William Thomas Parry

William Thomas Parry (May 17, 1837 – September 10, 1896) was a Welsh American immigrant, businessman, Republican politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was a member of the Wisconsin State Senate and Assembly, representing Columbia County.

Biography William T. Parry was born in Bangor, Gwynedd, in Wales, and received his basic education there. He emigrated to the United States as a child in 1849, and settled in the town of Manchester, Wisconsin, which was then part of Marquette County. He lived there until adulthood. He moved to Berlin, Wisconsin, in 1858, and then moved to Portage, in Columbia County, Wisconsin, in 1859.

At Portage, he clerked for the business of A. D. Forbes for six years until starting his own merchant business partnership, known as Parry, Bebb, & Muir (later Parry & Muir). During his time in the Legislature, he was active in supporting temperance legislation.

He moved to Milwaukee in 1892. He died there on September 10, 1896, after a long and painful battle with throat cancer.

Personal life and family William Parry married twice. His first wife was Margaret Williams, they married at Randolph, Wisconsin, on June 30, 1857. They had two children together before her death in 1866. The following year, Parry married Annie Roberts—who was also a Welsh immigrant—at Utica, New York. They had four more children. Parry was survived by his second wife and all six children.