Parrish, FL

There’s a little town in Manatee County FL called Parrish. It has a population of approximately 9,700 people and is home to the Florida Railroad Museum. It was also named after my 1st cousin (5 times removed), Crawford Parrish.

Originally from Georgia, Crawford was a rancher and farmer who, after the Civil War ended, decided to leave his homestead in North Florida and move himself, his wife, his children and his herd further south. He bought the land known as the Oak Hill Plantation outside of what is now Bradenton and there raised his cattle and planted orange groves. The area grew to the point where it needed its own post office and since there was, at that time, already an Oak Hill FL, the residents overwhelming elected to rename the town after my cousin. And when Crawford’s son, John, donated land for a railroad station, he requested that it also be named after his father.

Apparently, Crawford was a well-liked and respected member of the community. Here’s what was written about him some 50 years after his death: “A pious man, he loved his Creator and he loved his church. Devoted to his family, his roots early found firm hold in the soil he worked and cared for so well. And to the end, the cares of the world existed not for him, for his house, and that of his children, was ever in order. An honest man: yea, verily, he was a co-worker in the vineyard of the Lord.”

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