James Parmelee (1855-1931) was a

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...

financier. In 1886, he co-founded the

National Carbon Company The National Carbon Company was founded in 1886 by the former Brush Electric Company executive W. H. Lawrence, in association with Myron T. Herrick, James Parmelee, and Webb Hayes, son of U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes, in Cleveland, Ohio. In ...

as part of a group that included

Webb C. Hayes James Webb Cook Hayes (March 20, 1856 – July 26, 1934) was an American businessman and soldier. He co-founded a forerunner of Union Carbide, served in three wars, and received the Medal of Honor. Early years and family James Webb Cook Hay ...

, the son of U.S. president

Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 19th president of the United States from 1877 to 1881, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and as governor ...

. The company figured prominently in the history of the

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

. Parmelee was also the fourth president of the Cleveland General Electric Company. He and his wife Alice Maury Parmelee were benefactors of the

Washington National Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral, is an American cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Washington, D.C., the ca ...

and

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

in Washington, D.C., as well as Ohio charities. He was one of the founders of a predecessor institution of

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Res ...

. Their Cleveland house, on what was then called Millionaires Row (Euclid Avenue), no longer exists. Their Washington, D.C., home, which they called "the Causeway", was renamed "Tregaron" by a successor owner, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and after some controversy remains fairly intact.

References

American businesspeople 1855 births 1931 deaths Cornell University alumni {{US-business-bio-stub