Charles H. Parker

Charles H. Parker
5th & 21st Mayor ofBeloit, 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 theWisconsin State Assembly
In office January 7, 1878 – January 6, 1879
Preceded by	Sereno Merrill
Succeeded by	Richard Burdge
Constituency	Rock1st district
In office January 6, 1868 – January 3, 1870
Preceded by	Horatio J. Murray
Succeeded by	John Hammond
Constituency	Rock4th district
Personal details
Born	(1814-11-16)November 16, 1814 Newton, Massachusetts,U.S.
Died	March 3, 1890(1890-03-03)(aged 75) Beloit, Wisconsin,U.S.
Resting place	Oakwood Cemetery, Beloit
Political party	Republican Greenback(1877–1880)
Spouse	Eleanor Stone ​ (m.1839⁠–⁠1890)​
Children	Lowell Holden Parker (b. 1848; died 1937)
Occupation	Machinist

Charles H. Parker(November 16, 1814 – March 3, 1890) was an Americancutler,manufacturer, politician, andWisconsinpioneer. He was the 5th and 21st mayor ofBeloit, Wisconsin,serving from 1861 to 1862 and from 1884 to 1887. He also represented Beloit for three terms in theWisconsin State Assembly(1868,1869,1878). For most of his political career he was aRepublican,but he was aGreenbackerfor his 1878 legislative term.

Background

Parker was born inNewton, Massachusetts,on November 16. 1814, and received acommon schooleducation. His father was asea captain,and died when Charles was a small boy. His family moved toDedham, Massachusetts,when he was ten years old and toCanton, Massachusetts,when he was sixteen. He moved toConcord, New Hampshire,in 1837, where he was a cutler for some time. He "came west" in the spring of 1848, and first settled atBelvidere, 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 aUniversalist).

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 makinghoesand then expanding to such implements as grainsicklesand blades formowing machines.Parker would end up the president of the Parker & Stone Reaper Company. (It was while working for Parker and Stone thatJohn Applebydeveloped his famous ApplebyTwine Binder)

Public office

Parker served as analdermanof the city of Beloit most of the time from 1857 into the 1880s, and was mayor in 1861. He repeatedly served as a member of the county board, and was twice elected to Rock County's 4th Assembly district (the City of Beloit, and theTownsofBeloit,NewarkandTurtle) as a Republican for 1868 and 1869 (succeedingHoratio Murray). He was succeeded by fellow RepublicanJohn Hammond.

In 1876 Parker was once more elected to the Assembly, from Rock County's reapportioned 1st Assembly district (now the city of Beloit, and theTownsofAvon,Beloit,Center,Newark,Magnolia,Plymouth,Spring Valley,andUnion), this time as a Greenback; he received 1,079 votes against 972 for Republican William Alcott. (Republican incumbentSereno Merrillwas not a candidate for reelection.)He was chiefly responsible for the formation of an alliance between the Greenback andDemocraticmembers of the Assembly.

In 1878 Parker was the Greenback nominee for theForty-Sixth Congressforthe First Wisconsin District;incumbentCharles G. Williamswon 14,629 votes to Parker's 9,949 (Parker was endorsed by the Democrats as well).There was no Greenback candidate for his Assembly seat, which was taken by RepublicanRichard Burdge.

Banking and personal life

Parker & Stone Reaper went out of business in 1878, and the business eventually was taken over by his sonLowell Holden Parkerand a partner,Fred A. Dennett,who ended up moving the factory toMilwaukeein 1881, where it became known as "Milwaukee Harvester" until after its 1902 purchase byInternational Harvester.Holden sold his interest, and returned to Beloit, where father and son opened the Second National Bank of Beloit, of which Charles remained president until his death on March 14, 1890. (Eleanor would die March 24, 1900, at the age of 81.) L. Holden Parker would succeed his father as president of the bank; and would eventually serve one term (as a Republican) in the Assembly district which then included Beloit.