L. Ervin Parrett
The respect which should always be accorded to the brave sons of the North who left their homes and peaceful pursuits to give their services and their lives, if need be, to preserve the integrity of the American Union, is certainly due to L. Ervin Parrett, to a brief review of whose life the historian now addresses himself. Although a mere lad of eighteen at the time of his enlistment, yet he was not to be daunted and on the long and tiresome marches, in all kinds of situations, he proved his love and loyalty to his government. Too much honor cannot be given to those boys in blue who were exposed to the summer's withering sun and the winter's freezing cold, who walked the lonely picket line, a target for the unseen foe, and fought on the field of flame without a thought of their own dangers.
L. Ervin Parrett, the son of A. F. and Caroline (Hess) Parrett, was born in Paint township, Fayette county, Ohio, August 22, 1844. His father was the son of John and Catherine (Windle) Parrett, and was born in Jefferson township. John Parrett came to Fayette county about the year 1811, the year after the county was organized. John Parrett and his wife are buried on the farm where he first located on the banks of Paint creek. A. F. Parrett was one of the most substantial farmers of the county during his day and reared a family of four children, Melissa, Ella. Mrs. Indey Van Pelt, and L. Ervin, with whom this narrative deals.
L. Ervin Parrett was reared on the farm in Paint township, attended the district schools of his neighhorhood during the short winter sessions and spent his summer vacations on his father's farm, assisting with the farm work. At the age of eighteen he enlisted in Company D, One Hundred and Sixty-eighth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served during the remainder of the Civil War. His regiment, commanded by Col. Conrad Garris, participated in many of the hard-fought battles of that memorable struggle and won a gallant name for itself. Immediately after the close of the war he returned to peaceful pursuits in his home county. He at once took up agricultural pursuits and for nearly half a century has been engaged in farming in Paint township. His farm of four hundred acres, known as the Wildwood farm, is well improved and is one of the most attractive farms of the county.
Mr. Parrett was married to Jennie Hays on the 25th day of March, 1888, and to this union has been born one daughter, Faith, who married Homer Miller, and has two children, Irvin and Marjorie. Mr. Parrett's fraternal associations are confined to John Bell Post, Grand Army of the Republic, at Washington C. H., to which he has belonged for many years.
From History of Fayette County Ohio - Her People, Industries and Institutions by Frank M. Allen (1914, R. F. Bowen & Company, Inc.)