Monday, July 11, 2011

Stories in Stone--Charles William Parrish of Saugatuck, Michigan


     While in Saugatuck, Michigan earlier this summer, I wandered into the Parrish building, a present day drug store, in search of some throat lozenges. It was not until I was walking on the opposite side of the street that I noticed that the drug store was a "Story in Stone" with a name and date prominently displayed at the top of the old building.


     Researching this name was easy. Only one Parrish lived in Saugatuck, Michigan at the turn of the 20th century--the family of Charles William Parrish--who as it happens, was a druggist. The building erected in 1913 to house Charles' pharmacy business continues to function as a pharmacy over 100 years later as the Saugatuck Drug Store.



Charles William Parrish
From Find-A-Grave submission

     Charles William Parrish, son of George D. Parrish and Adelia G. Halsted, was born on September 11, 1877 in Ransomville, New York.  In 1900 the Parrish family lived in Flushing, Genesee County, Michigan and there he met his wife, Pearl Almyra Braman.  Pearl, daughter of Edward B. Braman and Elmira A. Gorton, was born on November 30, 1878 in Flushing, Michigan.


Pearl Almyra Braman Parrish
From Find-A-Grave submission

     Charles and Pearl were married on August 25, 1903 in Flushing, Michigan.  By 1910 the Parrish's were living in Saugatuck, Allegan County, Michigan.  Charles was working in a drug store and Pearl was busy at home with her newly born daughter, Donna D. Parrish, born on April 13, 1910 in Saugatuck.


Pearl and Charles Parrish
From Find-A-Grave submission

     Pearl died on September 13, 1949 in Douglas, Michigan just shy of her seventy first birthday.  She was laid to rest at Riverside Cemetery in Saugatuck, Michigan.  Five years later, Charles died on June 30, 1955, at age seventy-seven, at a nursing home in Burlington, Iowa.  He is buried beside his wife of fifty years at Riverside Cemetery.

     THANK YOU to a historical researcher, Chris Yoder from Allegan County, Michigan, who has listed a complete record, including photographs and obituaries, of Charles and Pearl Parrish on the Find-A-Grave website.  Their obituaries show two Saugatuck residents who were committed to community involvement and were well respected citizens.


Sources:
  1. 1900 Michigan Federal Census, Flushing, Genesee, Michigan; Roll: T623_711; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 18.
  2. 1910 Michigan Federal Census, Saugatuck, Allegan, Michigan; Roll: T624_634; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 0029; Image: 1078; FHL Number: 1374647.
  3. 1920 Michigan Federal Census, Saugatuck, Allegan, Michigan; Roll: T625_754; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 36; Image: 112.
  4. 1930 Michigan Federal Census,Saugatuck, Allegan, Michigan; Roll: 973; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 33; Image: 184.
  5. Find-A-Grave listed under Charles W. Parrish and Pearl A. Braman Parrish.
  6. Michigan Marriages 1822-1995, Family Search, Source Film Number 1018928, Reference Number Pg 58 Rcd No 5999.
  7. World War I Draft Registration Cards, Allegan County, Michigan; Roll: 1675113; Draft Board: 0.

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. All comments are welcome; however, if they are inappropriate, they will not be published. 

PLEASE post your e-mail in the comment section if you would like to network about a particular surname or topic. I will capture it for my use only and not include it when I publish your comment.
© 2011, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser

4 comments:

  1. welcome back. i've been missing your posts.

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  2. I love reading your posts. You do such a great job with the detail and human interest. Kudos to you!
    ~Christine Riley

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  3. My wife and I recently acquired several postcards that were published for Charles w parrish...Saugatuck, Mich. They are Genuine Curteich-chicago "C T Art Colortone" post cards.
    They are all scenes of Saugatuck....do you know anything about these...we also have some of the same scenes that aren't published FOR him but are published by the Parrish-Simmons Co. Thank you.
    rebeccafarley63@ gmail.com

    ReplyDelete