Roswell A. Parmenter (September 20, 1821 – February 1, 1904) was an American lawyer and politician from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Life

Roswell A. Parmenter was born in

Pittstown, New York Pittstown is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The population was 5,540 at the 2020 census. It is in the northern part of the county. A small part of the northern town line is Renssel ...

, on September 20, 1821, the son of Dr. Azel Fiske Parmenter (born 1786) and Lavina (Ray) Parmenter. He studied law, was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

, and practiced in

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

. He was City Attorney of Troy from 1853 to 1854, and from 1871 to 1883. He was a member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

(12th D.) in

1874 Events January * January 1 – New York City annexes The Bronx. * January 2 – Ignacio María González becomes head of state of the Dominican Republic for the first time. * January 3 – Third Carlist War: Battle of Caspe &n ...

and

1875 Events January * January 1 – The Midland Railway of England abolishes the Second Class passenger category, leaving First Class and Third Class. Other British railway companies follow Midland's lead during the rest of the year (Third C ...

. At the New York state election, 1881, he ran on the Democratic ticket for

New York Attorney General The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has existed in various forms since 1626, originally established under the Dutch c ...

, but was defeated by Republican Leslie W. Russell. Parmenter was Corporation Counsel of Troy from 1886 to 1890. He died in Troy on February 1, 1904, at age 82.

Sources

''Life Sketches of Government Officers and Members of the Legislature of the State of New York in 1875''
by W. H. McElroy and Alexander McBride (pg. 93ff) -book
''Courts and Lawyers of New York: A History, 1609-1925''
by Alden Chester & Edwin Melvin Williams (Vol. I; pg. 1065) {{DEFAULTSORT:Parmenter, Roswell A 1821 births 1904 deaths Democratic Party New York (state) state senators Politicians from Troy, New York Missing middle or first names People from Pittstown, New York 19th-century members of the New York State Legislature