Watson Parrish, attorney at law and banker, is a native of Tennessee. At about the age of two years he came with his parents to Whiteside County, Ill. After receiving a preparatory course of studies, he attended the Knox College at Galesburg. At the breaking-out of the war, he enlisted in Company G, Thirty-ninth Illinois Infantry, and served three years and four months. He then went to Ann Arbor and entered the Law Department of the University of Michigan; graduated in the class of 1866. In September 1866, he came to Decatur, Neb.; opened a law office, and has since followed his profession. He was elected to the Legislature in 1869; served during the extra session till 1871. He, with Mr. Griffin, established this bank October 4, 1879. Mr. Parrish has always taken an active part in the Republican State Conventions.
