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JAMES L. PARMLY,
who died at his home in Painesville, Lake county, on the 31st of
January, 1908, was a native son of this county, a member of one of its
distinguished pioneer families, and he himself passed the major portion
of his life in this county, where for many years he was actively
identified with the agricultural industry, besides which he was for some
time before his death engaged in the hardware business in Painesville.
His life was one of signal usefulness and honor, and he well upheld the
prestige of the honored name which he bore.
Mr. Parmly was born in Perry township, Lake
county, Ohio, on the 23d of August, 1832, and was a son of Jehiel and
Eliza A. (Pleasants) Parmly. Jehiel Parmly was the
sixth in order of birth of the ten children of Eleazer and Hannah
(Spear) Parmly, and was born at Braintree, Vermont, July 14, 1799.
He died in Painesville, Ohio, on the 23d of May, 1873. Eleazer
Parmly came to Perry township, Lake County, Ohio, in the year 1816,
for the purpose of visiting his daughter, Hannah, who had come
here with her husband, Samuel Burridge, in 1814. The father
was so impressed with the attractions of this locality, even in that
early pioneer period, that in the spring of 1817 he brought his family
to Lake county. He purchased a tract of land near Lake Erie, and
to secure the same he made the trip on foot to Canandaigua, New York, to
confer with Captain Granger, who owned the land which he desired.
He and his wife passed the residue of their lives in this county and
their names merit an enduring place on the roll of its sterling
pioneers.
Jehiel Parmly was reared to maturity on
the pioneer farm of his father, in Perry township, and was afforded the
best educational advantages available under the conditions of time and
place. Upon attaining to years of maturity he determined to adopt
the profession of dentistry as a vocation. One of his elder
brothers, Levi, had already become a successful practitioner, and
together they went to the city of London, England, where they passed two
years in the study of their profession and where they became experts in
the same, according to the standards and systems of the times.
After his return to America Dr. Jehiel Parmly opened an
office in the city of Washington, D. C., where he built up an excellent
practice, and later he was engaged in the work of his profession at
Charleston, South Carolina, and Augusta, Georgia. In the latter
place, in 1826, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Eliza A.
Pleasants. Finally Dr. Parmly was called to the old
homestead in Perry township, Lake county, Ohio, on account of the death
of his father, who was killed in an accident, and on this fine old place
the doctor continued to make his home for more than thirty years, though
he customarily passed the winters in the south, where he followed the
practice of his profession during these intervals. One of his
brothers, David, continued to be engaged in farming in Perry
township until his death, and three other brothers, Samuel, Eleazer
and Levi, became prominent as dental practitioners.
Samuel and Eleazer were among the first widely known dentists
of New York City, and Eleazer especially made such advances in
certain details of the work of his profession as the become a recognized
authority as a dental surgeon. He invented new methods and
processes and was one of the leaders in the early stages of advancement
to the present high standard of the profession. He ever retained a
deep interest in the old home in Lake county, Ohio, and he it was who
erected in Painesville the fine Parmly hotel, which still bears
his name and which at the time of its building was one of the best in
this section of the state. Dr. Samuel Parmly, who held a
large and valuable landed estate in Lake county, gained a fortune
through his well ordered labors and operations, and had extensive
interests of a capitalistic order in New York City. Dr. Levi
Parmly was long engaged in the practice of his profession in New
Orleans, Louisiana. Dr. Jehiel and Eliza A. (Pleasants) Parmly
became the parents of seven sons, namely: Jehiel, a
representative farmer of Perry township, Lake county; James L.,
the immediate subject of this memoir; Leo, residing near
Painesville; and Henry C., Samuel P., and David.
Dr. Jehiel Parmly and his wife both died on the old family homestead
in Perry township, and they were held in the highest esteem by all who
knew them, being notable for their gracious refinement and having long
born prominent in connection with the social activities of the county.
Source: History of the Western Reserve - Vol. II - Pub. 1910 - Page 991 |
