Parker, Ralzemond A., 1843-1925.

Parker was born in 1843, the son of Asher Bull Parker and Harriet Castle. He enlisted in the Michigan Infantry, 17th Regiment, Co. E in Ypsilanti, in Aug. 1862. Parker was discharged for disability in Baltimore (Md.) in Feb. 1863. He attended Michigan State Normal College, now Michigan State University, and taught school in Royal Oak School District No. 6. He also apparently sold saws. In 1872, Parker graduated from the University of Michigan Law School. He worked as a lawyer at the office of Parker and Beardlee in Birmingham (Mich.). Later, he worked as Henry Ford's patent lawyer and led the fight for automobile patent rights. In 1913 with eight other Detroit patent attorneys, Parker founded the Michigan Patent Law Association, now known as the Michigan Intellectual Property Law Association. He was active in the G.A.R., Oakland County Temperance Association, the Michigan State Chess Association, and the Union Veterans' Patriotic League. Parker married Sarah Electa Drake, the daughter of Flemon Drake, M.D. Parker died in 1925 and is buried in the Royal Oak Cemetery. The Clarke Historical Library also has papers of a Michigan Circuit Court case, ca. 1887?, with handwritten notes by R.A. Parker, the defendants' solicitor. (This information is from the collection and a discussion with Ralzemond Parker's great-grandson's wife in 2006.).