Charles Henry Parr
Charles Henry Parr (March 18, 1868 – June 10, 1941) was an American mechanical engineer, inventor, and pioneer in developing the gasoline-powered agricultural tractor and cofounder of the Hart-Parr Company.[1]
Early life and education[edit]
Parr was born March 18, 1868, in Wisconsin, the son of Martha and John Parr. He had five siblings. He attended high school in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, before attaining a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he met his future partner, Charles Walter Hart.[2] Both men graduated with honors.[3]
Career[edit]
After graduation, while still in Madison, Parr and Harr established a small engine company. They then moved to Charles City, Iowa, where Hart was born,[3][4] and started the Hart-Parr Company. In 1902, they developed a gasoline engine for tractors and one year later invented the first known kerosene-run engine, which needed just 50% of the fuel that ran the gasoline engine.[4] Also 1903, they built the country's first internal combustion engine.[3] For a time, Hart-Parr tractors were a leading type, sold in the US and other countries.[1] During World War I, the company also made shells for the army.[5]
Parr left the company in 1923 to work for the Street Sweeper Company in Elgin, Illinois,[6] but returned and stayed with Hart-Parr and the successor Oliver Farm Equipment Company until he died in 1941.[1]
Personal life[edit]
He married Gertrude Gates of Beloit, Wisconsin, in August 1898. They had a son and five daughters.[2] He served on the library and school boards and was a leader of the First Congregationalist Church. He was also an active member of the Freemasons, including high priest of the Royal Arch Masons and commander of the Knights Templar. During a family vacation to Los Angeles, California, Parr died on June 10, 1941. Gertrude died months earlier, February 17, 1941. They are buried at Riverside Cemetery, Charles City, Iowa.[2]
His home, the Charles Henry Parr House, in Charles City, Iowa is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[7]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c C.H. Wendel (29 November 2011). Oliver Hart-Parr. Krause Publications. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-87349-929-3.
- ^ a b c "Charles H. Parr, Tractor Inventor, Died". The Nashua Reporter. Nashua, Iowa. June 18, 1941. p. 3. Retrieved May 29, 2017 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c "Hart Parr Tractor - 1903: Earliest known internal-combustion-engined agricultural tractor in the United States". The American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
- ^ a b "Charles H. Parr, Pioneer in Tractor Manufacturing Dies". The Mason City Globe-Gazette. Mason City, Iowa. June 11, 1941. p. 1. Retrieved May 29, 2017 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Manufacture War Shells: Hart-Parr Machinery Nearly Completed for $1,500,000 Order for Army Shells". The Nashua Reporter. Nashua, Iowa. December 2, 1915. p. 1. Retrieved May 29, 2017 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Founder Leaves Hart-Parr Firm at Charles City". The Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. November 25, 1923. p. 45. Retrieved May 29, 2017 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ M.H. Bowers. "Charles Henry Parr House". National Park Service. Retrieved May 29, 2017. with photos
Further reading[edit]
- "The Hart-Parr Tractor". The American Society of Mechanical Engineers. May 18, 1996. Archived from the original on June 10, 2016. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
External links[edit]
Media related to Charles Henry Parr at Wikimedia Commons