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Formatted by U.S. Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott
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Biographical History of Cherokee County, Iowa
W. S. Dunbar & Co., Chigago - 1889

[page 614]

    JAMES D. PARKINSON - One of the careful, enterprising business men of
    Grand Meadow Township is he whose name heads this review.  Few farmers
    of Cherokee County have been more successful financially, have a wider
    acquaintance, or stand higher in the estimation of the people of their
    communities than does Mr. PARKINSON.  His beautiful farm of 400 acres
    is as nicely located as any in the county, and is well improved; it
    shows careful attention in its arrangement, and is well adapted both
    to grain and live-stock.  It is to such gentlemen as Mr. PARKINSON that
    we must look to find the minds that have controlled the affairs, both
    business and political, that have placed Cherokee County in the front
    rank in Iowa.  JAMES D. PARKINSON was born in La Fayette County, Wis-
    consin, July 20, 1848, and is the eldest of a family of five, all of
    whom are now living; they are: ADDIE, CHARLES, MALINDA C. and WILLIAM.
    ADDIE and WILLIAM still resided at home in Wisconsin; CHARLES is a
    merchant in Deuel County, Dakota, and MALINDA is the wife of a second
    cousin whose name is also PARKINSON.  WILLIAM PARKINSON is the father
    of the family, and the mother's maiden name was NANCY T. PADON; they
    are both natives of Madison County, Illinois.  The PARKINSONS were
    among the pioneer settlers of Wisconsin, DANIEL M., father of WILLIAM,
    having settled there in 1827, while it was still a Territory; he was
    prominent in the Black Hawk War, being Colonel of a regiment sent out
    by Governor DODGE, first Territorial Governor of Wisconsin.  The
    parents of our subject are still living in Iowa County, Wisconsin,
    where they carry on a large farm.  Mr. PARKINSON remained at home
    until he was twenty-three years old; he attended the common schools,
    and worked on the farm.  In March, 1878, he came to Cherokee County
    and purchased his present place; it contains 400 acres in one body,
    and is in an advanced state of cultivation.  He devotes himself to
    raising grain and live-stock, feeding from one to two car-loads
    annually.  He had very little capital in the beginning beside pluck
    and energy, but these have served him a good turn, and he is to-day
    in independent circumstances.  Mr. PARKINSON was married in Iowa
    County, Wisconsin, December 31, 1873, to Miss MARY CHENHALL, who was
    born March 6, 1855.  She is a daughter of STEPHEN and JANE (TRUING)
    CHENHALL, natives of Cornwall, England.  Three children have been born
    to Mr. and Mrs. PARKINSON: AZALIA, ALBERT and FLORENCE.  Mr. PARKINSON
    is a prominent Democrat, frequently representing his township in
    conventions, and serving as chairman of the district committee.  He
    is a member of the Masonic Lodge, No. 473, at Correctionville.  He
    has met with one very serious misfortune, and that is the loss of
    his right eye, the accident occurring while he was feeding flax in
    a threshing machine.  He has rented his farm and is going to the
    Pacific Coast, expecting to make his home there.

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