Marcus Junius Parrott (October 27, 1828 – October 4, 1879) was a delegate to Congress from the

Kansas Territory The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Slave and ...

from 1857 until 1861.

Biography

Parrott was born in

Hamburg, South Carolina Hamburg is a ghost town in Aiken County, South Carolina, United States. It was once a thriving upriver market located across the Savannah River from Augusta, Georgia in the Edgefield District. It was founded by Henry Shultz in 1821 who named ...

, on October 27, 1828. He attended the local schools, and was an 1849 graduate of

Dickinson College Dickinson College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1773 as Carlisle Grammar School, Dickinson was chartered on September 9, 1783, ...

Carlisle, Pennsylvania Carlisle is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2020 United States census ...

. He studied at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

in 1850 and 1851, was admitted to the Ohio bar, and settled in

Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

. He served in the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...

as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

in 1853 and 1854, and then moved to

Leavenworth, Kansas Leavenworth () is the county seat and largest city of Leavenworth County, Kansas, Leavenworth County, Kansas, United States. Part of the Kansas City metropolitan area, Leavenworth is located on the west bank of the Missouri River, on the site o ...

. In 1855, Parrott was appointed reporter of decisions for the first session of the Kansas Territory's Supreme Court. In October 1855, Parrott was elected to serve as a delegate to the territory's 1856 constitutional convention in

Topeka Topeka ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeaste ...

. He was defense counsel for Governor

Charles L. Robinson Charles Lawrence Robinson (July 21, 1818 – August 17, 1894) was an American politician who served in the California State Assembly from 1851 to 1852, and later as the first governor of Kansas from 1861 until 1863. Throughout his political ca ...

during his impeachment trial, and thanks to Parrott's work, Robinson won an acquittal. In 1856, he was elected as a Republican to serve as the territory's non-voting delegate to Congress. In 1857, he was a delegate to the territorial constitutional convention. He was reelected to Congress in 1858, and served in the

35th Military units *35th Fighter Wing, an air combat unit of the United States Air Force *35th Infantry Division (United States), a formation of the National Guard since World War I *35th Infantry Regiment (United States), a regiment created on 1 July 1 ...

and 36th Congresses (March 4, 1857 to January 29, 1861). Parrott's term ended when Kansas was admitted to the Union, and he was an unsuccessful candidate for election to one Kansas' two seats in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

; he lost a close race to Lane and Samuel C. Pomeroy. After leaving Congress, Parrott practiced law and farmed in Leavenworth. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House of Representatives as an Independent in 1862, and as a Democrat in 1872. Parrott returned to Dayton to live with his brother when his health began to fail in the late 1870s. He died in Dayton on October 4, 1879, and was buried at Woodland Cemetery in Dayton.

References

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External links

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Marcus Junius Parrott
at The Political Graveyard
Biography of Marcus Junius Parrott
at Dickinson College Archives & Special Collections 1828 births 1879 deaths 19th-century American lawyers Delegates to the United States House of Representatives from Kansas Territory Dickinson College alumni Kansas Democrats Kansas lawyers Kansas Republicans Members of the Ohio House of Representatives Ohio lawyers People from Hamburg, South Carolina Politicians from Leavenworth, Kansas Politicians from Dayton, Ohio 19th-century members of the Ohio General Assembly 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives {{kansas-politician-stub