Representative Richard Chappel Parsons

Richard Chappel Parsons (October 10, 1826 – January 9, 1899) was an American lawyer, diplomat, and Republican politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Ohio for one term from 1873 to 1875. His congressional service took place during a significant period in American history, as the nation continued to grapple with the political and social consequences of the Civil War and Reconstruction, and he participated in the democratic process representing the interests of his Ohio constituents.

Parsons was born in New London, Connecticut, on October 10, 1826. He pursued classical studies in his youth, receiving the type of broad literary and scholarly education common to aspiring professionals of the mid-nineteenth century. In 1845 he moved west to Norwalk, Ohio, joining the flow of New Englanders who were then settling in the Western Reserve region of the state. Seeking a career in the law, he undertook legal studies and prepared for admission to the bar.

In 1851 Parsons was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in Cleveland, Ohio, which would remain his principal home for the rest of his life. He entered into partnership with Rufus P. Spalding, a prominent Ohio jurist and politician who later served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Through this association Parsons became closely connected with the emerging Republican leadership in Ohio. His personal ties to local political life were further strengthened by his marriage into the family of Samuel Starkweather, who served non-consecutive terms as mayor of Cleveland in the mid-1800s and was an influential civic figure in the city.

Parsons quickly moved into public service at the municipal and state levels. He was elected to the Cleveland city council, serving in 1852 and 1853, and was chosen president of the council in 1853. Building on his local prominence, he was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives, where he served from 1858 to 1861. During his tenure in the state legislature he rose to a position of leadership, serving one term as speaker of the Ohio House. His work in Columbus coincided with the turbulent years immediately preceding and including the opening of the Civil War, a period in which Ohio played a major role in supporting the Union cause.

During the Civil War, Parsons entered federal service in both diplomatic and administrative roles. He was appointed United States consul to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on March 27, 1862, reflecting the Lincoln administration’s reliance on loyal Republican officeholders for key foreign posts. He resigned the consular position effective October 1, 1862, and soon thereafter was appointed collector of internal revenue at Cleveland, serving from 1862 to 1866. In that capacity he was responsible for administering the wartime revenue laws in his district, an important element of the Union’s financial strategy. President Andrew Johnson later offered Parsons two high federal offices—Governor of Montana Territory and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury—but Parsons declined both. Instead, he accepted appointment as the first Marshal of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving from 1867 to 1872 and helping to establish the administrative and ceremonial framework of that newly created office.

Parsons was elected as a Republican to the Forty-third Congress, representing Ohio in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4, 1873, to March 3, 1875. His single term in Congress occurred during the later Reconstruction era, when issues of civil rights, federal authority, and economic policy were at the forefront of national debate. As a member of the Republican Party, he contributed to the legislative process and participated in shaping federal policy during this critical period. He sought reelection as a Republican to the Forty-fourth Congress but was unsuccessful, bringing his brief congressional career to a close.

After leaving Congress, Parsons returned to Cleveland and resumed the practice of law, continuing his long association with the city’s legal and civic affairs. In 1877 he expanded his professional activities into journalism, becoming editor and part owner, along with William Perry Fogg, of the Cleveland Daily Herald, one of the city’s important newspapers. Through this role he remained engaged in public discourse and local politics, influencing opinion in northern Ohio during the late nineteenth century.

Richard Chappel Parsons died in Cleveland, Ohio, on January 9, 1899. He was interred in Lake View Cemetery, the city’s prominent burial ground for many of its leading citizens. His career, spanning municipal government, state legislative leadership, diplomatic and administrative service, a pioneering role in the federal judiciary’s institutional life, and a term in the U.S. House of Representatives, reflected the broad avenues of public service available to a nineteenth-century American lawyer and politician.