For
Muscatine County Iowa
1879
| Biographies For Muscatine County Iowa 1879 | |
Here is what the abbreviations in the bios stand for: far: farm; Co.: company or county; dir: dealer; IVA: Iowa Volunteer Artillery; IVC: Iowa Volunteer Cavalry; IVI: Iowa Volunteer Infantry; P.O.: Post Office; S. or Sec.: section; and st.: street.
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Biographical Section, 1879, page 638
J. A. PARVIN, farmer, Sec. 19; P. O. Muscatine; was born in Cumberland Co., N.J. Nov. 10, 1807; the youngest son of four now living, of David Parvin and Elizabeth Sutton. Mr. Parvin came to Cincinnati, Ohio, in an early day, where he engaged in teaching school for two years; removed to Muscatine in 1839, and taught school for one year, then engaged in the mercantile business for four years; was appointed District Clerk of the Court; elected to the General Assembly in 1850, and served in the winter of '50 and '51; was elected Mayor of Muscatine in 1854, and served one year, and in 1857, was a member of the State Constitutional Convention; elected to the Senate in 1863, and served six years; was one of seven who organized the first M. E. Church in Muscatine in 1839. Mr. Parvin has been matrimonially unfortunate; is now married to his fourth wife, Martha M. Williams, a native of Boston, and has been unfortunate in raising a family; have had thirteen children--only two now living--one by first wife, Thomas S., and by second wife, Ida (now Mrs. R. N. Ingersoll). In May, 1855, Mr. Parvin removed to where he now resides, and has been a farmer since. He united with the M. E. Church in 1832; has never been a consistent member. Democrat until 1854, when he helped organize the Republican party, and has been a Republican ever since.
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