Parrish, John, 1730-1807

Quaker minister of Philadelphia and Baltimore.

Born in Maryland in 1729, the son of John and Elizabeth Roberts Parrish, he was apprenticed in Philadelphia and afterwards married Ann Wilson in 1753. Parrish travelled in the ministry to the Delaware Indians of western Pennsylvania in 1773 and again in 1784 to Barbadoes. In 1806 he wrote Remarks on the Slavery of the Black People.

The Parrish family were prominent Philadelphia Quakers, who previously lived in Maryland near Baltimore. They were descendants of Captain Edward Parrish (1600-1679) who served as surveyor general of the Province of Maryland and was therefore able to acquire extensive land holdings in the region, although many later Parrishes were merchants or physicians.

Edward’s great-grandson John Parrish (1698-1745) married Elizabeth Roberts (1705-1745). When both John and Elizabeth died in the same year, one of their sons, John Parrish (1729/30-1807), being left an orphan at still a young age, moved to Philadelphia where he became apprenticed to learn a trade. He married Ann Wilson in 1753, and together they had several children. Throughout his life, John Parrish became increasingly concerned with slavery and the colonists' unfair policies toward Indians. His interest in the condition of Native Americans was heightened during a trip among the Indians of western Pennsylvania in 1773. In 1777 he received a call to the ministry. Thereafter he devoted the rest of his life to a series of benevolent causes, including emancipation, Indian relations, and penal reform. He was present at the signing of treaties with the Indians of western New York in 1793, which he related in a letter to his friend and supporter John Pemberton (1727-1795) in August of that year. In 1784 he served as a missionary carrying the Gospel to the island of Barbados. The last years of his life were increasingly devoted to concerns over abolition. In 1806, shortly before his death, he published the pamphlet, Address to the citizens of the United States…such as hold the black people in bondage.

John Parrish (1698-1745) had several other children, among then Robert Parrish (1727-1815), who was active in the Friendly Association for Regaining and Preserving Peace with the Indians by Pacific Measures, an organization dedicated to ending Indian attacks in western Pennsylvania due to grievances over the loss of land during the Seven Years’ War.

Another son of John Parish (1698-1745) was Isaac Parrish (1734-1826), who married Sarah Mitchell (1739-1825). Among their children were Joseph Parrish (1779-1840) and Ann (or Anne) Parrish (1760-1800). Joseph became a well-known physician in Philadelphia, who also devoted himself to a variety of benevolent causes, notably penal reform and the abolition of slavery. Dr. Joseph Parrish distinguished himself during the yellow fever epidemic of 1793. When parents Isaac and Sarah fell victim to the epidemic, it was said that his sister Ann Parrish vowed to devote her life to charitable works if they survived; they did, and Ann became a well-known philanthropist who founded the House of Industry, supplying work to poor women in Philadelphia, and the Aimwell School for needy girls.

Philadelphia Quaker who advocated emancipation of Negro slaves and fair treatment of the Indians.

At the request of the Indians, Parrish journeyed to three Indian - U.S. treaty councils in the early 1790's. Two councils resulted in agreements with the Six Nations (Newtown Point, N.Y., July 15, 1791 and Canandaigua, N.Y., Nov. 11, 1794). The U.S. having rejected the Indian demand for an Ohio River boundary as a prerequisite for talks, the 1793 council with the Delawares, Shawnee, Iroquois, Wyandot and nine other tribes failed to materialize. Parrish awaited this council at the British garrison in Detroit and at the Miami River in Ohio.