Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/699

Rh PARRENO, Jose Julian (par-rain'-yo), Cuban clergyman, b. in Havana in 1728; d. in Rome, Italy, 1 Nov., 1785. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1745, and taught rhetoric and philosophy in Mexico, and theology in Puebla de los Angeles. He afterward devoted himself to missionary labors, giving special attention to the negroes. The decree expellino: the Jesuits from the Spanish colonies forced him to leave his native country and take refuge in Italy. He published "Carta a los Seiiores Habaneros, sobre el buen trato de los Negros" (Rome): "De scribendi Cacohete"; and "Anales de cuatro anos desde 1783 hasta 1785."

PARRIS, Albion Keith, senator, b. in Auburn, Me., 19 Jan.. 1788; d. in Portland, Me., 11 Feb., 1857. His father, Samuel (1753-1847), was an officer of the Revolution, and for several years judge of the court of common pleas and a member of the legislature of Maine. The son engaged in farming until the age of fourteen, and was graduated at Dartmouth in 1806. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1809, and began practice at Paris, Me. He was prosecuting attorney for Oxford county in 1811, a member of the state assembly in 1813, state senator in 1814, and a member of con- gress in 1815-'19, having been chosen as a Democrat. He was appointed judge of the U. S. district court in 1818, at which time he removed to' Portland, and in 1819 he was a delegate to the State constitutional convention and a member of the committee for drawing up the constitution. In 1820 he was appointed judge of probate for Cumberland county. He was governor in 1821-'6, U. S. senator from 1826 till 1828, when he resigned, judge of the supreme court of Maine in 1828-'36, and second comptroller of the U. S. treasury in 1836-'50. He retired to Portland in 1850, and in 1852 was elected mayor.

PARRIS, Samuel, clergyman, b. in London, England, in 1653; d. in Sudbury, Mass., 27 Feb., 1720. He studied at Harvard, but was not graduated, and after engaging in mercantile business in Boston was ordained, and became the first minister of Danvers, then a part of Salem, Mass. He held this charge from 19 Nov., 1689, till June, 1696. The Salem witchcraft delusion originated in his family in 1692. His daughter and his niece, Abigail Williams, girls about twelve years of age, accused Tituba, a South American slave, living in the house as a servant, of bewitching them. Mr. Parris beat Tituba until she was forced to confess herself a witch, and John, her husband, became, through fear, the accuser of others. The delusion spread, many were apprehended, most of whom were imprisoned, and others accused, among the latter being the wife of Gov. William Phips. During the sixteen months' prevalence of the delusion at Salem nineteen persons were hanged, and one, Gyles Cary, pressed to death. As Mr. Parris had been an active prosecutor in the witchcraft cases, his church, in April, 1693, brought charges against him. He confessed his error, and in 1696 was dismissed and left the place. After preaching two or three years at Stow, he removed to Concord, and he also preached six months in Dunstable in 1711. See &ldquo;Life and Character of Rev. Samuel Parris, of Salem Village, and his Connection with the Witchcraft Delusion of 1692,&rdquo; a sketch read before the Essex institute by Samuel Page Fowler (1857).

PARRISH, John, preacher, b. in Baltimore county, Md., 7 Nov., 1729; d. in Baltimore, Md., 21 Oct., 1807. He was a member of the Society of Friends, and followed Anthony Benezet in pleading the cause of the African race. He published &ldquo;Remarks on the Slavery of the Black People&rdquo; (Philadelphia, 1806). &mdash; His nephew, Joseph, physician, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 2 Sept., 1779; d. there, 18 March, 1840, followed the business of a hatter until he was of age, when, yielding to his own inclinations, he became a student under Dr. Caspar Wistar, and was graduated at the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1805. He was appointed resident physician of the yellow-fever hospital in the autumn of that year, and in 1806 one of the physicians of the Philadelphia dispensary, which post he held until 1812. He was also surgeon to the Philadelphia almshouse from 1806 until 1822, of the Pennsylvania hospital in 1816-'29, and consulting physician to the Philadelphia dispensary in 1835-'40. Dr. Parrish achieved reputation by his scientific attainments, which were somewhat unusual in that time. Among his experiments were a series that led to a proof of the harmlessness of the &ldquo;poplar worm,&rdquo; supposed at that time to be exceedingly venomous. In 1807 he began the delivery of a popular course of lectures on chemistry, which he subsequently repeated at various times. Notwithstanding his large practice, he also received medical students, and at one time had thirty under his instruction. Dr. Parrish was associated in the organization and subsequent management of the Wills hospital for the lame and blind, and was president of the board of managers in that institution from its beginning until his death. He was active in the proceedings of the College of physicians and in the medical society of Philadelphia. He contributed largely to the medical journals, and was one of the editors of &ldquo;The North American Medical and Surgical Journal.&rdquo; His books include &ldquo;Practical Observations on Strangulated Hernia and some of the Diseases of the Urinary Organs&rdquo; (Philadelphia, 1836), and an edition of William Lawrence's &ldquo;Treatise on Hernia,&rdquo; with an appendix. Says Dr. George B. Wood in his &ldquo;Memoir of the Life and Character of Joseph Parrish&rdquo; (Philadelphia, 1840): &ldquo;Perhaps no one was personally known more extensively in the city, or had connected himself by a greater variety of beneficent services with every ramification of society.&rdquo; &mdash; Joseph's son, Isaac, physician, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 19 March, 1811; d. there, 31 July, 1852, was graduated at the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1832, after studying under his father. He became one of the surgeons of Wills hospital in 1834, and also acquired an extensive practice. He was active in the Philadelphia college of physicians, and in the state and national medical societies, contributing papers to their transactions. Dr. Parrish also wrote largely for the medical journals of his time. See &ldquo;Memoir of Isaac Parrish, M. D.,&rdquo; by Dr. Samuel Jackson (Philadelphia, 1853). &mdash; Another son, Joseph, physician, b. in Philadelphia, 11 Nov., 1818; d. in Burlington, 15 Jan., 1891. He was graduated at the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, and went to Burlington. He returned to his native city, and in 1856 was called to fill the chair of obstetrics in Philadelphia medical college, but soon resigned to go abroad. While he was in Rome his attention was directed to the imperfect management of the insane hospital, and by addressing the pope he succeeded in rectifying the abuse. On his return in 1857 he was appointed superintendent of the Pennsylvania training-school for feeble-minded children, and this institution, with its buildings, grew up under his management. At the beginning of the civil war he entered the service of the U. S. sanitary commission, for which, under orders from the president, he visited many hospitals and camps with orders for supplies and hospital stores. Dr. Parrish also had charge of the