades for mowing machines. Parker would end up the president of the Parker & Stone Reaper Company. (It was while working for Parker and Stone that John Appleby developed his famous Appleby Twine Binder)