George Safford Parker (November 1, 1863 – July 19, 1937) was an American inventor and industrialist. Parker was a

telegraphy Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

instructor in

Janesville, Wisconsin Janesville is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. It is the county seat and largest city in the county. It is a principal municipality of the Janesville, Wisconsin, Metropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the Madison–Jan ...

, and had a sideline repairing and selling

fountain pen A fountain pen is a writing instrument which uses a metal nib to apply a water-based ink to paper. It is distinguished from earlier dip pens by using an internal reservoir to hold ink, eliminating the need to repeatedly dip the pen in an in ...

s. Dismayed by the unreliability of the pens, he experimented with ways to prevent ink leaks. In 1888, Parker founded the Parker Pen Company. The next year he received his first

patent. By 1908, his factory on Main Street in Janesville was reportedly the largest pen manufacturing facility in the world. Parker eventually became one of the world's premier

pen A pen is a common writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a nib or in a small void or cavity wh ...

brands, and one of the first brands with a global presence. George S. Parker High School in Janesville is his namesake. Parker graduated from

Upper Iowa University Upper Iowa University (UIU) is a private university in Fayette, Iowa. It enrolls around 6000 students and offers distance education programs that include 15 centers in the U.S., an online program, an independent study program, and centers in ...

Fayette, Iowa Fayette is a city in Fayette County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 1,256. It was named after the Marquis de la Fayette, French hero of the American Revolutionary War. Fayette is the home of Upper Iowa Univ ...

.William Fiske Brown (ed.).
Rock County, Wisconsin: A New History of Its Cities, Villages, Towns, Citizens and Varied Interests, from the Earliest Times, Up to Date
'. vol. 2. , Chicago: C. F. Cooper & Company, 1908, p. 1075.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, George Safford 1863 births 1937 deaths American manufacturing businesspeople 19th-century American inventors 20th-century American inventors People from Janesville, Wisconsin People from Shullsburg, Wisconsin Upper Iowa University alumni